Were You a Better Human as a Child?

With so many recent mass shootings, hate crimes, rampant racism, and bigotry, I’m starting to wonder if people have always been this shitty. Has this deplorable behavior been a constant in the 48 years I’ve been in this world?

It seems worse than when I was a kid. I don’t recall our country being this violent and horrible toward each other as it’s been over the past decade or so. So have we grown better or worse as people? Aren’t we generally supposed to get better with age?

I want you to think back to what you were like as a child. Remember back to Grade-School-You. What was that child like?

Was He/She angry? Were you mean to some kids? Did you choose not to play with other kids if they were different than you? A different race? Or into different hobbies and interests? Did you feel anger toward kids who were different? Did you want to hurt them?

If you were wonderful as a small child, are you still like that now? Has becoming a young adult, middle-aged, or elderly changed you for the worse? Or do you still treat everyone wonderfully, like you did as a child?

If you look back to childhood and realize that you treat people marginally or noticeably worse now as an adult, what do you think caused that? What changed from childhood to adulthood that led you to treat others worse than when you were a more-accepting child?

I cannot imagine what people are thinking when they decide to commit a mass shooting. Hell, I don’t even understand how people can post racist, bigoted nonsense openly online. Did your parents teach you that? Or did you pick that up along the way, as you aged?

Perhaps your friend group in high school taught you racism and bigotry. Maybe you’ve learned these ignorant traits within your workplace. Being in a relationship with an ignorant, racist, bigot can also turn some people into worse human beings than they were prior to being in that relationship.

I think back to my grade school through high school years and am aware of a few things. I clearly can remember all the way back to first grade, and every school year following it. There was a pattern and trend over time.

I had friends of all makes and models. All shapes and sizes. Friends whose parents or relatives came to this country from other lands. And I never thought a lot about it.

They were just my friends.

It didn’t matter if my first best buddies were tall and skinny, or noticeably overweight. I had friends who were Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian. I had friends who were girls when some boys wouldn’t play with girls.

They were just my friends.

I didn’t think I was big shit for being friends with kids who often didn’t look like I did. That didn’t matter to me in the least. One thing my parents taught us early on was to be nice to others. We were raised to be kind and to mind our manners.

I did well with that. It made sense to treat everyone kindly. I never saw the need to discriminate against or shun anyone who was nice to me. If you were good to me, I considered you a friend. I’d always have your back.

Why is this seemingly common-sense type of thing so hard for racists, bigots, and homophobes to understand? Have they forgotten what it was like to be a child? A kind-hearted, accepting child who would play with any other kid in the neighborhood within minutes of meeting them?

We need to get back to that kind of existence. During a time when you assumed the best about anyone you met on the playground. When it didn’t matter if they were your same race, gender, religion, or whatever else things these ignorant people get their panties in a bunch over.

You’d have a lot more friendships if you were more accepting. If you didn’t waste time arguing online and posting ignorant crap, making enemies, and purposely tearing down others, you’d have plenty of free time to be a good human being. Other wonderful humans are attracted to people putting out good vibes and wonderful messages to the world.

If you feel that you’ve changed for the worse, I hope you will remember what it was like to be that kid who’d make friends with any other kid you’d meet. It’s not that difficult to only judge others by how they treat you.

If we could be happy to meet new people, enjoy the similarities we share, and take an interest in learning about our differences, we could stop all of this violence and hate. It would be wonderful to all appreciate the beauty of grey, on this playground we call life. &:^)