By Alexandra Dalton
Staff Writer
@alex_dalton04
It is hard not to believe everything that your parents tell you – to believe that your source of life and love is right about everything in the world.
This is hardly ever the case, yet kids never seem to realize they are just a reflection of their parents, spewing out their parents words.
My parents were always fair to me. They never really told me what they believed about people; what to think about how people look or what it means when they say certain things. In some ways, it made it harder when I was growing up; I never understood adult concepts when other kids were able to catch on.
But as a teenager, in addition to turning 18 years old in less than a year, I am so glad my parents did this for me. I got to assess people based on their actions, not stereotypes or bias my parents had told me. This is not true for everyone I meet though.
As shocking as it may seem, you do not come out of the womb with political views and hatred towards certain groups. Talking to my peers, it seems as though they have never really thought about this.
For example, people feel the need to hate gay people because it is against their beliefs. While they probably would not have an innate homophobic characteristic, they inherit this belief from their home without thinking about it. As much as teens hope to rebel against their parents, they really are just blindly acting based on their parents beliefs.
Thinking differently from your parents is not a bad thing, nor should it be seen as disrespectful. Once you hit a certain age, you must determine your personal beliefs.
Closing yourself off to different groups makes life so unfulfilling. You never get to explore things for yourself because you are so closed off by someone else’s experiences. Thinking something just because you are told to is a form of mind control and should not be as wildly accepted as it is.
As an adult you need to make your own decisions that benefit you best, and not creating your own beliefs, regardless of what they actually are, will hold you back from your fullest potential. Everyone needs to have the process of trial and error to see what is true in the world and what is fiction their parents told them to keep them safe.
Without the freedom to make our own decisions, today’s youth will be stuck in previous generations of racism and prejudices. Free will was given for a purpose and not making an educated decision is disrespecting that precious gift.
