One thing that humans love with a passion is stereotyping. Why you ask? Well because it is so easy to put people into groups and judge them off of that. sure sometimes it’s true, but most of the time it’s not, and that’s not fair at all.

There are all kinds of different ways that stereotypes are used. A couple could be the color of your hair, what grades you get in school, and even how much money you have. For example, saying “All blondes are dumb” is a stereotype. Is it a fact that all blondes are dumb? No, in fact some of the world’s smartest people are blonde. You don’t see Judge Judy sitting on the streets being a bum because she failed school so bad she had to drop out! Another big stereotype is “All smart people are unsocial nerds.” Even movies make that one seem to be true. My mom tells me I’m smart all the time, but I’m definitely not unsocial. I’m pretty positive I’m not a nerd either.

Another huge stereotype comes from the color of your skin or where you come from. Have you ever heard “Black people jump really high” or “Chinese people are really good at ping pong” or “All Americans are fat”? All of those are stereotypes. Just because you see a lot of black people in sports that jump really high doesn’t mean they all do. Also, I bet there are a quite a few people in China that are horrible at ping pong, and all Americans definitely are not fat.

Have you ever had someone not like you because of the people you hang out with? That’s also stereotyping. A lot of people who don’t even know you at all do this. Parents and teachers are even huge culprits of doing this to kids and teens. They think that just because your friends like to do bad stuff that you do too. Sometimes that can be very true but not always. I can’t speak for everyone when I say this, but I have my own mind and I make my own decisions, not my friends.

In conclusion stereotypes aren’t fair to anyone. By stereotyping you are just missing out on a chance to really get to know a person. Make sure you know someone before you judge them. People can surprise you.