Human Rights Essay
Alyssa Nauska
[8th grade Winner]
Human Rights plays a role in everyone’s life, but not everyone realizes it. It’s involved in
every comment you make that includes someone different. Every near discriminatory “joke” you
say. It affects people, even if it doesn’t affect you.
Human rights means being able to hold hands with the person you love, work where
you’re qualified to work without your skin color or sexual orientation being the reason you can’t;
it means having the right to be human, making choices and mistakes.
Everyday I hear comments being made about this being “gay” and other comments about
that being “retarded.” There are an estimated 1,019,729 words in the English language. What I
don’t understand is why these words are chosen to describe something meager or something that
lacks quality.
Society has gotten to the point where people think it doesn’t matter what they say, that
they think their comments and hate don’t affect other people. Humans are often hurtful towards
each other, but I believe we all were born with the innate of compassion and love.
These days, I see parents showing their kids what to think instead of how to think. I see
people not being able to marry someone they love because they are the same gender, even
though it is acceptable to marry someone then divorce the next day. People say gays aren’t
socially acceptable, but the thing is, slavery was once the norm. So what does that say about our
community in Juneau?
I hear and see this type of thing everyday; people being ignorant and neglecting the
notion that all humans are equal. I wish I didn’t see bias and prejudice, but I do. I often witness
people in Juneau, young and old, ignoring the fact that we’re the same.
Humans aren’t born racist, homophobic or sexist. We were born equal. So why is it
everyone is bent on believing that one life is less important than another? Why is it a person high
up in society can get away with something other people can’t? How is that equal? Why is one
religion “correct” while a different one is frowned upon? What gives other people the right to
decide who I wanna be and what I want to do with my life?
I don’t believe in God, and I’m constantly being told that I’m locked out of Heaven for
it. But who knows what happens after we’re done here? That’s right, no one. So I’m basically
being held back by people who honestly don’t know any more than I do about it.
The right to be who we’re destined to be belongs to everyone, not just people who are
favored or socially acceptable. I can look around and see a flawed humanity. My one hope is to
see that change. Because we may be different on the outside, but we are all human. Nothing else
should define us. not race, sex, or sexual orientation.
