I am writing this article in hope that this will change some negative views towards modified people. Although I do hand out all my respect to modified people, young or old, I am specifically writing this article about modified teenagers.
At A Glance Author Josie When N/A Location Victoria BC
Let me first give you a some back-round on myself. I am 14 years old, soon to be 15. My ear lobes are stretched to 12 gauge, one cartilage piercing, an eyebrow piercing, and I have orange and purple hair. It sometimes gives me negative attention. As I grow older, it saddens me to think of the very few jobs who will accept me, merely because of the way I look.
I think it is absolutely sick how some people can think only the "normal" people should have money, a career, or an education. Everyone is equal, so why can't we just all be treated like we are equal? It's not right to categorize people. Prejudice affects an individual more than you think.
What will I do about this? I will stay the same. I will not change for anyone. I will not take out my piercings and dye my hair brown so I can just be accepted for a job. Or by anyone. NO teenager should have to wear a mask to hide their true inner selves just because the atmosphere they work in wants them to look a certain way. We are just beginning life and want to know who we really are, and experiment with our creativity. The last thing we need is to be judged as a bad person. As if us teenagers aren't dealing with enough in our lives already.
So, why exactly don't good paying jobs accept modification? Simply because they want their customers to be at ease with a "normal" looking employee. Most jobs don't accept a little piece of metal in one's face, or even a tiny tattoo. Some people mistake us modified people as "insane". They are wrong. It's a sad world we live in. Some people just can't seem to look further inside a person, and see the real beauty within.
Many Catholic schools require strict dress codes. Each and every student is meant to look the same, in a respectable manner. When they graduate from a Catholic school, it makes you start to wonder why they rebel against the "latest fashions" and such. I, myself, was a Catholic elementary school student, and it hurt to be taught that only "normal" looking people had good in them. This really made me wonder: what example are they trying to set for these kids at such a young age? They teach them how to look, and act towards others. Sure, being in a strict elementary school put me in my place, but did it really teach us anything about respect? No. This is when a child must teach himself what it really is.
And, what about public schools? Do they accept students' self expression? Some, but unfortunately, not many. It's not just the dress code for a particular school, but the actions other students make towards the more "different" students. This forms into cliques, and bullying. Is the bullied really going to tell everyone "Please help, a person is bullying me just because they don't like the way I look"? No. It's always after the bully has done enough damage that people around us start to realize how serious it is.
Sadly, a teenager may have low self-esteem and choose to pierce/tattoo/cut themselves to make them feel better about themselves. A teenager could be going through depression and choose to hurt themselves, and wear the pain on the outside. Some may do it for the attention. But then again, they can simply modify themselves because they like the look of it. We'll never really know why for that matter, but for whatever reason, everyone should be able to modify themselves through self expression, whatever the age.
Next time you call a teenager a freak just for expressing themselves, stop for a moment and think. How would you feel if someone said this to you or thought this about you, yet they don't even know you? Only a fool judges, so that fool should just take a look at themselves for a moment. Who is the real freak? Not the judged, but the person who judges.
I strongly believe no teenager should ever have to face consequences of choosing to live on the street, or commit suicide, just because they can't be accepted for a job, or accepted by ANYONE just for being themselves. We all have fragile lives, and in the blink of an eye, it can break. We learn many things from individuals. We learn about true beauty. Sadly enough, we will always remember those who took their lives, just because they were simply themselves, and not accepted for the being beautiful person they were.