Not just a word
By Krista Lawrence
Day after day, many people live their lives feeling worthless or degraded because someone slammed them or their way of life. Yet, it is still okay for people to call each other derogatory names. When one person calls another a name to make them feel bad, it can have serious effects that people do not see. But name calling is not "punishment worthy" in many schools.
Take for example one guy calling another guy a "Jew" because he did not want to share his money. That gives the impression that all Jewish people are stingy and selfish. Now, what happens when a person who really is Jewish hears this? How are they suppose to feel about other people using a part of their lives to make fun of each other? It's like telling someone that they are "white" because they're lazy, or calling them "Catholic" because they are strict. It's just not right.
One girl gets jealous and calls her friend a slut for getting a shirt that shows her stomach. She keeps calling her slut, and eventually it gets around that she is easy. This girl now has people calling her names and guys are always hitting on her because they have the impression that she is easy.. She feels horrible and starts to believe what everyone is saying. Her life spirals downward from there.
Who gave individuals the right to verbally attack one another? It is like when Africans call each other the "N" word. They get angry when other people say it, so why can they say to each other? No matter who says it, it is still offensive to their race. It is self-bullying. The same goes for the gender slander. Just because one person called her a slut doesn’t mean it becomes ok for other people to say it. But there is no consequence for this kind of bullying. It is usually just a "knock it off," or a sharp look. This does not solve the problem.
In the End...
The point is is that people need to think about what they say before they say it. You never know how a name will affect someone, how that one word you called them will change their life. Name calling is something that needs to be dealt with, it needs to have serious consequences. Punching leaves a mark for five minutes, and people get suspended for that all the time. Name calling can leave a mark that lasts a long time. It can take days, months, or even years to get over what someone called you. But as it is, schools only appear to care. They say they are against verbal abuse, but when it gets down to it, this form of bullying goes unnoticed and under-punished. Schools everywhere need to make reforms to their policies because verbal abuse is a major problem. If schools would make the effort to take notice of what is really going on in the hallways, they would see that its not physical torture, but more emotional and mental. Life would become much easier and more enjoyable if schools would make it a point to eliminate the hurtful gossip that ruins so many lives each day.
Just another term
By Robert Crossman
High school slang has been around for years. Because of this, slang is not much of a big deal anymore. Calling people a certain word isn't as bad as it used to be. High school students do not make much of a fuss about slang. People slam on others for lots of reasons. Sometimes people just do it for fun or to joke around with their friends. The world does not have enough time to devote their attention to slang. A lot of people in general think slang is just another word or a different term for other words. They were right; slang is just another term for other words.
High school students will use a certain religion as slang. They will also use the color of someone's skin as a slang term. For example, students will call someone black because of the way they talk or because of the way they dress. Another example is when a student does not give somebody a certain amount of money; they will call that person a Jew. If it is okay for people of that race or religion to use that term, than why can't other people who are not of that race or religion use those terms?
More and more people will us slang because of the type of gender they are. For example, people will come up to a student and call their boyfriend or girlfriend a slut because they have slept with someone else before. The general term for a slut is someone who casually sleeps with other people. We have used terms like this before and it does not really hurt anybody.
While playing Call of Duty: Black Ops, people often call other people a noob. A noob is supposed to be a slang term for a person who is new to the game and the online experience. People will also call other people gay fag because they do not have as many kills as they do. Most video games have the online experience so therefore people will use slang. From Runescape to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, people use these terms regularly and often. When a student gets on a computer and someone else gets in there chat page, he/she may start to call the other gamer names using slang. This is called trolling or cyber-bullying. Lots of gamers experience this.
Slang began in World War II. Marines and soldiers used it to shorten the meaning of their words. They also used it to define things in the type of terrain that they were fighting in or the size and name of the guns bullet shell. Soldiers had a word for everything. The slang term for a German soldier at the time was a Kraut or a Jerry. The slang term for a Japanese soldier was either a Jap or a Nip.
Slang will live forever and people will always use it. High school is a big part in a child's life. Those children will learn these terms. Slang does not cause harm to people forever. It is just a part of our language, and our language is advancing every day. Slang is often used as just a shortened version of a word, nothing more and nothing less.