Hypercritical students make for a toxic school setting

Hypercritical+students+make+for+a+toxic+school+setting

Haeleigh Bayle, Editor

As I walk through the halls I cannot help but notice just how critical students are of one another. It’s as if they cannot bear to hear one another’s opinions or beliefs without calling them names or making them feel as though they are not worth their time. It’s annoying even just hearing students make a classmate feel horrible for their grades or scores on different tests/exams. These negative and hypercritical attitudes are causing a rather toxic atmosphere here at school and it needs to come to an end.

Being unreasonably critical of people not only makes the individual look bad, but also those who are with that negative person. If a teacher or faculty member sees one student talking down on another, they may assume that those with the critical student are of like behavior. Nobody wants to be seen as a bully or jerk to others because it may ruin any positive reputation they may have. Sitting in the lunch room, I have heard many people bash others for certain things they believe in. There’s one concept a majority of people do not understand, which is really sad. The concept many ignore is that you do not have to necessarily agree with someone on a certain topic, but you still need to respect it. We as a collective student and school body have all formulated our own opinions on a vast array of topics, but does that mean we are entitled to criticize and demoralize others? Absolutely not.

The critical attitude of these students is slowly tearing away the peace within the school. If this problem is going to be solved students need to exhibit two major things: patience and understanding. Patience is hard for everyone, but if we all work together, we may be able to conquer this rather toxic demeanor within the school. This process of patience and understanding will take dedication and time, but this is of the utmost necessity if this school wants to strive in education and a positive atmosphere.