The anxious, scrawny looking boy gazes intently and keenly as the buff, popular boys pose like big, oversized, intimidating gorillas. Skinny and slim girls can also be found twirling their hair as they challenge and flirt with the boys at UWC Tent Plaza during lunch time. But why is this popularity contest such an huge and important thing between teenagers?
According to G.M Williams, the image of being popular is a person who is considered and believed to be important, happy, liked and supported by school. To be popular is to be adored, adulated and loved. To be popular is to actually be somebody, like an entity.
But being popular doesn’t only give out positive vibes. It has its share of negative as well. Some of the popular kids are disliked by other students. But this may be because of envy and jealousy but also because the standout teens can be bullies or part of the mean girls clique.
Cristie is often called a malicious girl who often feels inferior to herself. When interviewed, on the behavior of Cristie, a shy introvert expressed that she often feels that Cristie judges her and the introvert claims to feel her self-esteem go down, almost like an instinct.
Another interview with a talkative and chatty bystander suggests that Hunter is a really funny and witty guy but he often makes fun of him while joking. He also adds that Hunter’s actions and behavior have a high contrast when he’s with the ‘cool kids’ and when he’s with the so called ‘un-cool kids’.
Still, the big question is, what does being popular in middle school tell us about the world outside the bubble of adolescence? Why does being popular matter to the students? Does it matter?
According to Professor Allen, who is using the criteria of likeability to define popularity, his studies indicate that the more the popular the teens were, the more likely that they get into trouble with wild deviant and quirky behavior, like shoplifting or vandalism and drinking and smoking. According to him, its the one way to signal to their peers that I’m not doing what adults want. To indicate that I don’t listen to anyone. I am independent and an antagonist.
But another story of 13 and 14 year olds found that teenagers who perceived themselves as well liked and comfortable with their peers were just as socially successful over time as those who were deemed popular by others. This internal sense of social acceptance, the study’s authors said, may be as or more important in the long run than the number of friends you have.
But one of the questions which races into my mind is, so why isn’t popularity of any significant value?
The idea that someone is better just because they own an ‘posh’ car, an expensive wardrobe and have an alluring or a pristine body is just absurd. Hear me out readers. No one is better than someone else. We all were born equal and because of those senseless and ludicrous rationales, treating others different is again, just absurd.
Most of the people are convinced by that fact that popularity leads the way to happiness and contentment all the time. And of course, and some of that might be true. Lots of popular kids are contemplated as more happier, just because they are admired and because they are surrounded by lots of friends with whom they have fun with. But on the other hand, there are the unpopular kids who aren’t very happy but they have a good, loyal set of friends which make each other happy.
So, popularity doesn’t control or determine your happiness but instead, what you do and what you make of your life does. Whether or not everyone in your class or grade is fond of you shouldn’t determine your middle school experience. You should be able to control your happiness by who hang out with the people you love and doing the activities in which you take pleasure in. Be yourself. Being popular isn’t important. It is as straightforward as that.
Showing posts with label Reputation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reputation. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
The Popularity Division
Take a look around. A good look around. Look around to find them, because you will. Somewhere, in every school there is always that group. The boys that hang out with those girls, and those girls that hang out with those boys. But not just any boys and girls. The boys and girls that deem themselves higher than all else. The girls with layered makeup, and the boys puffing out their chest. Boys hitting one another and girls giggling foolishly. Because they will be there. This is the social segregation.
The lunch bell rang and there was that usual commotion as everyone ran downstairs to que up. Everyone went to their normal places but for one boy who stood, playing around the long table in the centre of the cafe. A couple walked up to him holding hands and dropped off their bags giving him look of surprise and indignation mingled with disgust. ‘He’s at our table?’ They thought. Walking away without another look back he was left alone standing in the middle of all this bedlam, shunned away from all else.
In all schools around the world there is always a divide. A segregation between many similar to Apartheid that divides between different people who deem themselves more popular than others. First lets talk about the word, What does Popular even mean? The dictionary defines it as people who are admired by many people or a particular group. But why? Why does this mean you are different from others? Being deemed popular or trying to get to that stage changes so much about who you really are, From where you hang out to your dress sense, to how do you things just regularly. You become a different person under the influence of this social pressure.
Not only does it change your physical self but it undermines your personality and who YOU truly are. Its not about what you want anymore or what you do. Its about what the people want.
Sweating nervously he sat looking across the plaza. All the girls were huddled to together, all whispering looking at him every couple of seconds. Tapping his feet, he looked around to see the other boys all crammed around discussing the situation. Should I do it? Pressure waves kept running through him. It was too late to back out now.
Social pressure is also a sad thing that relates to how people change. There is always that pressure that is put on you by others, A pressure that grow’s and grow’s varying with the matter. Like a disease, It spreads engulfing you in the need to do what you have been pressured into.
A great example of this pressure is asking someone out. You yourself might not really want to, but remember? It’s not what we want anymore. Its what they want. Its not really like you have a choice either, to be perfectly honest. You do and everyones happy, however if you back down your looked down upon, and your ‘levels’ just drop like the NASDAQ.
Sitting up slowly, he took a look at what he saw. He was not happy with what he saw. Questions kept running through his mind, ‘Would she like it?’ Would they like it? Subconsciously he began putting wax in his hair to try and make it look good. Same old, same old routine ‘yikes’ He thought, hopefully people wouldn’t think to much about him today.
You see? Popularity has become a thing that makes even boys insecure about yourself. It’s all about how you look, how your image is portrayed. How people will think of you. It all comes back to the same question all the time. How will will my image be portrayed? Will I be popular enough?
‘I always tried to change for them’ A source wishing to remain unidentified tells us. ‘The way I liked to dress was no longer important. It was about the trends that were going through at the time which I eventually keeled to.’
Popularity is something that changes who you are. not the only what is underneath but the layer above, the one that everyone see’s.
Amongst other things, one of the things that ‘Popularity’ does change is what society deems you should be good at. Passions now should be something masculine, cool rather than something that you enjoy. An unconfirmed source tells us ‘Something that I am really passionate about is Dance. But I have been bullied about this in the past. Its not good enough, its Macho. Its not what everyone else wants to see. I tried to get into something else, Football, Rugby, Tennis. None of them I really enjoyed, It was Dance that was my passion.
Those football players, those rugby Jocks, those kids are the cool ones. Making the team, well that just your levels rocketing like product shares of apple when the first iPhone came out.
If there is one thing that you do after reading this, is just be prepared, be wary that their are all these different people in the world out there. They might not necessarily be bad, but what they do do is create an influenza in society, where everyone is engulfed in this need to become great.
The lunch bell rang and there was that usual commotion as everyone ran downstairs to que up. Everyone went to their normal places but for one boy who stood, playing around the long table in the centre of the cafe. A couple walked up to him holding hands and dropped off their bags giving him look of surprise and indignation mingled with disgust. ‘He’s at our table?’ They thought. Walking away without another look back he was left alone standing in the middle of all this bedlam, shunned away from all else.
In all schools around the world there is always a divide. A segregation between many similar to Apartheid that divides between different people who deem themselves more popular than others. First lets talk about the word, What does Popular even mean? The dictionary defines it as people who are admired by many people or a particular group. But why? Why does this mean you are different from others? Being deemed popular or trying to get to that stage changes so much about who you really are, From where you hang out to your dress sense, to how do you things just regularly. You become a different person under the influence of this social pressure.
Not only does it change your physical self but it undermines your personality and who YOU truly are. Its not about what you want anymore or what you do. Its about what the people want.
Sweating nervously he sat looking across the plaza. All the girls were huddled to together, all whispering looking at him every couple of seconds. Tapping his feet, he looked around to see the other boys all crammed around discussing the situation. Should I do it? Pressure waves kept running through him. It was too late to back out now.
Social pressure is also a sad thing that relates to how people change. There is always that pressure that is put on you by others, A pressure that grow’s and grow’s varying with the matter. Like a disease, It spreads engulfing you in the need to do what you have been pressured into.
A great example of this pressure is asking someone out. You yourself might not really want to, but remember? It’s not what we want anymore. Its what they want. Its not really like you have a choice either, to be perfectly honest. You do and everyones happy, however if you back down your looked down upon, and your ‘levels’ just drop like the NASDAQ.
Sitting up slowly, he took a look at what he saw. He was not happy with what he saw. Questions kept running through his mind, ‘Would she like it?’ Would they like it? Subconsciously he began putting wax in his hair to try and make it look good. Same old, same old routine ‘yikes’ He thought, hopefully people wouldn’t think to much about him today.
You see? Popularity has become a thing that makes even boys insecure about yourself. It’s all about how you look, how your image is portrayed. How people will think of you. It all comes back to the same question all the time. How will will my image be portrayed? Will I be popular enough?
‘I always tried to change for them’ A source wishing to remain unidentified tells us. ‘The way I liked to dress was no longer important. It was about the trends that were going through at the time which I eventually keeled to.’
Popularity is something that changes who you are. not the only what is underneath but the layer above, the one that everyone see’s.
Amongst other things, one of the things that ‘Popularity’ does change is what society deems you should be good at. Passions now should be something masculine, cool rather than something that you enjoy. An unconfirmed source tells us ‘Something that I am really passionate about is Dance. But I have been bullied about this in the past. Its not good enough, its Macho. Its not what everyone else wants to see. I tried to get into something else, Football, Rugby, Tennis. None of them I really enjoyed, It was Dance that was my passion.
Those football players, those rugby Jocks, those kids are the cool ones. Making the team, well that just your levels rocketing like product shares of apple when the first iPhone came out.
If there is one thing that you do after reading this, is just be prepared, be wary that their are all these different people in the world out there. They might not necessarily be bad, but what they do do is create an influenza in society, where everyone is engulfed in this need to become great.
Being A Teenager
In middle school students begin to care about friends more and their reputation is very important to them, but in high school the relationships with their friends is critical and they often struggle to understand who they are and where they fit in.
Being a teen is rough but exciting at the same time, there are its ups and downs. Teens need a good balance with their studies and their social life. Some teenagers often forget that going to school is for studying and not only to see their friends. But the teenagers that don’t have friends or very little of them feel lonely and excluded which often leads to depression. Teenagers have to face obstacles such as finding the wrong friends or backstabbers before finding their true ones, but some naturally prefer to be alone.
All teenagers are different, some are smart, some are dumb, some are sporty and some are less but they are never alone. Some are none of these and they are the ones that find it the hardest to fit in maybe because they think that they are different or maybe they think that nobody feels the same way. The teens that are the most “different” are the ones that are the most vulnerable and the most likely to be victims of bullying or being teased. The ones that are bullied end up feeling insecure and lose their self-esteem. In the US, at least 160,000 children skip school due to bullying.
An anonymous 8th grader in the Lycee Francais de Singapour liked to wear tight clothes but she was bullied and teased for being chubby. As a result, she started cutting herself but she fortunately found a friend that convinced her to stop. She was asked about how she felt about this and she replied “Girls who made me feel insecure about myself can just continue teasing me but to be honest it would be a waste of their time.” In conclusion, school is rough but with the right attitude everyone makes through it.
Being a teen is rough but exciting at the same time, there are its ups and downs. Teens need a good balance with their studies and their social life. Some teenagers often forget that going to school is for studying and not only to see their friends. But the teenagers that don’t have friends or very little of them feel lonely and excluded which often leads to depression. Teenagers have to face obstacles such as finding the wrong friends or backstabbers before finding their true ones, but some naturally prefer to be alone.
All teenagers are different, some are smart, some are dumb, some are sporty and some are less but they are never alone. Some are none of these and they are the ones that find it the hardest to fit in maybe because they think that they are different or maybe they think that nobody feels the same way. The teens that are the most “different” are the ones that are the most vulnerable and the most likely to be victims of bullying or being teased. The ones that are bullied end up feeling insecure and lose their self-esteem. In the US, at least 160,000 children skip school due to bullying.
An anonymous 8th grader in the Lycee Francais de Singapour liked to wear tight clothes but she was bullied and teased for being chubby. As a result, she started cutting herself but she fortunately found a friend that convinced her to stop. She was asked about how she felt about this and she replied “Girls who made me feel insecure about myself can just continue teasing me but to be honest it would be a waste of their time.” In conclusion, school is rough but with the right attitude everyone makes through it.
The Burnmark is a School's Reputation
Has the rumors of one of the biggest events in a school spreaded to other schools already? Has this ruined this school’s reputation? Vedant, an ex-student of Overseas Family School, was asked whether because of this event, how he would view the school, whether it is still a good school or a bad school. He firmly replies, “I think that the school’s reputation has been ruined due to this event that happened at OFS.” Arguably, this event is something that won’t look good in OFS’ reputation.
A few months ago, during a loud lunchtime, an ashy, unbreathable smoke came out of a shower room, just by the large soccer field. An anonymous source says that all the students ran to the field, only to crowd around the flaming room. Teachers made efforts to keep the paparazzi away from the shower room, as they emphasized the boundaries, staying focused on the student’s safety. Videos were quickly posted on to social media, as entertained students watched staff, tame and put out the fire.
Sources from the school say that a certain student made attempts to burn the school, due to hatred towards OFS itself, others say that the student made attempts to burn his failed tests using coal. However, even with all the information brought to the principle upon who might’ve committed such a stupid act, it was later rumoured that the student later brought himself in, snitching 4 other witness’ that didn’t stop him from starting the fire. The suspect was punished with a 4 month suspension from school, as the other witness’ was brought to suspension of 4 days.
The student who committed the act, then expressed his feelings upon his social media page, and this is what he had to say,”I just want to say that whatever I did at school today, I wasn't thinking at all. I was being really stupid (as everyone knows) and I didn't mean any of it.” He then continues upon what he did by saying, “ Once again, to everyone, I'm really, really sorry for this. And I also want to say thanks to all the people that can surprisingly understand that what I did was purely a mistake, nothing more. Even though it was a massive, stupid mistake, I just want to say thanks for somehow understanding. Really sorry guys.” Although he apologized and expressed upon how guilty he felt, students from other schools thought that his punishment wasn’t severe enough. A student from another school comments upon the punishment of the suspended student. He believes that the punishment wasn’t harsh enough, he thought that the suspended student should’ve been expelled as what he did could have endangered the lives of many students. Some thought that if they started that fire, their parents would’ve taken everything away from them forever because of the risk it put other students in, and commented similar things upon the suspended student’s punishment. Others thought differently and thought that he would’ve learnt that what he did was wrong and thought that he would never do it again if he was given that much time to think about what he had done to the school and students.
It was later confirmed by a staff of the science department at OFS, that he would’ve been expelled from OFS. He says, “If it wasn’t for the 10 good years of history of this student’s record at OFS, he would’ve been expelled for sure!” Staff from others schools believe that rather than punishing the student, they would have become his counsellor, helping him understand that what he had done was wrong and would help him correct his mistake to make sure he’d never do it again.
Although it was an entertaining and eventful day for many of the students, watching the fire blaze in the shower room, the day wasn’t good at all for the school, as they are now left with a big burnmark in their history and reputation.
A few months ago, during a loud lunchtime, an ashy, unbreathable smoke came out of a shower room, just by the large soccer field. An anonymous source says that all the students ran to the field, only to crowd around the flaming room. Teachers made efforts to keep the paparazzi away from the shower room, as they emphasized the boundaries, staying focused on the student’s safety. Videos were quickly posted on to social media, as entertained students watched staff, tame and put out the fire.
Sources from the school say that a certain student made attempts to burn the school, due to hatred towards OFS itself, others say that the student made attempts to burn his failed tests using coal. However, even with all the information brought to the principle upon who might’ve committed such a stupid act, it was later rumoured that the student later brought himself in, snitching 4 other witness’ that didn’t stop him from starting the fire. The suspect was punished with a 4 month suspension from school, as the other witness’ was brought to suspension of 4 days.
The student who committed the act, then expressed his feelings upon his social media page, and this is what he had to say,”I just want to say that whatever I did at school today, I wasn't thinking at all. I was being really stupid (as everyone knows) and I didn't mean any of it.” He then continues upon what he did by saying, “ Once again, to everyone, I'm really, really sorry for this. And I also want to say thanks to all the people that can surprisingly understand that what I did was purely a mistake, nothing more. Even though it was a massive, stupid mistake, I just want to say thanks for somehow understanding. Really sorry guys.” Although he apologized and expressed upon how guilty he felt, students from other schools thought that his punishment wasn’t severe enough. A student from another school comments upon the punishment of the suspended student. He believes that the punishment wasn’t harsh enough, he thought that the suspended student should’ve been expelled as what he did could have endangered the lives of many students. Some thought that if they started that fire, their parents would’ve taken everything away from them forever because of the risk it put other students in, and commented similar things upon the suspended student’s punishment. Others thought differently and thought that he would’ve learnt that what he did was wrong and thought that he would never do it again if he was given that much time to think about what he had done to the school and students.
It was later confirmed by a staff of the science department at OFS, that he would’ve been expelled from OFS. He says, “If it wasn’t for the 10 good years of history of this student’s record at OFS, he would’ve been expelled for sure!” Staff from others schools believe that rather than punishing the student, they would have become his counsellor, helping him understand that what he had done was wrong and would help him correct his mistake to make sure he’d never do it again.
Although it was an entertaining and eventful day for many of the students, watching the fire blaze in the shower room, the day wasn’t good at all for the school, as they are now left with a big burnmark in their history and reputation.
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