South’s environment has become increasingly inclusive. We have become more open and accepting of others at South with activities like Wellness Week, along with our intersectional feminists, GSA, Patriots Club and SEEDS organizations.
We at The Tower commend these efforts being made to make sure everyone feels welcome. While this is important, we also need to make sure we are not leaving others behind while we grow as a society.
We realize the value in being politically correct. It is critical to use your voice when others are being discriminated against. Likewise, it is important to not use that voice to hurt or insult others of minority or socially disadvantaged groups.
It is easier now more than ever, especially with everyone’s online footprint, for politically incorrect comments to be noticed and called out. While we agree it is crucial to make people own up to their behavior, we need to make sure we aren’t stifling their ability to grow. People make mistakes. Students, teachers, peers, us at The Tower— we and they all always will; it’s part of being human, and it’s also part of being high school students. As teenagers, we are still at a young, impressionable age where we are more likely to make uneducated choices.
That’s why we can’t let one person’s mistakes shape our whole view of them. If they apologize, realize what they did was wrong and work toward not doing it again, we should be able to let them grow. We should be able to forgive and move forward because nothing productive or positive can come from being stuck in someone’s past.
If we perpetuate “cancel culture”–the notion that someone is essentially “over” for making an ignorant comment or post–that person is less willing to learn what they did wrong and will most likely repeat the mistake.
Therefore, society needs to normalize learning from our mistakes. In order to get people to become comfortable with growing their views and mindsets, we need to accept growth at South, in Grosse Pointe, online and in any aspect of the community. We are not the same person we were five years ago or even the same person we were yesterday. As individuals we are not 100 percent right 100 percent of the time.
But that’s okay. That’s what us and society need to realize–it’s okay to be wrong. We need to support those who are, because they can’t grow unless they feel comfortable enough to. We should realize that being wrong, despite being seen as a bad thing, is actually the most natural thing in the world.
We at The Tower believe not only being politically correct is important, but helping others become politically correct has also become increasingly necessary. If someone makes an ignorant comment, instead of shutting them down or attacking them, try explaining to them why what they said was wrong or ask them why they said what they said.
We realize there will always be people who refuse to change, who will keep harboring the same stereotypes and misconceptions no matter what. But for those people who you can help grow, you are also helping yourself grow.
At South, we know we can be better, and maybe that starts with an explanation instead of an argument. Maybe it starts with seeing the potential in everyone to grow rather than their potential to fail. Whatever it may be, we challenge South to heed this in mind the next time you see someone being ‘cancelled’ and remember that we do not remain the same person with the same views and perspectives our whole lives.