Have Your Opinion . and Respect the Rest

Photo by Leah Emineth

These students are depicting the issue of talking but not listening, arguing without being open minded to new ideas and without understanding that they do not have to agree.

In the world today it seems like everyone has one idea of what is right and what is wrong. It is our right as Americans to have an opinion, but the issue comes when we have become so absorbed in our own idea of what is right that we refuse to believe anything else. If a person is willing to share their opinion they must be open to having discussions on their thoughts and maybe how other people’s ideas and morals differ. Part of growing up is becoming more open minded to every idea or at least listening even if you do not necessarily agree. No matter where a person goes, they will be surrounded by a variety of different ideas and views. It can be hard to listen to something you really disagree with without denouncing it, but part of growing up is realizing that, no matter what, there is always gonna be people you do not agree with but that does not make their opinion any less valid. The world has become very political and opinion based which can make it difficult to hear all sides of the spectrum without getting upset or disagreeing. Currently a hot topic around the world is COVID and the vaccine. It has caused a huge split in ideas and managed to be a very politically split decision. Some people think the vaccine is good and have decided to get it while others have decided not to, This can quickly cause debates and arguments that I am sure we have all witnessed or been a part of at some point. I have personally seen poltically derived arguments occur on the daily, especially when COVID was in full swing. It was a frustrating time for everyone with very high tension; if I have learned anything from COVID it is that it is so important to be able to speak an opinion in a respectful way and be able to listen to an opposing opinion and learn from it. Those conversations should be about learning both sides and being educated about both sides and then formulating an opinion. Nobody ever said everybody in the world has to agree and it is important to share opinions and question ideas. The idea of sharing opinions is great in theory because it constantly keeps us learning and formulating new ideas. Today, especially, it seems like sharing an opinion is very risky because somebody will always be upset by the ideas that they do not agree with, when in reality, disagreeing is okay. It is completely normal to have opposing opinions but it is not normal to have heated and charged conversations. At the end of the day, if they will not change your opinion, you will not change theirs.