Why does the School still exist?
I started this blog post back on the 24th of November in 2016, at 5:39 pm, like this:
“If everyone denies being part of the school, why does the school still exist?” – This was the quote which has kept me in deep thought for the last 2 days.
Since 2016, I have pondered of this quote on and off every few months. Now, finally, I’d like to share with you the reason why this “SCHOOL” has been running through my mind.
One day (which according to the time of the first sentence is the 23rd of November 2016), I was in one of my favorite literature classes at my university. We were discussing “The School for Scandal”, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed on March 8th, 1777 and has since raised many discussions and critiques.
To simply put it, the satire play criticises the behavior of wealthy people in London, back in the 1770s. You can find a lot of gossip, hypocrisy, supposed love triangles, deceit and many more characteristics considered to be defining of upper-class society. Just as the title, there are a lot of “scandals” in our society which are carried out from person to person. People learn bad habits and traits from one another, such as lying, cheating, shaming others, deceiving and much more than I can list. That’s why the play is called a “School for Scandal” – since everyone learns these bad traits, the same way pupils learn in a school.
The sad truth is that this behavior is common even today amongst all classes of society, all genders, and all ethnicities. There is so much hate lately, and so many people spreading negative energy out into the world, that “good news” isn’t considered “news” anymore. The good news gets lost in oblivion while bad news lingers in our society for ages. So what can we do? What can we do to be a little positive and help others, rather than bring them down? – The questions rarely asked by the right people. But hey, being nice doesn’t cost a thing nowadays.
That day in class, our professor mentioned the question I wrote at the beginning of this post.
“If everyone denies being part of the school, then why does the school still exist?”
I’m not sure if it was a critic who asked this or the professor himself, but this is a question which can be related to every society around the world, for various topics.
Even if you haven’t read Sheridan’s play, you will have quite a deep thinking period about this question. The answers aren’t even as important as the question is. As I mentioned earlier, everyone learns from everyone in this “School” which we can call a society. What I deduced from the question is that, if everyone denies being negative or spreading negative energy, why is there so much negativity in the world? The same can be taken for other topics.
The current state in Prishtina: If people are saying that the air in Prishtina is better, why is it still polluted? Why are people still sick?
There’s a similar version of this question for every topic. But pertaining to negativity and the play, I would conclude that change starts from within. Every person has to change for the better. If not for society, for themselves. If we all work together and start to be more positive, there will be no “School” left. I’m not saying I’m perfect either. Neither of us is. But we can start to change our daily habits by trying a little dose of free positivity every morning.
Start by writing one thing you’re grateful for. Or at least think of one. – I haven’t done this but I’ve heard it works wonders for some people.
My personal advice? – “Walk a mile in their shoes.” Or you can just try them on for a few minutes. If you judge someone, try to think why they are or act a certain way. We all have our own opinions, and that’s totally fine. We shouldn’t be robots or sheep and think exactly the same as everyone else. But if we disapprove of a person’s attitude or personality, that should be OUR problem. Not theirs. This sudden realization has made me think of many occasions during my life where I wasted my time thinking why someone isn’t the way I would want them to be.
If someone is wrong, discuss the issue with them and see why they think so. Maybe their way of thinking was rational or logical, but their point of view is simply different from yours. You’ll learn a lot from listening to other people’s stories. It’s quite surprising. Everyone thinks differently and they all want to be heard and listened to.
If we try to be positive, we might all diminish this “school” of ours and build something more beneficial in its place.
Tell me what you would do to be more positive?
‘Till next time lovies!
Love and pancakes,
V
Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash
Leave a Comment