The danger of a single story

I for one, will admit that I have been told  certain stories about youth. Particularly stories about privileged youth. When I was growing up, my mom and her sisters would always become upset when family friends or grandparents would give their children expensive gifts. Expensive gifts such as: name brand shoes, jewelry, clothes, or electronics.  They would always tell us, "If someone gives you a gift, say no thank you". They were against us becoming spoiled. Older generations of my family would often say,"When you're spoiled, you have an attitude of entitlement. You will step over other people to get whatever you want. You will never work for anything. All you care about is ME, ME, ME". I heard these stories or sayings from the time I was in elementary school until I graduated from high school. I still hear it today. After a while, I began to agree with my family. I apologize if this sounds harsh, but I did look at kids who came from money as spoiled and self-centered. I began making judgements based on encounters I had.

Flashback- I was a senior in high school. I was in my second period math class waiting for class to begin. In walks a couple of my classmates. It was January. Prom and dresses were the subject matters every day.  A group of girls walk in and start talking about what they were going to wear for prom. One of the girls starts to say,"I'm going to get my dress custom made, it costs around $500 but it doesn't matter because my dad's paying for it. I can't wear a cheap dress like some other people. 

When she made her comment, I automatically formed my judgements about her. At that point in time, I couldn't say, my family said this or my family said that. Yes they told me stories about privileged youth but during this time, I had formed my own perceptions on privileged youth. Before I graduated, I did find out that she did not have good relationships with certain family members. I had to reevaluate my stereotypes and say to myself, "When people act or talk a certain way, there is probably a good reason behind it. 

Chimamanda Adichie's Ted Talk can be applied to how we view certain communities, people who have been incarcerated or certain school districts. If you have only heard one side of a story, you have closed your mind to see one side of a story that may not be true.