Defining Numbers.

SCHOOL:

Our whole lives we are told to get good grades, keep a high GPA, pass the ACT/SAT, or even just an ordinary class test. We are told that we really are not smart with out the A or B showing on the report cards at the end of term. We are told that if we do not have the 3.5-4.0 GPA on the transcript or being in the top percentile we can not get into a good college or that we would have to settle for a 2 year school. Some times people even told us that we would be behind in our ‘class’ and or have to settle for a factory job for the rest of our lives.

All I can think about is raising a generation to think that they aren’t enough without having perfect scores on their SAT/ACT, a 4.0 GPA, or being in the top of the percentile for their class. If people base their worth on grades then they will never be ‘good enough.’ I remember thinking I wasn’t good enough to get into college and make something of myself, heck I didn’t even apply for a 4-year school at the time because what was the point, I would have been rejected anyways. But hey numbers DON’T define you, right?

SOCIAL MEDIA:

As well as now with the many social media apps we have available to us it’s how many likes per picture can we get or even just as simple as how many friends we have.

I hear little kids and even some adults who complain about not having enough likes or ONLY having 400+ friends on instagram/facebook/snapchat. If people base their life on who has the most likes and commenting rude or mean comments on other pictures because they don’t have the same number as them it turns into more than just a number now its bulling. 12 year olds attacking other 12 year olds for not being ‘cute,’ ‘the best/worst,’ or just simply saying they are ugly. Personally I have read comments and it has been in the news that kids these days are being told to go kill themselves. Since when is it okay or justifiable for people to tell others that they don’t deserve to live, all over some jealously on how many followers and likes they have? But hey numbers DON’T define you, right?

SIZE:

I don’t know how many times I have heard numbers on a scale don’t define you but yet people get overly criticized for not being a size 2 or lower or people get criticized for being to ‘big’ or plus sized. But even then the very same people who get criticized for being too ‘little/big’ are being told to eat or not eat a cheeseburger.

It even goes as far as stepping on a scale. We are weighed every time we got to the doctors office and we are judged constantly by the number that appear on the scale. I know that they need to do this for their records and our health but the judgmental eyes and the mumbling under their breath when they read the numbers its not necessary. Even if it doesn’t happen at the doctor’s office I cannot count how many times I have heard people who are at the gym say they need to ‘lose a few pounds’ or that another individual should ‘hit the gym a bit harder’. But hey numbers DON’T define you, right?

OVERALL:

All in all if we teach people or let people think their self worth is in some numbers then what are we really teaching them? Are we teaching them that their self-worth lies in the face of people who don’t know them, for more likes or followers? Are we teaching them that because they are not a size two or they are plus sized that they are not pretty enough? If a number on a piece of paper, the size of someone, or even the number of likes means more to someone rather than believing in themselves and always shooting to be the best possible person they can be then what are actually teaching? So hey, numbers, they DON’T define you, you define you.