Steps for a Better Future
Stereotypes of high school students and high school life are shown in many teen movies. Take the cafeteria, for instance. The jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, hipsters, and the popular students all sit separately and never socialize outside their cliques. You might think, “But that’s not what high school is really like!” Yes, it’s not like “nerds” can’t socialize with the “jocks,” but to a certain extent, social circles do exist in school, and most of the time, students don’t include others into those circles. Seems to me that the source of all of this is hate. It’s the same thing that leads to global issues, such as war, gender inequality, or genocides. Most of us probably don’t contemplate murder, but we fail to realize that hate is such a common part of our lives. From talking behind someone’s back to not letting someone sit with you to bullying, hate exists everywhere.
Recently, I, along with twenty other students, worked with the Anti Defamation League, an organization that works to fight antisemitism, hatred, hate crimes, and bullying. I participated in an assembly presented to the freshmen class called “The Truth About Hate.” Even though the assembly was directed at the freshman, I myself learned so much from the experience. It also made me realize, that despite preaching about not hating others, I have been a hypocrite. There have been several instances in which I’ve insulted people behind their backs and then have pretended to be friends with them the very next moment.
In the assembly, I learned about the Pyramid of Hate, which I think perfectly describes the nature of hatred. At the bottom of the pyramid is bias, which is least painful, but most common. As the pyramid gets higher, acts of hate become more painful. Genocide is at the top of the pyramid; this is most painful, which is signified by the fact the tip of the pyramid is sharp.
I know that talking about people behind their backs is wrong, but sometimes my emotion gets the best of me. There are some people at my school who frustrate me, and it’s hard not to rant to someone about it. There’s a golden rule that people almost never pay attention to: treat someone the way you want to be treated. You wouldn’t want people insulting you, especially if you didn’t do anything wrong. So would it be fair to do the same to them? The platinum rule is, treat someone the way they want to be treated. Now, whenever I feel the urge to criticize someone, I remember that I wouldn’t want to be criticized and hated by anyone.
During the end of the assembly, the freshmen shared about their experiences with hate stories and it left me in a swirl of emotions. What bothered me the most was, there were groups of students laughing and snickering while the freshmen were sharing their stories. It ticked me off that despite people opening up and being vulnerable, fellow students had the heartlessness to laugh at them. How does it not occur to people that they’re inhumane when they make fun of someone, call them names, talk behind their backs, or marginalize them? This behavior is merely a reflection of society’s inability to understand and accept one another.
Hate is worse in schools, where students are younger, more diverse, and grouped in “circles,” in which inclusion and exclusion manifest. In wake of the 2016 Presidential Election, a video circulated in Medway, Massachusetts in which a student holding a rifle said the N-word and “kill ’em all.” A high school student in Attleboro, Massachusetts vandalized the boys’ bathroom with pro-Trump graffiti, warning how African Americans would be “handled” by the KKK with the use of the N-word. Dealing with actions like this is a difficult thing for school administrators as they try to figure out how to respond to students and prevent future incidents.
The ADL has worked in schools worldwide and advocated for a hate-free environment. According to the organization, there are several things that can be done in the moment of the incident, after the incident, and in the future. For example, a good thing to do after an incident is to talk to people for support and try to create a safe space for students. Teachers could educate their students on how to stop bullying and become an ally, as well as have students reflect on incidents of bullying; they could then develop empathy and kindness for one another.
As of 2017, there were at least 917 organized hate groups in the U.S. alone. One such group is ACT for America, an anti-Muslim organization devoted to “promoting national security” and “defeating terrorism.” This group is actually propagating bigotry in the name of defending our nation from terrorists. The formation of organizations such as this demonstrates how big of a problem hate is in our nation. It’s disappointing that this group is based on stereotypes that all Muslims are terrorists; this is completely false, since Muslims represent only 0.00009 percent of terrorists. What’s more disturbing is that their Twitter account has over 80,000 followers and 1,591 likes. In fact, the number of likes on all hate group accounts grew by 900 percent in the last two years! What’s responsible for this huge increase?
As Allison Abrams, a psychotherapist, stated, hate stems from various psychological factors, including fear of “the other,” fear of ourselves, and lack of compassion. According to the in-group out-group theory, those who feel threatened by outsiders turn toward their in-group; the in-group is the group that is favored, while the out-group is the group that’s considered different and a threat to the in-group. A phenomenon known as projection describes one’s tendency to reject qualities they don’t like about themselves. They develop a need to be good, which actually leads them to project “badness.” They repress the qualities that they think are bad, causing them to hate others. About self-compassion, author Brad Reedy, stated in the article, “The Psychology of Hate,” “If we find part of ourselves unacceptable, we tend to attack others in order to defend against the threat.” On the other hand, “If we are okay with ourselves, we see others’ behaviors as ‘about them’ and can respond with compassion.” When dealing with hate, it is important that we address its root cause to prevent future acts.
The hate that fills our world adds fuel to majority of the hate crimes that occur on a daily basis. Last month, a gunman in Italy went on a shooting spree, targeting African Americans and wounding at least six. An extremist group, named Atomwaffen, was linked to least five murders; in May, Devon Arthurs killed two of his neo-Nazi roommates for disrespecting his Muslim faith. In December, a husband and wife were shot dead in their home by a neo-Nazi. All of these crimes were rooted from the perpetrators’ fear of other races, religions, and ideologies; this fear grew into hatred, which the perpetrators acted on. If hate prevention is not taught in schools, more crimes will occur, killing hundreds, if not thousands, or even millions.
To prevent such crimes from occurring in the future, it is important that people be taught about hate, its impact, and its dangers; hate prevention must be taught in schools. By educating students, they will learn that hate is not okay. Teachers play a significant role in fostering this attitude, as they must set an example for their students. For instance, if they allow bullying to go unchecked, they imply approval of similar actions. Building students’ capacity for empathy and compassion is an essential part of preventing hate and instead becoming allies.
In addition to the ADL, organizations such as Teaching Tolerance work with educators to promote social justice and an inclusive environment. The program’s material has won two Oscars, an Emmy and other honors and been screened by over 500,000 educators. We must have more anti-hate programs advocating for a tolerant environment. Only by educating children about anti-hate will they learn at a very young age to be more open-minded.
One feeling, hatred, is behind a countless number of issues: gender and racial inequality, murders, and genocides. Hate exists in almost every environment: schools, workplaces, even homes. Stopping hate, especially in the entire country, or even world, isn’t easy. But by laying a foundation of love and compassion at a young age, we would be taking the steps to making the world a better place.
