I am thirteen years old, and I have, in the past two years recently been learning that the world is not so innocent. There are no such existences of unicorns and princesses and princes. No mermaids, or magic as the Disney movies explain the world to be. When I turned twelve, I did not find a mermaid lurking the ocean, I did not see unicorns as I walked through the woods, I hadn’t found anything of that sort. Instead I found the knowledge and amount of problems in the world. I found reality. Growing up, you learn about drugs, illnesses, wars, death, murder, racism, rape, the Holocaust, slavery, and segregation.

When I was younger, I had already known that life was not fair, because I had lost all of my grandparents and a cousin when I was at the age of nine. I am not complaining, for my problems could be far worse. Nevertheless, I have a strong opinion concerning racism, wars, and also drugs.

When you think of racism, what is the first word that pops inside you mind? Black? White? Well, to be truthful, I think of those colors whenever I hear the word racism or racist. Why do you think those two colors? Is it because the conflict between the two colors is always happening and will never stop? The definition of Racism does not state the conflict between blacks and whites, but all sorts of races in the world. If we lived with no color for a day, what would the world be like? There would be no whispering about the useless white trash or useless black trash. I just wish that the colors of our skin didn’t matter so much in the world. Color truly is a beautiful substance. Green grass, blue sky, the iris in our eyes, the color of our hair, the brown trunk of a tree, a sapphire stone, the dark blue sky at night, and the illumination of the yellow sun.

Why must we make color seem like a sin?

There are a million types of drugs. All harmful in their own way. All lethal and dangerous if used for the wrong reasons. I also learned about peer pressure as I turned thirteen. I always thought of saying no to be easy. However, I had been very wrong. When a peer pressures you into doing drugs, you don’t want to be laughed at for being a baby as you reject them, and also you don’t want to harm your body for using a drug that could shorten your life just by inhaling or sniffing a drug once. What the teachers don’t teach, is how hard it is to find the right friends. What is the true definition of a friend? My best friends, I know for sure, would probably fit that definition. They have never pressured me into drugs. Although, some people at my school pressure me into doing things that I feel uncomfortable about doing. Sometimes I budge, but when it gets out of hand, I say NO! I know that as I grow older, I will face more difficult pressure. But if drugs hadn’t ever been created, how many people would be alive today? How many people would not be homeless? How do you solve a problem that has permanently made a spot for itself in the world?

The dictionary definition of war is: a period of hostile relations between countries, states, or factions that leads to fighting between armed forces, especially in land, air, or sea battles. My definition of war is: a long time period of conflict between countries/states/ fractions that is unnecessary and causes numerous deaths and sorrow and debt for a country. You may not agree with me, nevertheless, think of all the soldiers who gave their lives to protect us. I am not for war, I am for the courageous soldiers who would die for me, who would fight till he/she was the last one on the battle field. I give them my gratitude for being too heavy-hearted and brave. Some people would have cowered and said no to fighting a battle, fearing for their own skin, though those soldiers in Iraq did not cower and run away. They gave their lives for us, and I am in their debt. We all are. Even if a soldier does return from war alive, think of the mental wounds he/she carries. There will never be peace by Iraq, due to the religious fighting between their own people. I don’t mean to sound like a pessimistic. But to be truthful, there is nothing we can do, we are only wasting our men’s lives by having them fight there, fight for peace that will never come no matter how large a soldier’s heart is or how brave and courageous and stubborn they are. I respect a soldier, because I know that I would have cowered and ran away and never sign up for war. I respect a soldier so much, that I, if it were my choice, would stop this war and make the soldiers come home. There would be no empty chair during Christmas, no empty Easter basket, no empty heart…

Some people think that a kid my age, doesn’t carry such a strong opinion about these topics. They think that since we are young, our life is full of bliss, no responsibilities, and no problems. They could never be more wrong.

When I think about the problems in the world, it makes me angry to think that I am only one person, and one person in a world of people, can do nothing to help the world. I alone cannot stop drugs, racism, and war, but all of us united, could solve these issues.