These days, I feel as though there is loss of faith, belief and agency in the world around us - government, institutions (education, police etc), in each other and devastatingly within ourselves. I hear heartbreaking stories from teenagers of different ages and backgrounds telling me how no one believes in them to do well or succeed so they don't even bother trying. Why? Because they're what we call the "fringes of society", the ones no one believes in or bothers to try instill self-confidence in them.
Shame on people for berating others without knowing their full story.
Most people I know don't even bother switching on the News channels, opening a newspaper or reading online because everything is so depressing and there is no guarantee that whatever is reported is 100% genuine or not. However this itself is a huge issue - yes, most newspaper establishments do not report events from an unbiased point of view but it is vital that we know what is going in our world, to its people and most importantly go beyond the headlines.
I'm in my early twenties and I am already sick and tired of the injustice I see going on around me both in the UK and overseas. One issue I have is the way we perceive each other in the UK.
I come from London and one of the most infamous things my city is famed for is probably issues concerning young people.
Knife crime, gangs, teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, binge drinking, youth unemployment, run ins with the police and a lack of motivation are all phrases associated with London youth. According to the Telegraph, the overall levels of crime fell by 4%, but robberies and incidents involving knives rose by 10% between 2010 - 2011.
I remember at one point, it was like someone was being stabbed everyday and dying of their injuries. I'd switch on the TV or put on the radio only to hear: "Another teenager has been fatally stabbed in the capital..."
Names, ages, faces of young people, their eyes staring back at you from dozens of newspapers and their memorials. It just became numbers for most people, but I couldn't help thinking: "God, the world's gone mad."
It genuinely felt like it had and that things were spiralling out of control - teenager after teenager being stabbed, dying and leaving their families and friends in pain. But these kids were someone's sibling, child, niece, nephew, friend - they were just like any other young person walking down the street. People seem to forget that.
Have a look at the Citizens Report UK 2007-2012 and see what you make of the figures. Unfortunately this has led to young people all over the capital being generalised as "thugs", "trouble makers" and "hoodlums."
Obviously this not true; it is simply not viable to brand a group of people based on the actions of a few regardless of age, race, religion, background etc.
Yet, it seems that out of human nature, habit, laziness, ignorance and convenience we do this. Life seems to be so much more easier to grapple with when we place things and people in little boxes under labels.
We've all been guilty of it, myself included, but this boxing and labelling of people simply does not work - it restricts our learning and experiences of the world. We never get a full flavour of life or experience what the world and different cultures have to offer.
Not all Muslims are terrorists, not all blacks are drug dealers, thuggish people out to mug you, not all south Asians are from the stereotypical strict, traditional family and not all immigrants come to the UK to swipe jobs, cheat the system and rinse the state. Similarly, in gender there are good and bad people who have the capability to seriously harm or show genuine love for others. In every situation there will always be exceptions to the rule but we can't let this taint the way we view humanity.
The second we close our eyes, we close our minds and our hearts. We switch off our compassion, our disgust when injustice occurs and we lose our sense of humanity. We allow these things to continue, it is not until we truly open our minds and hearts to bring about change that one day we will achieve peace and realise the importance of unity to pass onto our future children.
Shame on people for berating others without knowing their full story.
Most people I know don't even bother switching on the News channels, opening a newspaper or reading online because everything is so depressing and there is no guarantee that whatever is reported is 100% genuine or not. However this itself is a huge issue - yes, most newspaper establishments do not report events from an unbiased point of view but it is vital that we know what is going in our world, to its people and most importantly go beyond the headlines.
I'm in my early twenties and I am already sick and tired of the injustice I see going on around me both in the UK and overseas. One issue I have is the way we perceive each other in the UK.
I come from London and one of the most infamous things my city is famed for is probably issues concerning young people.
Knife crime, gangs, teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, binge drinking, youth unemployment, run ins with the police and a lack of motivation are all phrases associated with London youth. According to the Telegraph, the overall levels of crime fell by 4%, but robberies and incidents involving knives rose by 10% between 2010 - 2011.
I remember at one point, it was like someone was being stabbed everyday and dying of their injuries. I'd switch on the TV or put on the radio only to hear: "Another teenager has been fatally stabbed in the capital..."
Names, ages, faces of young people, their eyes staring back at you from dozens of newspapers and their memorials. It just became numbers for most people, but I couldn't help thinking: "God, the world's gone mad."
It genuinely felt like it had and that things were spiralling out of control - teenager after teenager being stabbed, dying and leaving their families and friends in pain. But these kids were someone's sibling, child, niece, nephew, friend - they were just like any other young person walking down the street. People seem to forget that.
Have a look at the Citizens Report UK 2007-2012 and see what you make of the figures. Unfortunately this has led to young people all over the capital being generalised as "thugs", "trouble makers" and "hoodlums."
Obviously this not true; it is simply not viable to brand a group of people based on the actions of a few regardless of age, race, religion, background etc.
Yet, it seems that out of human nature, habit, laziness, ignorance and convenience we do this. Life seems to be so much more easier to grapple with when we place things and people in little boxes under labels.
We've all been guilty of it, myself included, but this boxing and labelling of people simply does not work - it restricts our learning and experiences of the world. We never get a full flavour of life or experience what the world and different cultures have to offer.
Not all Muslims are terrorists, not all blacks are drug dealers, thuggish people out to mug you, not all south Asians are from the stereotypical strict, traditional family and not all immigrants come to the UK to swipe jobs, cheat the system and rinse the state. Similarly, in gender there are good and bad people who have the capability to seriously harm or show genuine love for others. In every situation there will always be exceptions to the rule but we can't let this taint the way we view humanity.
The second we close our eyes, we close our minds and our hearts. We switch off our compassion, our disgust when injustice occurs and we lose our sense of humanity. We allow these things to continue, it is not until we truly open our minds and hearts to bring about change that one day we will achieve peace and realise the importance of unity to pass onto our future children.
1 comment:
I agree with so much of this! Don't really know what the UK has become...
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