We need to stop labelling people. Here’s why:

Labelling, seems like a pretty task to do right? But do we ever cease to think about the person who is on the other side, who is being labelled?  Ours is a generation that is surrounded by labels. From labelling a product to labelling a human being, we have mastered our path. In school, children are labelled by teachers and friends, I am sure we always remember a class having a clown or a diva. At home, children are labelled by their parents or guardians. In an office, an employee is labelled by their boss. So, this may seem like a never-ending cycle. 

Labelling can be considered as a trivial matter, but its effects are not trivial at all. In fact, these effects can even traumatize one. As we are well-aware, constant put-downs and negative criticism destroys self-confidence and it leads to a weak sense of self-esteem. For an example: if a child is being referred as stupid, idiot or dumb by parents or guardians at home, regardless of intentions, this could affect the child’s psychology negatively. Parents are an authority figure in a child’s life, after all a child learns most from the time spent with their parents, they believe that their parents are always right. Therefore, it is obvious that each and every action parents take will have a strong impact upon them. In the mind of children, their parents are their safe haven, they believe that their parents know them better than themselves and thus, they are infact stupid. Before we know, children start labelling themselves. 

Labels stick with people for life. When kids grow up, the labels grow along. Labelling can even be an unconscious fact engraved in the mind and the most affect this shows is on motivation and self-esteem, people believe in themselves a lot less than they should. When we put labels on people, we scuff away any opportunity for them to rise above the expectations of the very label. When one gets labelled all their life everywhere they go, negative emotions start to bottle up and these emotions start to feel suffocating. They end up unable to express their thoughts and expressions and start to zone out to their own private world where they live by no labels and are free to be themselves.  It seems like the safest option to be alone and live in isolation. After all, this world isn’t realistic and perfect as it seems.

Let’s put a full stop at sticking a label on people and acknowledge that everyone has a unique approach to life. I imagine a world where each individual is encouraged to be the way just the way they are. Rather, we can put efforts in making our society a better place to breathe in, where people will be free to express themselves and nurture their potential. Let’s keep the labels to jars.

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