The first thing we do when we meet or see someone new is try to identify them by how they look and/or speak. It seems as though we are inclined to categorize people into groups. After that, we internally decide how we will act towards one another.

Defining society should be a simple thing to do, but in reality, that is not the case.

A quick Google search will show you that society is “the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community”.

In other words, the community, general public, people or overall population–we all make up society. That brings up the question, is the society we hate the society we create?

Society gets both blamed and applauded for a variety of preconceptions and actions that take place around the world. Society takes credit for what is accepted or not, how and when to judge, what is right or wrong and there are instances where society takes responsibility for why something happens.

Even though everyone has their own individual beliefs and values, when we think of society we group these thoughts together and assume we all believe and think the same things.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. More than 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it.

When statistics like this are made known, it is easy to blame society for not being accepting, it’s easy to say that society hasn’t raised children right or that the media tells society how to think and there is no resistance from society about that.

On the other hand, on June 26 of this year when the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are allowed to receive marriage licenses nationwide, society got praised for their acceptance and willingness to embrace change. Now, does that mean there are two types of societies or does the definition and concept of society need to be changed?

Whether “society” is on the way up or down, what needs to be understood is that society is a reflection of who we are. If we want society to improve or to be better, we as individuals must improve and become better ourselves. We must learn to accept people from all kinds of lifestyles and beliefs even if we don’t agree on the same things