High school. It’s a glorious place. It’s a glorious time for some and a nightmare for others. What’s the media say about this momentous time for teens? They tell us High School is a place for the jocks, a place for the theater kids, choir kids, dance kids, emo kids, kids who didn’t care what they are kids, and NERDS. Or wait; are not all of our high schools like that? What we view on television or in the theaters, especially from the 90’s, is an extreme display of what happens in High School. Smart kids getting bullied, drama kids underwear being pulled over their heads, and Jocks are always the culprits.
Jocks are not as explicitly mean or rough in high school as they are displayed in the media. However, I would guess there is notable group segmentation in almost every high school. Labels exist for students that like drama, or chess, cooking, filmmaking, arts, sports or whatever really. Kids associate themselves with others that like the same things as them. We all do. It’s natural because we want to feel a part of a group. Feeling a part of a social group, we think, gives us the liberty to judge other groups different from ours. But for some reason, everyone targets nerds. Why nerds?
Nerds are the kids that spend all their time with their mommies! They’re uncoordinated, can’t play sports. All they can do is think. They take sack lunches to school, wear suspenders and their pants really high. They wear glasses! Nerds are skinny and look at their watches to make sure they don’t miss study hall. Nerds are weirdoes.
When we all leave high school, we realize that the nerds are the kids that work hard. Their faces are in the books. Their smarter than the rest of us and their really not nerds. Nerds become a positive label, and we respect it. Even TV stars and athletes want to be nerds. It’s a thing. Get on that thing.
What an interesting article! This was very well-written and fun to read. You made a great point: Why is it so much easier, and so much more common, to classify nerds vs. other cliques in high school? And you're absolutely right, we might make fun of the nerds in high school, but they're the ones who tend to be the most successful later in life. Excellent job!
I agree. Great thoughts on how people react according to what they see in the media. The sad thing that I find is that it only takes one bad apple to ruin the bushel. It only takes one bully, or one nerd to start the stereotype fires.
It's kind of funny how these looks and values are almost being glorified now though. The nerds are getting better jobs, they're running the electronic world and they're proving to the world how valuable they are. Also, the hipsters totally stole the nerd look.
I really liked your point, I still see some of this even here in college. But it's much more discreet and passive aggressive. Which can be a good or bad thing depending how you look at it.
I think it would be interesting to consider that jocks in high school acted like jerks because of what they saw on TV. Maybe the feel the need to be aggressive and bully because they want the label. I think in college we want the label of nerd, too, so we start to wear our glasses, put our noses in books, etc. Why is it that we want these labels? Even if we're stereotyping nerds in a good way, it's still a limiting label.
What an interesting article! This was very well-written and fun to read. You made a great point: Why is it so much easier, and so much more common, to classify nerds vs. other cliques in high school? And you're absolutely right, we might make fun of the nerds in high school, but they're the ones who tend to be the most successful later in life. Excellent job!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Great thoughts on how people react according to what they see in the media. The sad thing that I find is that it only takes one bad apple to ruin the bushel. It only takes one bully, or one nerd to start the stereotype fires.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of funny how these looks and values are almost being glorified now though. The nerds are getting better jobs, they're running the electronic world and they're proving to the world how valuable they are. Also, the hipsters totally stole the nerd look.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your point, I still see some of this even here in college. But it's much more discreet and passive aggressive. Which can be a good or bad thing depending how you look at it.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be interesting to consider that jocks in high school acted like jerks because of what they saw on TV. Maybe the feel the need to be aggressive and bully because they want the label. I think in college we want the label of nerd, too, so we start to wear our glasses, put our noses in books, etc. Why is it that we want these labels? Even if we're stereotyping nerds in a good way, it's still a limiting label.
ReplyDeleteVery true. It's interesting how are views change as we move on from "our world" in high school or even college.
ReplyDelete