The Truth About Sharks. Discrimination toward teenagers is one of the most common types of discrimination there is in society. In the story “The Truth About Sharks’ written by Joan Bauer, a teenage girl named Beth is wrongly accused of shoplifting due to her age. On top of simply being a teenager, a teen’s appearance can also bring more discriminatory judgment toward them, as happens to Beth in the story. People who lack a sense of power in their lives tend to take it out on teenagers in the sense that they are an “easy” or “vulnerable” target. Another reason teens are often discriminated against is that they are stereotypically known to be mischievous. Teenagers deserve equal rights and judgment within our society; although many teenagers
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In the story Beth wakes up late in the morning and quickly throws on some baggy clothes without bathing or anything, leaving the house looking dirty.
“My mother needed the car in a hurry, so I just jumped out of bed and hadn't figured on getting arrested. I mean, I normally bathe. I normally look better than this. Corpses look better than I do right now”.
This quote from Beth comes from when she was explaining to the officer that she often looks less suspicious than she does at the moment. If Beth had looked more put-together the security guard likely would have been watching her less but the fact that Beth is a teenager and had a grubby image made the security guard think she was trying to steal something. Beth wasn’t trying to steal anything she was simply browsing the store but her age and appearance lead to a false accusation.
Power is a natural thing that humans crave, when it is hard for someone to feel a sense of empowerment in their life they will often find it through a younger more vulnerable target. “"Take them off." She leaned back in her chair, enjoying her power.” The security guard that accused Beth of stealing the pants was enjoying her power, she leaned back in her chair as if she were watching something amusing. Beth repetitively tried explaining to the guard that she was innocent but she wouldn’t listen to a word she …show more content…
Although plenty of teens are mischevious, not every teen fits under this general statement. In the story, Groan had her eyes on Beth while she was in the store. Although it’s her job to watch people, she paid especially close attention to Beth before calling her out. This is already discrimination against teens as Groan was on the lookout for Beth specifically when there were other people in the store.
"I've seen you kids;' she snarled. "You think you can take anything you want, call your parents, cry some fake tears, and it's over, huh? You think wrong." Groan said this to Beth while they were waiting for the officer to arrive. Groan is putting Beth into a category she isn’t a part of, she’s generalizing Beth as a ‘Kid” instead of who she actually is. This is clear discrimination on Groan’s part, Beth wasn’t even trying to steal so if Groan actually tried talking to Beth instead of just ignoring her due to her age, she would’ve avoided losing her job in the end. Teenagers deserve equal rights; even though a lot of teenagers do bad things and it is due to their immaturity and young age, they cannot all be treated as if simply being a teenager makes you do these
In the story Beth wakes up late in the morning and quickly throws on some baggy clothes without bathing or anything, leaving the house looking dirty.
“My mother needed the car in a hurry, so I just jumped out of bed and hadn't figured on getting arrested. I mean, I normally bathe. I normally look better than this. Corpses look better than I do right now”.
This quote from Beth comes from when she was explaining to the officer that she often looks less suspicious than she does at the moment. If Beth had looked more put-together the security guard likely would have been watching her less but the fact that Beth is a teenager and had a grubby image made the security guard think she was trying to steal something. Beth wasn’t trying to steal anything she was simply browsing the store but her age and appearance lead to a false accusation.
Power is a natural thing that humans crave, when it is hard for someone to feel a sense of empowerment in their life they will often find it through a younger more vulnerable target. “"Take them off." She leaned back in her chair, enjoying her power.” The security guard that accused Beth of stealing the pants was enjoying her power, she leaned back in her chair as if she were watching something amusing. Beth repetitively tried explaining to the guard that she was innocent but she wouldn’t listen to a word she …show more content…
Although plenty of teens are mischevious, not every teen fits under this general statement. In the story, Groan had her eyes on Beth while she was in the store. Although it’s her job to watch people, she paid especially close attention to Beth before calling her out. This is already discrimination against teens as Groan was on the lookout for Beth specifically when there were other people in the store.
"I've seen you kids;' she snarled. "You think you can take anything you want, call your parents, cry some fake tears, and it's over, huh? You think wrong." Groan said this to Beth while they were waiting for the officer to arrive. Groan is putting Beth into a category she isn’t a part of, she’s generalizing Beth as a ‘Kid” instead of who she actually is. This is clear discrimination on Groan’s part, Beth wasn’t even trying to steal so if Groan actually tried talking to Beth instead of just ignoring her due to her age, she would’ve avoided losing her job in the end. Teenagers deserve equal rights; even though a lot of teenagers do bad things and it is due to their immaturity and young age, they cannot all be treated as if simply being a teenager makes you do these