May 1, 2017seriously, “OH MY GOD Becky, look at her butt, it is so big!”. As a high school student, in the hallways many conversations exist but of the many times I’ve walked down, talking about butts is probably one of the most common subjects or at least talking about someone else. Entering the classroom though is a different story.
At school, nothing is worse than sitting in a classroom full of people you don’t know, oh wait, what about sitting in a classroom full of people you do know that never talk to you, staring at you while you’re sitting alone in the corner being stared at, ya not fun! This has happened to all of us especially the first year of high school, being placed with new people from different school. Also with the impression that everybody is dressing up and it feels like that makes them better than you. There are a few things everyone notices and judges such as making Varsity sports or Junior Varsity is a big thing because the better you are at something, the more popular you are. You never want to hang out with a person who is lower than you because they are not as good as you. That sentence doesn’t make sense because in reality it doesn’t and as high schoolers that what it’s basically all about in the early years. Competition is everything, even if you didn’t think of it until now.
Behind your back
While I was writing this article, two people behind me started to smash talk about a girl they probably don’t even know because she wasn’t meeting the “pretty” standards, pathetic right? They even stated that they were bullied but look at what they are doing now, talking smack, all about competition for being pretty…wow. If you really listen, in high school all the highschoolers talk about is gossip. Gossiping about what you may say ask, well all you have to do is listen to your high school self. If you are in high school or were in highschool you know it was all about the popular standard. In school you are bound to rank groups of different people and whatever group you were was how high you were ranked. Some schools even show the ranks by communicating with the students in class asking them how the different groups are ranked. Sad to say, it was quite disappointing.
The Weirdos vs. the Jocks
Going into lunch is one of the best parts of school, anyone can agree with that especially when you have your friends sitting with you at the table while you talk an endless conversation. But have you ever stood up and looked at the tables around the lunchroom, because all you see is the grouping of ranks. You have the Smart, “know it alls” on the left of the room, the jocks in the middle, the weird video gamers’ on the right side and the gothic people on the floor, as it is in the lunchroom at Elk River High school. Of course there are more groups that are in the school but even you can conclude that it is true, it is never mixed. No matter how small a school is and everyone knowing each other, there will always be many groups separate.
Making fools of ourselves
When have you ever said you didn’t want to win, probably a few times but was it truly because you didn’t want to or because you were losing and didn’t want to seem like a bigger fool? That is something to really think about when it really hits you. We don’t want to be fools of ourselves, we all want to win that is how we get better reputations and the more popular you are ranked. There will always be that time when you ask yourself, why am I me? But did you ever think about how you were judged and the expectations that made you who you were.
We <3 #’s
If you were born in the 21st century, you sure know that the pound sign is also a hashtag and you also know how to use hashtags in social media apps such as instagram and snapchat. Our social media surrounds us as teenagers and we become masters to the internet. You’re so good at being a master of the internet that that you like looking people up and seeing what they are up to, it’s like stalking them in some cases. Who do you usually stalk? Your crush, “friends”, the weird kids, all 3? Well if you are hanging out with your group of rank and get on the topic of gossip, it will most likely be the weird kids or friends. We stalk them to see who they are because how different they are from all of us. They are nothing because we are better than them. “Omg have you seen their instagram and snaps? it is totally lame like honestly, no one cares about your life!” Heard of something that sounds familiar? I for sure know everyone at school has said something like this or heard someone say it because of all the gossip that goes around. One person, whom everyone gossiped about because of their “group” was influenced and judged because of one thing they did and that made a dramatic impact because of the group’s reputation. If you really think and ask yourself and write down how you think they feel, your list may come up to be a heartbreaking scene.
Fake it till you make it!
Face it, you always have wanted to be the best at something it will always be something we want in life. Whether it be something small or something that would make others fall to your feet because it was truly astonishing. Many people try to keep their reputation even if that means lying about who they are, so half of the time the truth about your closest friends are lies just because they want to seem like a good person or even a bad ass. Seems like quite a way to make it to the top. As humans, we all want to be treated correctly and liked but in high school we are all different and want to be with the people who have the same aspects and goals as yourself and that’s how groups are mainly started. Though everyone has their differences and that one other difference you have with people can kick you right out of that group and it will be hard to find more friends.
Think before you speak
The one thing that can save us from a major fail is one question we can ask ourselves. One question such as, Is Hawaii actually apart of the United States or not because it isn’t connected on the map? This may sound like it doesn’t connect because it’s stupid and out of the ordinary but I ask this because the question is equivalent to how stupid judgments from competition such as being prettier or more athletic are. So we come to the conclusion of how competition influences judgments. All winning does is give you a high ego, and what will a high ego do to you if you stay like that as an adult, the truth is everyone will hate you and according to society’s standard, you wouldn’t want to think of yourself as hated. So if you can judge yourself when you were a teenager, why can you judge me. Judge me, will you?
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Annabel
I like this article a lot, you make good points and i agree with what you are saying about highschool groups. But if you think of it differently, the problem is not the groups we put ourselves in, because essentially we hang out with (group together) with people we have things in common with, example: jocks or video gamers or based on style. The problem is when we become to secluded to the groups and close minded to people with other interests AKA other groups. Society as a whole has many different labels.. but labels are not necessarily a bad thing unless we add the negativity through it by looking at different groups below us.
Elana
This is a great article and it does give insight into what high school is actually like for some people. I know in one Honors English class last year, we spent the hour classifying the groups of people here and their ranking in the social ladder. The class as a whole was able to see how students see each other, it was not to single certain groups or people out. The way this activity was done, gave students the chance to take a step back before taking two steps forward. Categorizing helps some people better understand what is going on or even what the topic is.
Melaina
I really like this, but is it really necessary to categorize people? One of the reason why high schools develope groups is because people feel can comfortable and not judged in their decided group of friends. And if you’re like me, you don’t have just one group of friends. Basically what I’m saying is that there’s nothing wrong with groups, as long as they are able to get along.