Probably one of the best examples of social order being lost
that I’ve experienced happened while I was in high school. I can remember the event very vividly.
It was my sophomore year of high school, and for the most
part things seemed to be going alright, at least for most of us. However, one of the kids in our school was
having a rough time in his life. The
hard times in his life led him to be pretty angry and obstinate about most
things, and this particular day I’m thinking of he was pretty angry and pretty
obstinate.
My best friend had never gotten along with this kid very
well (to be honest, I don’t think many of us got along very well with
him). One particular day, apparently
some unkind words were exchanged, and they started fighting in the hallway
during regular class time. I was in one
of the rooms right next to where they started fighting. Everyone heard the noise from the fight
starting, and within seconds all of the students on that floor were out of
their classes and watching the fight. We
all gave them just enough space to fight, and the fight probably only lasted
for a minute or two. Quickly after the
fight began, it ended. If I remember right,
no one stepped in to stop it, it just ended on its own with both students
walking away.
What was remarkable to me was how the teachers were helpless
to stop it. We all decided that we would
just watch the fight and let it happen, and the teachers (and all of us really)
felt powerless to prevent the fight. It
was an eye opener to me to see how just two students could decide to fight and
make it very difficult for there to be any order. How safe are we really if social order can be
broken down by just a few people?
