Labels
Have you ever been labelled by someone? If not, you are a very lucky person indeed. Name calling at school can stick and become a label for life. Even when the name calling stops, the negative effect this can have on your self esteem can be a lifelong burden. How many of you still believe you are fat, ugly, specky, worthless, stupid, scruffy or all of these, due to name calling at school from other children? Most of us as children have experienced some form of labelling.

But how many of us as adults have experienced it yet again? Once we grow up, you would think we wouldn’t have to defend ourselves against these labels, but we do. I’m sure we’ve all had some experience of fighting off judgements and criticisms from other people, forced upon us at some time. But other people’s opinions are just that. Their opinions. Opinions are individual beliefs, not facts.

But what about labels put upon us by authority figures? Police, doctors, psychiatrists etc. These labels can be more like a permanent tattoo. And just like other people who label, they sometimes can be wrong, or just lacking in understanding. Have you ever been labelled by an authority figure and just taken it on board without questioning it? Or have you screamed inside at the injustice of it? An authority-imposed label can leave you as defenceless as a child in the playground being called names. It has a deeper impact on you. The only difference is, that you are an adult, supposedly a fully functioning one, capable of caring for yourself, possibly a family too. But inside you are as defenceless as a child.

Labels can be a positive thing too. They can be an enormous relief to some people. Finding out what is wrong and giving it a name at last after suffering, can be so freeing. Utter incomprehension of the label can also be a response for others.

Some labels are not easily understood, especially the ones doled out far too easily by psychiatrists, for instance. It can take years to understand it for the average person. It’s as if they have their own coded language, deliberately created to keep you from understanding it. If you question your new title, you can be told not to bother yourself asking silly questions about it! So you just get on with your life, and your medication (which usually goes hand in hand with a label). If you react and try to rebel against your label, then they can slap another on for good measure. So much for freedom of speech eh!

When we call people, without even thinking about the effects on the person involved, we are reinforcing all those negative emotions usually experienced as a child. Names like queer, puff, black bastard, nigger, nutter, psycho, fat cow.... Oh they go on and on. We have all done it at some time. Usually, ignorance, anger or lack of understanding is at the root of it. Some of us will do it again and never question why. All I am asking you to do, is think about the effects labelling has had on you in the past as a child, or even still now as an adult. Do you really want to go around inflicting such pain and confusion on others? Do you really want to be at the root of another person’s pain? If so why? Ask yourself why you, an average caring person, would want to be responsible for inflicting emotional, possibly lifelong pain on someone else. What is the difference between an emotional assault and a physical assault? Cuts and bruises can heal and the body can regain some level of normality. Insults, labels and assaults on a person’s self esteem can last forever. There can be no return to normality.

So, if you are one of those like me, who want your community to become the ‘close knit’ neighbourhood it once was, think about it. It’s not just those kids, the vandals (who are so often blamed) stopping it coming together. We all have a responsibility to work together and make our community the proud place it once was.