It’s all over the media as a common notion: “this person is cancelled for this certain reason, never ever support them again". Celebrities are turned on in a second when a mistake is dragged up from the past with no allowance for growth and change, and people are quick to jump on the bandwagon of hate.

Cancel culture seems to have arisen mainly out of society that has more pressure to be “woke" and make sure that people have consequences for making a social mistake. With the rise of social awareness around many contemporary issues, it has seemingly become necessary for people to be persecuted for saying or doing something wrong.

While this can be a good step towards progress in holding people accountable for ill-judged actions, it can also go too far. Celebrities already have to live with the fact that their every move is watched and often taken out of context, and now they have to worry that a slip-up from the past could be the thing to end their career in the present.

Although cancel culture is most prevalent with regards to well-known names, it has also infiltrated smaller social circles, with people “cancelling" their own friends and acquaintances.

People should have consequences when they mess up. The question is: how far-reaching should those consequences be? Should someone have to deal with the repercussions of an old blunder forever?

We’ve all made mistakes, right? Would we want to be held to the same standards that we hold famous people to?

The thing about mistakes is that they allow for an opportunity to learn and grow. We are able to realize that what we have done is wrong and work hard to not make the same mistake again. The self is ever-changing, and it is likely that even now you are not the same person that made that mistake, whatever it was, even if it was not that long ago.

Cancel culture doesn’t allow for growth. Cancel culture says that once you’re done, you’re done. It heavily implies that just one of your actions can be indicative of your larger nature as a person.

Sometimes, “cancelling" might be necessary -- maybe that person has made the same mistake multiple times with no remorse. Maybe they are constantly misstepping and not being open to the idea of changing their actions. In cases like that, cancel culture becomes more reasonable.

In general, though, cancel culture is extremely unreasonable and obstinate. No one is perfect. The next time you want to “cancel" someone, stop and wonder: how would you feel if you were cancelled for such a mistake? Would you not want people to give you a chance, the benefit of the doubt?

Give people the chance to change, and they probably will.