The woman had the teenagers lined up against the wall. She paced slowly in front of them, concentrating a little too much on chewing the gum in her mouth.
"While I have no evidence to prove who pulled such a terrible prank this morning, I have called the four of you in here because you are the ones with the largest record of mischievous activity in this entire school."
Three of the boys shifted slightly and glanced around nervously, as the one girl kept her eyes locked on the woman challengingly. The woman stopped in front of her and got too close for comfort. The girl smiles slightly.
"This isn't fair and we can get you in a lot of trouble for this. You have no proof that any of us did it."
"Are you trying to get smart with me, young lady?"
The young woman stepped forward a bit. While she wasn't known for her respect, she was only mimicking her attitude towards the woman after the woman herself.
"No, I'm not, unless getting smart means standing up for my peers because heaven knows they won't do it themselves. I, personally, haven't done anything 'mischievous' in three years. I request that you let us go."
The woman smiled, and looked at the boys.
"Alright, the boys can leave. I've heard enough and I've decided you did it."
Later that month, footage from the hallway proved that none of the four teenagers were even related with the prank that went on. However, the woman let her bias against the stereotypical miscreants of the school cloud her judgement, and had to live with the embarrassment of admitting that she made a mistake. Decisions are best made with a mind that is positive of what is true and clear of any hateful emotions.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about making decisions with a positive mind that is clear of any hateful emotions. To further explain that statement I think that what Simon Sinek said about making decisions is the most accurate. "There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice." We must be careful not to mix up bias and truth. Every decision comes with a consequence whether it be good or bad. In the case of the play, "Twelve Angry Men," Juror #10 refers to people living in the slum by saying "those people" and "their kind" (Rose 59). These phrases both show that Juror #10 has let prejudice cloud his belief of the truth or what actually happened during the night of the murder. Because of his loud announcement of his prejudices, all the other jurors slowly turned away from him and refused to listen to what he had say. In the end, his opinion was no longer listened to and everyone became annoyed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement on decisions are made with a clear and positive mind. It is often that we make decisions without realizing the consequences on them. If we chose to let prejudice get in the way of everything we choose to do, then it could be very harmful to certain people. A lot of the jurors would let their views on the boy's origin help decide the verdict. Juror 8, however, didn't let the boy's history help him decide the verdict. Decisions should be thought out, and never determined by prejudice ideas.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great example of a prejudice opinion getting in the way of the truth. I agree that the best decisions are made with clear thought and no hateful emotions. If people make abrupt and rash decisions, most likely it will lead to a negative outcome. Juror number 8 was more focused on if the boy's alibi was actually possible, unlike the other jurors who were biased, judging him from growing up in the slums. Basically choices should be made logically and calmly, in order to get the truth and the best results.
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