By Andre Dang, 9th grade

            Recently, the group Young Writers has started a writing contest titled “Twisted Tales: The Words of the Wicked.” In short, the contest is meant for young writers aged ten to eighteen to write stories from the perspective of the villain. The definition of a villain is “an evil person.” The contest poses a question: Are the villains really that bad? The contest makes the term “villain” ambiguous. A topic for students to write about is a villain’s motivation. Even if people write about all the hardships and sufferings the villain has been through, that does not justify the wrongdoings of the villian. Living a hard life full of suffering, pain, and injustice does not make one’s evil actions just. This leads to even more treacherous ideas. The contest suggests putting a twist on “the classic narrative of good vs. evil.” This already says that good could actually be evil, and vice versa. By suggesting to children ideas that are dangerous, children will have a thwarted sense of morality. Students will become self-righteous. People dream, then do. If someone dreams about a villain and then justifies the villain’s motives, acting as the villian does is a possibility. School shootings and other bad happenings may become more common. With the lack of charity and hostility in some school environments, students using firearms to take out their anger will become more common because of these dangerous ideas. This contest seems to present no harm. But on closer inspection, the contest’s real goal is to make younger persons sympathize with villainous characters, which will then influence their thoughts. This is not good in any way. A person becomes what they admire.