In society, we tend to see someone and make a quick, uninformed judgment about them. Once we have decided what kind of person they are, our perception of them does not easily change. Why is it that we force people to conform to one set of archaic epithet when, even if that aspect may be true, it is not the entirety of a person. We see a child with hand-me-down clothing that does not fit properly and people's first thought would be, "uneducated and poor". Thus, they are looked down upon. However, you just wrote off a child, a child in whom has so much potential.

Labeling is a common practice that we have become too complacent in. This practice in society is flawed for several reasons. One being, that no one fits into a box. When I was thirteen to help myself understand labels and how treacherous they can be I formulated an analogy. This analogy is that each box is a label, but a person is more than just that one label in which they are given. Hence, they either have to conform completely to that one specific denomination or they have to separate themselves so that a piece of themselves can be in each box that others and themselves have marked as "who they are".

This is where labeling becomes detrimental. For those who choose to try and make all of themself fit into one box, they become constricted, confined. This is especially bad for teenagers because the feeling of suffocating in that box while trying to figure out if they even belong there in the first place, is so disquieting. Added to the stress of eight hours of school, extracurriculars, hours of homework, homelife, friends, pressure to get into college--- to grow up without being allowed to make decisions on one's own; is it any wonder why anxiety levels in high schools now rival that of mental patients in the 1950's (according to a study done at Penn State)?

The same goes for those who choose to try and fit themselves in multiple boxes. This might seem like a better method but one gets pulled into all different directions (usually trying to make all parties happy). Just like how the boxes are separate, so is the person. It would leave a strained, incomplete feeling. I believe because by forcing yourself to be separate, you cannot be whole. To be whole is to accept that labels are not real, they do not define you. One can not live in a box.