The Power of One

The Issues class today was one of my favorite days I've ever had in my entire educational career. We talked about class colors, which I previously blogged about. Of course, I am the minority in the belief that we should give up our ties to wearing black as seniors. The majority of people in the school and in the class feel that the class colors are a tradition worth keeping around and look forward to the time they are seniors and get to act crazy at the pep rally/beyond.

I won't get into the specifics of my viewpoints here as I already blogged about that. What I'd like to talk about is my philosophy on group persuasion. Although my opinion was the minority's, I was able persuade group members of the majority or undecided members to see and be more open to my viewpoint. Psychologists call this "minority influence" which they say will only be effective if that group is unwavering in their convictions and do not give in or conform to the majority ways.

Everything about being a minority goes against what we want to feel as teenagers; you do not fit in with the others, you are disliked for not conforming, and you are not loved. It is hard to be the one who stands up and says, "Stop! I disagree with what you're doing". This is hard at any age but the fear is especially amplified in high school. However, it is so important that you learn now how to not give into social conformity if the majority belief isn't something that you believe in. Standing up for yourself is a muscle, and, like any other muscle, you need to use it to make it grow stronger. Practice standing up for yourself everyday and eventually it will be a reflex.

Why practice standing up for your beliefs? The answer is in every history textbook; the people we remember and honor at the head of every movement are people who said "enough" to the majority. Without those people, there would be so much more injustice in our society.