Jokes? Jokes? Jokes?
“What we can do is uplift each other. Try not to engage when you know your friend or classmates are in the wrong. We should find a way as a community to shine light on each other, make sure we are feeling worthy and full of a sense of belonging. We can do better.”
Jokes? Jokes? Jokes? What do people mean when they say “I'm joking”?
There are times where people see jokes as an acceptable ha ha moment, but on the other hand, more or less people will think of jokes as a sensation of attack. It comes to a point where many people cannot see the fine line between a joke and disrespect. It’s not even a matter of how people feel anymore. There will be subtle comments that are impudent and people show no remorse for the things that they say. I will speak about why the people in the community are comfortable mistreating each other. The level of disrespect or verbal violence needs to be resolved. The fact that we are friends shouldn’t change anything. Respect should come in all kinds of ways. The saying “treat people the way you want to be treated” should be valued and prioritized at Comp Sci High.
Why are people in our community so sassy? Why do people say words like “move” instead of “excuse me”? Or why, when people are at fault, do they not want to own up to their actions? Such things occur everywhere, but why do they occur so often here at a Comp Sci High? There is all kinds of sass in this community, starting with the disrespect among the students. To many teachers they see it more as frustration and impoliteness, but young students see it as they are just being kids, or simply just joking. But let me ask you, are the words that come out of your mouth just a joke or is there some meaning behind it? Students say that something they said was a joke, but then their words resulted in a student crying. I wonder if they did such a thing intentionally because they knew what they were doing and it would trigger them, like when you intentionally say something you feel and then try to laugh it off as if it was a joke knowing the other person or people is hurt by it. This highlights why so many fights and dislike towards people occur. The way you treat people is the way people also pick up a bad or good impression of you. So why would you want to be seen as the person who is disrespectful?
On a day to day basis at school, we get a lot of signs of sassiness. Walking to my classes, there isn't any demeanor. I see people fighting their way to get to class without saying “excuse me” or “may I get through please”. Another form of sassiness that happens in our community is sarcasm. It plays a big role at Comp Sci High. Once, I witnessed Ms.Nadimpalli trying to go over the school policy rules, and a student said “Oh wow, I never knew this” in a sarcastic way. That is sassiness right there. Some people might not know that they are being sarcastic because it's either their attitude or how they are. So instead, they are seeing it from an inside rather than an outside perspective. The result of this is that I don’t know if people are genuine or not. This is a problem because students in our community don’t see sarcasm or being sassy as a kind of discourtesy.
What is a joke to you? Because a joke to me is a laughter amongst friends without feeling the strain of having to force a laugh because one of your friends said something displeasing, or not right just to get a laugh out of you. You don’t have to be talking about somebody to make a joke! For instance, saying phrases like “oh his or her hair looks terrible did you see it”, or “she or he looks ugly, or “ they stink”. Does talking shit make you happy? For the people who think so, have you tried holding your friend accountable by saying, “this is wrong, stop doing that”? I promise words go much further when it comes from a friend rather than a random person. I say this because if the person has much respect for you as a friend then they would listen. We need to do better when it comes to checking our friends when they are wrong rather than letting them continue doing what they are doing and thinking it’s ok.
On Monday, November 13, 2023, there was a question asked across all advisories. The question asked was “Why are the people in our community comfortable mistreating each other?”. People in my advisory came across a lot of good points. What was said was “no one can fight our battles so we have to put it into our own hands” and “people are used to mistreating each other”. There will be times where fights break out and there is not really a consequence. Students feel the need to disrespect one another because it is just how they are, or because they don’t see it as disrespect, due to their mindset and generation. Instead students will see it more as a way to conversate without emotions tied to the heartfelt comments. Don't you see it? Isn’t there something wrong about this? Imagine living up to this everyday and having to deal with it. Jokes can be said but the meaning behind them has two options, both different. Do you actually mean the joke? Or are there no type of attached feelings towards the joke? If so, you're just saying it out of your ass and not your heart.
There is no constant change in our community. Whatever we say or try to do won’t change the fact of how people mistreat each other or disrespect each other. What we can do is uplift each other. Try not to engage when you know your friend or classmates are in the wrong. We should find a way as a community to shine light on each other, make sure we are feeling worthy and full of a sense of belonging. We can do better.