Angelee Rios

Standing Up

Scared of standing up to a parent or someone older than you? Take it from me, I understand. There are many people to help you that have done it in our past. Think of Martin Luther King. He stood up for what he believed in with non-violent civil disobedience. This means, without using violence, he walked through the streets to fight for African-American rights. Of course, there were disagreements and King got thrown in jail many times, but he still fought.

Another example would be Mahatma Gandhi. He first fought for Hindu rights. He also did this with non-violent civil disobedience. He later fought for the expansion of women’s rights, to end untouchability, and to increase economic self-reliance.

Now, standing up doesn’t have to be something as big as sticking up to the government. Something big always starts as something small. Even something as small as standing up to your teacher or parent. If you’re too shy to speak up, try some techniques:

1) Count to 5 or 10. This will give you time to build your courage. Try not to do it more than once. As you continue to do this, you won’t even need to do it anymore.

2) Write down what you want to say. This will let you write out your words first, making you feel more comfortable when speaking up.

3) Write it in the form of a letter. If you’re a typically shy person, write it in a letter. This way, you don’t have to keep your opinion inside. You can write it in a letter to tell them how you feel.

Just recently, I confronted my father and told him something I have only thought about telling him. I started by asking him if we could talk. We ended up going for a ride. This have me a chance to leave the house and talk freely. He let me talk and at the end we talked about what I could do to possibly change the situation and he told me what he could do to change the situation. It’s always good to listen to what the other is saying. There are always two sides to a story, and you have to understand both sides.

Standing up doesn’t have to be at home. In my class, there is a boy that is constantly teasing people’s races and religion, and would never get in trouble. After being fed up, one kid stood up. That’s all it took. That kid went to the dean, and asked for a complaint form. That’s when everybody decided that we can’t let him push us around anymore. The class created and signed a petition to show the dean all of the things that he said PERSONALLY to us. It is never good to write something you heard he did.

That one kid started a great chance for the quiet kids in the back to stand up. Now, I’m DEFINITELY not a quiet kid in the back, but I was never the person to stick up for myself. I eventually became that one kid - and you can too, if you have enough drive. You could even have a friend go with you for support. We even had a teacher who has seen the boys rudeness go to the dean and complain herself. Now, we didn’t know wether he would be in trouble or not, but it felt good to know that they knew what he did and we all chipped in and stood up as a group. Now it may start with one person, but many will follow.