Stanley Cups

Metal water bottles, named Stanley Cups, are a staple for the “popular” kids across the country. Every teen says that they have to have one. Without it, kids are tossed aside. Stanley Cups are only one example of the conformity caused by popularity and social media. This cup is a prime example of how poisonous a person's desire to fit in can be. It is terrifying to contemplate how easy it is to mould people, and their inability to see it is even more so.

People throwing others away because of what water bottle they have is absurd. Conforming to the population is a natural thing people do, but must be scrutinised. People should never be thrown away because they do not agree with or don’t follow what everyone else is doing. “Stanley Cups are terrible and take away the American dream from the people of our country,” reports Jack Hatcher, a ninth grader at Fruita 8/9. People in the school, one of the most affected populations, understand the damage being done, damage to the founding idea of free thought and will, in our country. No person or thing should ever hold that much power or sway, let alone use it as it is being used.

No one should follow blindly without thinking about it first. Using the Stanley Cup as just one example. There are many instances where social media has influenced how people act based on an item they have. “People should be free in what they think and do. It’s weird how everyone just follows along with what one person says,” says Ian Ewing, a ninth grader at Fruita 8/9.  Freedom of thought is the basis of progression and change. A person choosing to throw that away without thinking it through should never be allowed. Without every person containing the discipline to examine what is brought before them society will never advance, people will not have a freedom of thought, and no one will innovate to improve society. 

Individual thought is one of the greatest powers granted to the individual; use it and don’t throw it away. To throw away this gift is disrespectful, heinous, and downright absurd. So think for yourself. Scrutinise what is being shown to you. Do not fall so easily into the snakes eyes so named social media and popularity.