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Adults and children are nearly two entirely separate species. Children are intrinsically good people who act badly, while, metaphorically speaking, adults are inherently bad people trying to act as if they are good. Children are blank slates, not yet colored by the corruption of the world. The crossover to adulthood comes when a child loses their naïve state of thinking in exchange for a realistic understanding of the world around them. My parents sent me to a Jewish day school so that I could grow up in an environment where Jewish traditions were encouraged in hopes that I would gain a strong enough religious background to stand strong against the intolerance they experienced growing up and foresaw me experiencing in the future. Their plan worked to some extent. Spending the majority of my time with people just like me did not provide much room for prejudice; however, as my time came to a close at Albert Einstein, I was quickly forced to realize that the world was going to test my Jewish faith.
Over the course of my seven years at Albert Einstein, I learned of countless incidents of Jewish persecution; however, I brushed them off as unimportant, useless information because I thought it was dumb to dwell in the past when I lived in a society so accepting of differences- or so I thought. While vacationing with my family in London several years back, my blank slate was permanently colored, not by beautiful artwork, but by distasteful graffiti. I was well aware that Israel was fighting a war with the Palestinian people; however American media tends to be biased towards the Israelis which is why I was not expecting the experience I received. While walking the streets of London, we came across a huge gathering of people in Trafalgar Square. Curious as to what was going on, we ventured closer to find that it was a protest against Jewish people. This was all in accordance to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon; however, I hardly thought such an occurrence deserved a display charged with so much hatred (the main message being "death to the Jews).
Children are not born with hatred. You can put a hundred kids of all different races, religions, sexes, and sizes in a room together and they will not judge each other or treat each other the way society has directed us to act towards certain groups. It is experiences like this that imprint hatred in our minds as we mature. As I recount my life thus far, my experience in London is definitely what sticks out as the initiation of my transition to adulthood.
Adults and children are nearly two entirely separate species. Children are intrinsically good people who act badly, while, metaphorically speaking, adults are inherently bad people trying to act as if they are good. Children are blank slates, not yet colored by the corruption of the world. The crossover to adulthood comes when a child loses their naïve state of thinking in exchange for a realistic understanding of the world around them. My parents sent me to a Jewish day school so that I could grow up in an environment where Jewish traditions were encouraged in hopes that I would gain a strong enough religious background to stand strong against the intolerance they experienced growing up and foresaw me experiencing in the future. Their plan worked to some extent. Spending the majority of my time with people just like me did not provide much room for prejudice; however, as my time came to a close at Albert Einstein, I was quickly forced to realize that the world was going to test my Jewish faith.
Over the course of my seven years at Albert Einstein, I learned of countless incidents of Jewish persecution; however, I brushed them off as unimportant, useless information because I thought it was dumb to dwell in the past when I lived in a society so accepting of differences- or so I thought. While vacationing with my family in London several years back, my blank slate was permanently colored, not by beautiful artwork, but by distasteful graffiti. I was well aware that Israel was fighting a war with the Palestinian people; however American media tends to be biased towards the Israelis which is why I was not expecting the experience I received. While walking the streets of London, we came across a huge gathering of people in Trafalgar Square. Curious as to what was going on, we ventured closer to find that it was a protest against Jewish people. This was all in accordance to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon; however, I hardly thought such an occurrence deserved a display charged with so much hatred (the main message being "death to the Jews).
Children are not born with hatred. You can put a hundred kids of all different races, religions, sexes, and sizes in a room together and they will not judge each other or treat each other the way society has directed us to act towards certain groups. It is experiences like this that imprint hatred in our minds as we mature. As I recount my life thus far, my experience in London is definitely what sticks out as the initiation of my transition to adulthood.