Stand Up To Better Society

Stand up

What if Martin Luther King Jr. never stood up for the rights of black people? What if Gandhi never stood up for what he believed in? What if everyone stood up for what they thought was right? As human beings it is in our nature from birth to be curious and wonder what if. The only way humans can be sure that their message truly gets across is to stand up and speak their mind. In today’s society, it is important to stand up for what you believe in as this can influence society to change for the better. Three prime examples of standing up to better society include Hans from the film The Book Thief, my personal experience and Malala in her struggle to change the view of education for girls in the Middle East.

In the film, The Book

Thief, Hans Hubermann stood up for what he believed in and inspired all who watched this phenomenal film. In the beginning of the film, Hans and his wife, Rosa, adopt Liesel. Rosa has a very strict attitude towards the girl, however Hans is genuinely friendly and is able to see the good in Liesel. Hans is a major influence in Liesel's life because he helped her let go of her sorrow past and appreciate the present. Hans and Liesel continue to bond and open up to one another and eventually Hans stands up to Rosa and shows her that Liesel is just like her Papa. Near the middle of the movie, Max Vandenburg shows up on the Hubermann’s doorstep and Hans immediately knows that it is his duty to take him in and care for him as Max’s father died to save Hans during the war. This won’t be a problem, but Max is Jewish and if the Hubermanns were caught housing a Jewish they would be extracted from their home. I think that Hans standing up for the Jewish man by taking him in had an impact on Liesel’s life because it gave her a friend that could share her passion of reading with her and it could have influenced her as an adult to be kind to people even if there are risks associated with it. Towards the end of the film, Hans stands up for what he believes in once again. The German soldiers found out that one of the store owners in the village where Hans lives is Jewish, so they dragged the man out of his shop and forced him into their car. Hans immediately takes action and tells the soldiers that the Jewish man is just like everyone else. I think he did this to show the people in the crowd that Jewish people are just like German people and he probably tried to influence them to go against social norms. This ultimately results in Hans being shoved to the ground and sent to war. Hans Hubermann stood up for what he believed in and went against society in an attempt to improve society.

Standing up for what I believe in was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, but also the most rewarding.

For the most part, as a child I would say I was fairly friendly towards other children, however everyone has their fault and my biggest one has always been bullying. As many children are, I was bullied in Kindergarten leaving my self esteem at an all time low. After building myself back up by the time second grade rolled around I wasn’t going to take anymore bullying so I became the bully. I know that none of the kids would stop me from bullying because no one had the courage to. Considering all the options Julia, a girl who had transferred to my school two weeks into the school year, seem like the best candidate. The bullying started out slowly, at first it was just talking behind her back about how ‘stupid’ and ‘weird’ she was. From there it escalated quickly, my friends and I began to exclude her from everything and call her names to the point that Julia looked like she wanted to cry. One day Julia threatened to tell the teacher and being in second grade we knew that having the teacher find out what we had been doing would be the ultimate punishment. Aware of this my friend pinned Julia’s arms against the back of the climbing wall, where no teachers ever checked, and told her that if she did we would make her life even more miserable. I knew just being a bystander in this situation wasn’t really the right thing to do, but I just didn’t have the confidence to stand up, especially since I was the one who had initiated the bullying. Going home that night, I reflected on the events and I could see that we had taken things too far. I felt defeated, even though I hadn’t been the one being bullied, I was the one that was making someone feel how I previously felt. The next day I know what I had to do. I told my friends that we shouldn't bully Julia because it's not the right thing to do. Of course they didn’t agree with me, so I decided to take matters into my

own hands. Julia was sitting at a table by herself when I approached. As soon as Julia saw me coming she cringed. I sat down next to her and apologized with the whole classroom watching. I think that standing up for what I believed in changed a girl's life and showed people that just because everyone isn’t standing up for each other doesn’t mean you should follow suit. Changing society doesn’t happen overnight, but if everyone would stand up for others the world would be a different place.

Malala Yousafzai is an activist of girls’ education whose efforts have affected the world greatly. Malala got her passion for school from her father and loved attending school every day. In 2009, the Taliban’s military power over Swat, where Malala lived, strenthed. Malala started a blog for BBC Urdu about her fear that her school would be attacked and about the growing power of the Taliban in Swat. Malala and her father were getting death threats daily, but they continued to speak out for the right to education. Standing up for education was one of the things Malala truly believed in. In 2012, Malala and her friends was traveling home after school when a masked gunman got on the school bus and asked for Malala. She was shot with a bullet that went through her head, shoulder and neck and two of Malala's friends were also injured because of the attack. Malala was very lucky to she survived the attack, but she was very unstable and had to move to Birmingham, UK for treatment. This attack caused commotion worldwide and ultimately lead to over 2 million people signing a petition for the right of education and even though she had been injured very badly Malala still continued to speak up about the right of education. Today, Malala is a global advocate for millions of girls being denied the basic right of education. In 2013, Malala and her father created the Malala Fund to bring awareness to the impact of girls' education and to empower girls to stand up for their beliefs in order to inspire change. Standing up to improve society really paid off for Malala as there is now many schools in the Middle East that were bulit in her honor. Malala is a figure in society that is known for standing up in order to create change.

Standing up for what one believes in is absolutely essential. If no one spoke their mind society would always be rigidly structure and people wouldn’t be as open minded as they are today. In society, it's essential to stand up for what you believe in as it can lead to improvements being made to the society.