By Olivia Lieberman, age 10, Iowa City
Hello. My name is Olivia and I’m writing about the number 13 and why people think 13 is bad, specifically Friday the 13th. Did you know that there is a phobia named after fear of the number 13, called triskaidekaphobia? Fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia.
I was born on the 13th and I don’t see anything wrong with the number 13. There are many good things about the number 13. There were 13 original colonies and there are 13 stripes on the American flag. There are 13 cards in each suit of regular playing cards. Thirteen is also a prime number and prime numbers are cool!! Thirteen is also a Fibonacci number which you find by adding the numbers before it starting with 0 and 1: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13! Fibonacci numbers are important because they are found in nature, like in the spirals of pinecones, sunflowers and seashells.
There are other things related to the number 13 in nature, like there are 13 weeks in each season. The Ancient Egyptians actually thought the number 13 to be lucky, so let’s follow after them!
I don’t think any number should be good or bad, including the number 13. If you don’t like the number 13, have you ever asked yourself why? Now you have a few reasons of how the number 13 is good!
