Editor’s Note: The following won first place in the annual Della Hardman Day essay contest held among juniors at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Students were asked this year to write about what can be done on the Island to fight injustice. Contest awards also went to Elliot Ferland, Jacob Janak and Emily Turner. All student winners will be recognized at the annual Della Hardman Day keynote celebration, held in Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs on Saturday afternoon.

By KAITLYN MARCHAND

Injustice, not only on the Island, but basically everywhere else also, is a huge issue. We need to put a stop to injustice, and treat everyone equally, because in the end we are all humans. Too many problems nowadays are triggered by injustice. For example, racism, women’s rights, etc . . . There are ways to fight injustice and we need to start now. It is hard to live in a world where people are treated so unfairly. I am sick of hearing “black lives matter” because Caucasian lives, Chinese lives, Brazilian lives, everyone’s lives matter. No one should be treated differently because of their skin color, or where they were born. Once again, we are all humans and all of our lives matter.

A great start to fight injustice is education. Kids need to go to school and learn the importance of being humans and that we are all equal, no matter our origin, skin color, or diseases and disorders. Forget the math and graphing inequalities, we need to be taught the significance of diversity. The major problem our generation experiences now is that we don’t have consequences when we do something that is unethical, immoral, or prejudicial. We are taunted by our friends and in some cases even our families, so how could we possibly know what we are doing is so wrong? As teenagers, our brains are not fully developed, and what we do and say sometimes proves our ignorance in this world and on this Island. It’s not fair that people are treated differently because of their background and what they have been through. We shouldn’t have to strive for society’s view of perfection, we should just strive to be the best we can, and people can learn to love each other for who they are.

Schools on the Island, especially the high school, should have more assemblies to bring all the kids together. There are so many different kinds of students at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. We have athletes, kids that join clubs, kids who are incredible artists, kids who do several hours of community service, and many other different kinds of kids. We live on such a diverse Island, and we deserve to be recognized for all of the accomplishments we have made as a community, not just as individuals. People on this Island are too caught up in fitting in so they don’t find times to do things for themselves, and to better themselves. If we came together more as a school, we would eventually become more accepting of the differences that each of us have. Everyone needs to be taught and more aware of the fact that we are all humans, and just because some of us are different, does not mean, by all means that we deserve to be treated differently. For example, I have just started working with special education kids at the high school for the first time as a junior. I have learned so much about those kids from being in the program for just a couple months. Those kids are capable of everything any other kid in our school is, and I see it with my own eyes everyday. Those kids have opened my eyes and my heart to much bigger things, and really showed me that everyone deserves to be treated equally. Whether you are a straight A student and a three-sport athlete or autistic, we are all humans and we are all beautiful in our own ways.

Fighting injustice on this Island would be beyond beneficial. We need to come together more as a community or even just as a school and we need to be taught that diversity is beautiful. Black is beautiful, white is beautiful, autistic is beautiful, smart is beautiful. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Everyone deserves to be treated equally because in the end, we are all humans.