My Thoughts on an Imaginary Concept
From a young age we are taught many words, and at a little later stage we are taught many more. One word we are taught from a shockingly young age is: ‘Perfect’. On reflection, I find it hard to understand why such a word would be told to or even be well understood by very young children. Teaching a word such as perfect to a young child, whose comprehension is quickly developing could be detrimental to their entire thought processes. Children are free spirits, yet having work in their books at school or something they do described as being ‘perfect’ by a teacher, parent or peer can build a need for a child to always achieve this ‘perfect’ work. Perfect, by what these children are taught is to have no errors or mistakes, a flawless piece of work, for example. As the child grows and develops their school work and other activities in life because increasingly challenging, making it therefore more and more difficult to achieve perfection. People are also taught (or otherwise shown) that being ‘perfect’ is desirable and something to look to be – this can be so damaging.
This way of thinking and teaching can heavily impact a person’s mentality and self-esteem, which can also lead to mental health complications further down the line. It makes young people compare themselves to others, it makes them judge themselves and the most damaging part of all is that it can make people want to change themselves to achieve what they are told is desirable or ‘perfect’. Once it becomes harder to attain perfection as you progress through life, it can also be a lot more challenging to maintain this status.
More of a Personal Thought:
As with most similar things in life, you have to remember that the idea of perfection is a social construct – made to place people in boxes and put them under pressure to act a certain way; often causing upset and anxiety. I would like to reiterate that the importance of believing in yourself and treating yourself as an individual, rather than feeling the need to conform to societies rules and expectations of people (unless, of course, it is for a legal reason). People often use the expression ‘Nobody’s perfect’, but how often do you believe it? Everyone has their flaws and learning to accept them and live with them is a major importance in life. You should never be afraid of being different.
Overall, I believe that nobody should be placed under scrutiny due to feeling required by themselves or another to be seen as perfect or to conform to certain standards – in any situation. Additionally, I don’t think this word should be used as a goal for anyone to achieve, nor should young children and teenagers have this idea put into their heads. They should be their own people with no fear of seeming different.
