Don’t put us in a box Labels ruin our ability to express ourselves

Labels. Some of them are positive, however a lot of them are negative.

As teenagers, we love to use them, both for ourselves and each other. Some might say it is our way of making sense of being in a confusing age and maintaining control, but a lot of labels can turn out to be very harmful.

The second you label someone, you are putting them in a box; You are telling them that this is what they have to be and they are not allowed to change or disagree. What is worse is that a lot of these labels tend to be dangerous, especially with the judgment attached to them.

When we label someone, it not only limits them in reality, but psychologically as well. We do not allow that person to grow and change and it hinders us from trying to get to know them for who they actually are, apart from the label we’ve coined for them in our heads. From that

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Torie Peck point on, they are frozen in these roles and we operate of of a judgment that can be com pletely inaccurate and not who that person actually is.

Some of the worst labels we experience and impose on others as teenagers are things like “basic,” but when we’re older, it can evolve into truly harmful stereotypes in the workplace.

The most common stereotypes in the workplace include women lacking confdence, women’s attire, ageism, fewer promotions for women, education shaming and just like high school: cliques. Those stereotypes and cliques that are formed are yet another example of how those labels do not stop at high school or college, they carry into the future in a professional work setting.

We need to remember that a person might like to be something or engage in certain activities, such as band or theater, without it making up their en-

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Wendy Le tire personality. They also might ft into that stereotype because they choose to, we don’t need to judge them for it.

High school is a time when teenagers tend to worry the most over how they are being perceived by others. There is a constant concern over how they look to others, how they are labeled and whether it’s positive or negative. They worry so much about their appearance to others that they can spend their time trying hard not to ft into a certain stereotype which leads to them not being their authentic selves.

Labeling can create unrealistic expectations for a person. They are constantly trying to live up to this version of themselves that sometimes may not actually exist.

It contributes to one of the biggest problems we face as teens: not feeling like we are being truly understood or seen for who we really are. We already feel like nobody will understand who we are, but then being forced into a box of what is an “acceptable” version of yourself makes that feeling persist.

Whether someone recognizes it or not, forcing stereotypes onto others destroys their self-esteem because they now have this “negative” image of themselves and it feels impossible to change.

With one phrase, one word even, you have the power to do great amounts of damage, to the extent of making or breaking someone’s day and the power to control someone’s identity. You decide for someone else who they are going to be in the eyes of the world.

We need to learn how to embrace and love each other for the unique and wildly diferent people we are, not force them into a mold that for some reason our brains need them to be.

All people are original and that’s what makes humans so beautiful. It is time we learn how to accept that.

The Sidekick is the oficial student newspaper for Coppell High School. Its purpose is to inform, entertain and provide an educational resource for its readers. This newspaper is a public forum for student expression with staf members (with assistance from their adviser) making content decisions. The editorials and columns in this paper refect the view of their writers.

The Sidekick is a member of Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA).

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Correction: Wrestling secures 5-0 win at Coppell Round-Up (Volume 34 No. 3, p. 21) In our previous issue, senior Isaiah Francis was incorrectly identifed as junior Elijah Houston in a photograph. The Sidekick regrets the error.

Saniya Koppikar Entertainment Editor @SaniyaKoppikar

Disco lights groove along the walls of my living room. There––almost lost amongst singing and chanting, almost swallowed up by the clinking of glittery flutes––rests a promise.

A new year, a fresh start, a blank slate.

I am not sure what it all means, but I do know I am ready for it.

Later, soothed by a few regained hours of rest, I sit at my desk and uncap a pen. I am a goal-oriented person and the new year presents a prime incentive for change. With a bookmark on the last chapter, it’s easier to put the next one into perspective.

As I jot down goals (sleep eight hours, drink the prescribed 2.7 liters of water, finally develop a perfect work-life balance), though, I feel a sense of deja vu. I’ve been here before: at this desk, with this pen, writing down the same goals. And a realization hits me then, with all the grace of a misfired confetti popper and the badly-synced countdown broadcast on the living room TV.

New Year’s resolutions don’t work––for me, and for most people I have discussed this with. Time after time, year after year, we limp back to the drawing board with tired, worn-down promises and expect something different. It is Einstein’s very definition of insanity.

Though I am not an expert on the intricacies of human behavior, this year I finally think I understand the brains behind it all. Or rather, the lack of brains.

First: new year, new me. Seemingly innocuous, the phrase implies one of the main problems with New Year’s res olutions. When we make goals, we strive for a new, perfect self.

Key word: perfect. The culture surrounding resolutions de mands a perfect regimen, which gets increasingly difficult to deal with under a heavy load of self-imposed pressure.

Perfectionism doesn’t lead to productivity. This is common ly known, but when the idea is bundled up in a palatable way, it is easy to forget. Therefore, the first step to making successful resolutions this year is accept ing less than your best.

As you strive to reach great er heights, do not be surprised if you fall down a few times. Be forgiving and find your way back to your goal even if you sometimes stray from it. Accept that you’re not going to become a new person, you’re just trying to be a better one.

Now, you are on the right track to achieving your goals. You are cruising along the path of self-improvement and stopping to fill up for gas when the tank runs low.

As we all know, though, gas costs money––effort, in this case. After a few skittering stops, it might start to occur to you that maybe you do not really need to get to your destination.

Quick! Before you give up, take a look at your goals. Ask yourself why you made them and why you decided you were going to stick with them. Was it just because it was a new year? Here’s something I have learned: you cannot be a new person just because the countdown ended.

My why was opportunity.

I am in the second semes ter of my senior year, which is commonly accepted to be one of the most peaceful times of one’s high school career. This is quite clearly the best year to start getting a full night’s sleep and achieving a great work-life balance, especially since I had erroneously convinced myself I could not during the first three years of high school. And, of course, I received that crisp white water bottle for Christmas. After years of dehydration caused by a refusal to drink from communal water fountains and a stubborn forgetfulness for keeping my own bottle full during the school day,

So, as I traced my glittery gel pen across a neon sticky note (garish, but definitely hard to ignore), I resolved that this would be the year of productive resolutions. Not perfect, because I’m a night owl and the delayed effect of staying up until four in the morning on the first day of the year took a few days to subside, but productive. I would keep taking steps towards the promises I made myself, even if the journey seemed neverending.

Anyway, the best promises are ones you can actually keep.