What is the purpose of having a name when society never uses it? You are a person walking through life without any trace of a genuine identity. You are dehumanized by a world oppressing you by your numbers, and there is no escape. When you enter a room full of people that have no knowledge of who you are, they do not think to themselves, “She looks like a Karen”. People see your height, your weight, your age, all your possible numbers. You do not have a name, but you have numbers. A television show is cancelled when they do not have a certain number of viewers watching their program. On YouTube, people look at the number of views, likes, and comments before even watching the video for themselves. This article that I am writing may not get a lot of recognition if I do not have a large number of readers. Numbers have proven themselves to be a concrete element in the makeup of today’s society.
Numbers create a reputation for the new generation of children. Students in school are forced to take standardized test that determine the outcome of their future. Although they have other skills that cannot be assessed by a mathematical formula, society only notices test scores. Numbers provide a concrete label that lingers with the child over the course of their education. Our leaders of education have taken an easy route to categorize the youth by calculating numbers and have failed to realize that these numbers lack authenticity. When you look at a child, you do not see a series of numbers, but you can clearly see a series of traits that make up the child’s character. Numbers cannot determine a child’s attitude, social skills, or a set of values. Numbers have alienated society from looking at the aspects of a person that really matters. Our society is turning children into machines, and teaching them how to reiterate information to acquire an exceptional number.
These test scores are only the beginning to a lifetime of oppression. As high school seniors are figuring out which college best suits their career paths, colleges demand a set of numbers a student must acquire in order to be accepted into a university. Seniors are constantly attempting to elevate these numbers to access the gateway to success. Colleges do not only assess test scores, but also demand students to pay a significant number in order to attend. This forces students to work jobs, ask for financial guidance and require guardians to help them pay the ridiculous amounts of currency. Education is not supposed to be a number, but a learning experience to expand the mind of an student, thus creating an individual of society. We live by the number because our code of ethics is slanted due to a numerical scale in which we are forced to balance.
These numbers have also taken a toll on everyday simple interactions which is rapidly destroying social order. People post on social media regularly, and the poster tends to disregard the post itself. The poster is concerned about the number of likes and comments they receive, and they also find it more important to gain followers. These numbers mean so much to users that people even go into depression or become antisocial. Social interaction has become more difficult for our youth due to this virtual route that promises, these victims of social media, a synthetic life only effective online. The Internet causes people to unconsciously sacrifice their traits in everyday interactions in order to the life they are “living” online.
Do not let your numbers define the individual you are. Overcome the labels society has placed on you, and prove the world wrong. Do not leave this world without making a difference, and proving you are more than just a number. You are a human being, not a puppet for society to control. Break every tie holding you back, destroy every label tainting your precious name and never give in to what society is forcing you to become. You are not just a another reader of this article, you are a human being that has obtained another opinion which has now strengthened your own. Demand for society to remember your name and that you are an individual standing for your own views. Dear Government, my name is Kira Stallworth, and I am not a social security number.
