By Rafael Wells
Conflict in human society isn’t limited to any one group. It affects older people and younger people. It affects men and women. Conflict also knows no bounds in location. School fights often start from insignificant disputes. Some may view fighting as a part of growing up especially for teenage males. But there are better solutions to teenage disputes than physical violence.
Students who fight offer excuses: somebody insulted or disrespected them; they had a long-standing disagreement with another person; their relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend is threatened; someone hit or bumped them; they have anger management issues; an instigating crowd coerced them; they feel they are losers if they don’t fight; they have reputations to uphold. These excuses do not justify physical violence.
Excuses for fighting result from teenagers feeling attacked or threatened. This is amplified by the imbalance of hormones in their bodies and the workings of the teenage brain. If more students understood what was really going on, they would talk out their issues in order to resolve conflicts. Students should take a moment to think: “Maybe they’re going through the same problems as me.” Instead of throwing punches and kicks because of a disagreement, students should agree to disagree or try to find common ground. Students should try to build friendships rather than hurting one another. When students feel disrespected or insulted, they could ask themselves if they will be thinking about this moment 15 to 20 years from now. If students put more effort into analyzing and reasoning than swinging and scrapping, the number of fights would decrease exponentially.
Just because somebody bumps into you doesn’t mean he wants to start a fight. Some kid could bump into you because he was deep in thought about a sick loved one or some other serious matter at home. Now you are in a fight because you jumped to conclusions and allowed your anger to get the best of you. The situation required you to take a second and breathe or just move on. Yes, some people do bump into students to incite a confrontation, but that doesn’t mean that you have to fight. Either way, it is your responsibility to use common sense and do things that separate us from animals. Any animal can fight to prove something, but it takes an intelligent animal to find a better solution to disputes.
Aggression started as something that helped animals get food and a mate, but better and more effective ways to obtain these things have been developed; however, the primal concept of aggression still lingers inside humans and contributes to their lust for violence. As higher life forms, however, we shouldn’t give into primal and carnal instincts because we are better than that. Students who don’t fight may feel their peers will view them as weak and inferior, which is far from the truth. If you don’t fight, it proves just how strong you are because it demonstrates a higher form of thinking. Not fighting doesn’t make you a loser; it makes you a winner because you were the bigger individual in the situation, the one who took the moral high ground. You never know, your act of evolved maturity could inspire others to do the same.
The worst thing you could do is fight over a boyfriend or girlfriend. If the individual were worth your time and effort, he would not have you in a situation that would lead to a fight. Some might ask, “What if somebody flirts with your significant other?” Well, you still don’t fight. You simply ask them to stop or just move on from the situation, but don’t let that one moment ruin your high school career. Lots of students say they are fighting for their significant other’s honor, but in reality all that they are doing is trying to make themselves feel good. Words are mightier than fists. Talking out your problems has a better result than fighting. Students need to open their eyes and realize that what they have in common is greater than their differences.
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