Imagine this: hundreds of people lining up into a stadium; they’ve waited ages for this day. Everyone walking in is united under one shared interest, that is, their sport. So why, then, are they swiftly divided into two groups? These people, who are very similar to each other in nature, are pit against each other, simply because they belong to different schools.
I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to view this situation from multiple angles. I’ve been on the field for marching band and have watched our football team play against multiple different schools. I’ve sat on the home side and, at the game against DGS, I even sat on the side against our school. I’ve seen people insult one another firsthand. Even I, being a part of the marching band, have heard insults and boos directed towards us. Recently, I got to thinking, why do we seem so hateful to each other?
It seems a bit crazy to me. We’re the same age, engaging in the same activity, so why must we be such rivals? In psychology, there’s a concept known as in-group/out-group bias. This states that, when you are placed in a group, you show bias towards the people who are in the same group as you, also known as the in-group. This also causes you to act out and discriminate against those who aren’t in the same group as you, the out-group. This phenomenon can even apply when the groups are virtually the same.
This is what we see in school sports. Even though both teams and both schools are so similar, people feel the need to assert that they belong to the better one. We taunt the other team even though, at the end of the day, we’re all just people trying to have a fun night with our friends. Even I, while playing in the band, have been booed. We shouldn’t have the game’s score affect us so deeply, and we shouldn’t take it so personally and view it as proof that one is better than the other.
To be clear, I’m not stating that we should stop engaging in these sports. They create a community and there’s a whole culture tied to it. However, the toxic rivalries we have created are unnecessary and we should strive to break this habit. The problem happens when the rivalries created in sports blossom into rivalries between schools and communities. I personally have made many friends with people who don’t go to Hinsdale South, and it’s because I don’t view them as belonging to another group, and that’s something I want to see out of more people. Although we go to different schools, we should still strive to build a positive community together.
