Stop rejecting! Start accepting!

15 years ago

Stop rejecting! Start accepting!

By Abby Clark

Grade 7 (House 2)
Presque Isle Middle School

    Rejection is the extreme exclusion of a group or person just because they are different than you, either mentally or physically. Everyone is different in his or her own way, however everyone should be treated equally. We should treat others exactly how we want to be treated, no less. Rejection hurts, but with help we can turn this pain to joy, and make our school an accepting community. 

    Today a majority of teens are feeling the pain of rejection. According to Christian daily.com, over sixty-nine percent of teenagers between the ages of twelve and eighteen are often rejected because of the way they look, act, function, popularity status, and where they stand economically. For example, in school those who are not as popular as others are often times excluded from groups, cliques, playground games, and clubs. Above are various reasons why kids reject others, but none of these are a good enough excuse to exclude someone.
    Rejection often times pushes kids to the breaking point. Some kids have been excluded so many times by so many people that they start thinking that they are being rejected because they have something wrong with them. In some cases, kids even go into depression and commit suicide. According to Christian daily.com over fifteen thousand teens a year resort to suicide because they feel rejected by peers and sometimes – even adults. For example, if a child is feeling rejected, they may miss school, not do homework, run away; some may get caught up in drugs and/or gangs. Whether you are young or old, rejection can affect you negatively.
    A lot of people wonder how rejection gets started. Most of the time rejection can begin at home. The child’s parents or guardians may neglect the child by not showing love, ignore them, or abuse them. This can be the start of the “Rejection Cycle.” What happens in this cycle is one person is rejected or excluded by someone around him or her. Then the victim usually takes their anger out on others by rejecting them; therefore, the victim becomes the victimizer. Then the new victim can do the same to others and so on and so forth. This cycle will go on forever unless, people begin to accept and not reject others.
    Some people are already taking the steps to stop rejection. Teachers at the Presque Isle Middle School are always trying to find ways to avoid rejection. They do this by talking about character education year round and finding activities that require students to get along, include everyone, and show good teamwork. As a result of their effort, kids at the PI middle school feel good about who they are, instead of feeling bad about who they aren’t.
    School should be a safe learning area for kids, but with the constant hurt of rejection it’s hard to feel accepted in a dolor filled atmosphere. Rejection is so painful to go through and has serious consequences like suicide and depression. People should not be judged because of physical and/or mental traits, people should just be accepted for who they are. Rejection damages people not only from the outside, but also on the inside. I know what it feels like to be rejected from the popular crowd. Rejection needs to be stopped and students are the only ones who can stop it! The only way to stop rejection is if we all work together, to create a positive school community.