Labels

     One thing I have noticed throughout my high school experience is that people get labeled.  Not stereotypes, per say, but those do play a small role.  When I say labels, I mean the idea of people always pestering someone about one thing, resulting in that person being known for that specific event/trait/mistake/ect.
     An example of this is that people will bother/make fun of people for maybe not making the best choices or not being the brightest student or maybe being the person who is always goofing off.  Now this may be true at the time, but the problem with labels is that people can get caught up in them.  If someone is known as the kid who goofs off, makes bad choices, and isn't the best student, there is a risk in that, that person may end up falling into their label.  This would make it quite hard for the person to get out of this "trap," per say, and they may actually start fitting their label.  It almost seems like the teasing and relating of a person to a certain thing causes them to start believing the label themselves.  This causes the person to start acting like their label all the time.  For example, the kid who is known for goofing off will probably always be the one getting in trouble for messing around.  The bad student will have trouble doing better because they feel like they can't do it and may be unmotivated and supported.  Last, the person who makes bad choices may start feeling insecure about the choices they make, afraid to make the wrong decision or do the wrong thing, causing either no decisions to be made or talking themselves out of the right decision.  The person being labeled will be "trapped" in this label until they are away from the people who continue to label them.
     Labeling almost seems cruel not only because the teasing and criticism could be thought of as bulling and mentally harm the person, but it can also prevent a person from growing up, gaining experience, and changing their bad habits.  If people were to stop being labeled and bothered about certain mistakes they made in the past, they would be able to move on and get past their flaws.  While labels still exist, however, people will be trapped by those they are suppose to trust and rely on, never being able to escape their flaws and mistakes.