i have definitly been profiled cause of clothing. i am in a military program at my high skool, and when i go out with my friends everyone is so nice and friendly (when im in my uniform). but if we change into regular clothes, and go shopping, people give us looks like "stupid teens" and every store we go into the people working there act like we are going to steal something! i hate the typical teen stereotype, especially because myself and my friends are all christian!
~peace~

I'm jewish, but I love in Israel, so 's okay. I don't believe in god so I've gotten a lot of **** in the past of that, in fact. Just for expressing my views in bible class, not fasting on Yom Kippur and so on.

I'm considred a "freak" here by some kids, which is weird, cause I think I dress pretty normal and everything. I mean, at my old school maybe I hung out with kids who looked stranger or something. I guess it's because I have opinions. Huh.

Ok. I'm a devoted Christian and I wear the clothes I feel like wearing. I have friends from all different groups as school. What's the problem with that? I don't get why some people don't like me because I hang out with a few different groups of people at school. It makes me ask myself sometimes what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing to make people not like me. But it's not me. It's them. They are intolerant and afraid of changes. They are afraid that if they don't keep the other people around them from changing and being a better person, they may lose a friend. But they should not be worried about that. They should try to see how the can also become a better person through changing. But no, that's too hard! Listen up people, it's ok to be different. Why not try it some time, you might like it. Just think about that b4 u go to sleep tonight. You may actually learn something useful.

I know how you feel, except that I get crap for NOT being religious. People are always trying to convert me and telling me I'm going to Hell. I hate that, and it's mostly Christians, which I think is funny because I used to be Christian and I used to act like that.



Happy Holidays everyone

I am jewish and I get judged more then everyone that i know! Poeple tell me the I am going to hell all the time. There was this guy who asked me out but he said that if I said yes i had to be willing to convert so that we could spend eternity in heaven together. people ask me is I celebrate thanks giving all the time. i don't know if people know but that is the rudest thing. just because you are jewish doesn't mean you can't be American. When the terrorist attacks happened people said "it wouldn't have if we weren't helping your people."

To an extent everyone is profiled by everything they say or do or wear. If you don't want to be profiled you will just have to seal yourself off from society. Become a hermit or something.

If people are misjudjing you and they are worth knowing, they will look a little deeper and realise you aren't what they thought. If they don't try to look beyond your image they aren't worth knowing and you can just forget about them. So no worries.

Bex

Yeah, I'm a "punk". And I also hear that i'm stupid, a waste of space, a druggie, and have killed myself several times. Haha

I am profiled because im a christian a punk and not rich i dont dress like normal girl does in my town i wear hot topic clothes and baggy jeans and i dont listed to pop music and my attitude is different

I've seen more than one form of this. I had my daughter when I was 15 and everyone gave me dirty looks and said extremly rude and offensive things to me. I am a punk and dress the part as often as permidable by work and such. I have had people asume that I am a dope head and have no goals or anything intelligent to say. It also bothers the freak out of me when people asume that since I'm Pagen that I sacrifice children and animals and that I worship the devil. I guess it's not that much profiling, but it is enough to cheese someone off. cassi182002@hotmail.com

I'm 13 and I just started middle school, 7th grade. I found out that there is a huge difference between grade school and middle school. In grade school, you knew everyone pretty closly because you'd be there for 6-8 years. But middle school, you're there for 2-3 years. People tend to judge you. If your different, you stick out. I have hearing loss. I can't hear as well as normal hearing people can. So in order to help me hear better, I wear hearing aids. I just found out that kids that don't know me, judge me, just for having hearing aids. I don't let it get to me though. They don't know me. The point is, judging people because of religion, racisum, or just because they are different than you, is wrong. Get to know them first before you know them. Who knows, you might become friends.

Wow, another Brit on the boards!

'whats a swot???'

A nerd/geek ie. to swot up on something is to learn about it. In my area they're more commonly called Boffins (and I'm one). But in my school the groups aren't really openly labelled, only occasionally as 'the cool crowd' and 'the geeky crowd'. I may be profiled but it's not really in my face because I have lots of fantastic friends who all take people for who they are on the whole. In my friendship group there's a good mix, some are 'cooler' than others, most of them are boffy and some of them are rockers and some are 'geeky' (which i don't think should be a derogatory term at all) but the important thing is they're all great people and it doesn't make any difference! Through high school I've really learned not to judge people straight away because people you dismiss can have a totally different side to them that you just don't see until you talk to them. You just have to accept people for who they are and they can make really great friends. Now the only thing that makes me consciously avoid someone is if they are unkind to others and b*tchy.

I have also have been profiled. My mom raised my sister and I not to listen to rap and other kinds of objectional kinds of music. I am a Christian and I dont wear name brand things that often. I have had people come up to me and say why do you dress that way, It is part of your religion?. I have learned to tolerate that and just ignore them.

I am A Roman Catholic from a heavy Roman Catholic Polish family. I go to church every Sunday, and I don't not to skip around trying to "convert" anyone. Yet at my school, I have been told that I am going to burn in hell because I "worship Mary" and made fun of the ashes on my head on ash Wednesday, and am always subject to comments like "No eating meat on Fridays? that is so retarded" during lent. Just because people don't understand something that a religion as been doing thousands of years does not' mean its dumb or retarded. I have always answered someone if they had an actual question about my religion, but don't appreciate the bashing, have any other catholic teen's had any experiences like this?

I had to laugh the first time my school psychologist asked me if I've ever been stereotyped in any way. I just smiled and said, "Well, let's see, I'm a biracial, bisexual, Pagan, anarcho-communistic female with no qualms about speaking up. I do believe I have."

just interested

At my school there are a lot of cliques, namely the:-
Scruffs
Bimbos
Swots
Metalheads
Townies

I fall into neither of these cliques, so I am generally labelled the resident punk freak, and criticised because i like music that is 25 years old, when everyone else listens to nikelback,blink 182 and sum 41. Anyway, I think stereotyping is WELL unfair and un-necessary.

im profiled because of my race, looks, you name it. (i have a post up about it called 'lookism' on this board)

But, i think that anyone who is profiling someone just because of their looks,sexual preference, religion,etc, is usually afraid of the difference. Something that isn't the 'norm'. Or theyre just really ignorant and sheltered.

One example I can give is the fear of homosexuality that a large portion of the world has. I personally don't think there is anthing wrong with being attracted to someone with the same gender as yourself. And, even if i did think it was wrong, i dont think anyone has the right to place judgements on other people because of small things like that. I think that if a straight person is free of any discrimination, and that they can walk down the street holding hands with their signifigant other, then the same should go for everyone, regardless of their sexual preference. If 'all men are created equal', and the suprising surge of patriotism is still existing in this country...then we should respect that and put it to use in our everyday lives. (sorry..i kind of went down a differnt road there on a different subject)

Yes, I feel people are definatly profiled because of Religion, clothing, etc...Most people would label me as a "prep." I hate it, just because I dress a certain way, or get certian grades doesn't make me snobby or fake. I,despite what people may believe have feelings and it hurts when people label me. Why should I change my appearance? it's not fair and quite frankly I'm sick of it.

I really like to read, speak up in class and get good grades, so people viewed me as a bookworm. Then in sixth grade, I started showing my other side, having a sense of humor, making sarcastic comments, playing jokes, etc. I knew about pop music and started playing sports. I think people were suprised that I had a different fun side to me. They could no longer put me in a box as "the bookworm" and they learned that most people are way more than what they seem.

I really hate the way people use the word "prep". Sometimes when people dress a certain way, they're called a prep. Or when people are in a certain so-called popular group, they're called a prep.
Frankly, I think people do that because they're really ignorant. People dress a way 'cause they like to, or they hand out with a group 'cause they like to. If people don't like that, than maybe they are being a bit "prepish."