I remember when I was a kid how everyone would play with
everyone in daycare. If a kid was playing with blocks or at the Lego station
you could just walk up to them and start playing with them and nothing would be
thought of it. Once we got older you could definitely see the divide in groups.
As kids started joining sports teams and finding out what interested them and
what they were good at cliques definitely started to form. I definitely saw a
change in the transition from elementary school to middle school in friendships.
I know for myself I started to hang out with people I was in similar activities
with like orchestra or dance and I noticed people that I use to hang out with
doing the same. Becoming friends with people wasn’t just going up to them
anymore it was trying to fit in with people by saying the right things and
buying the right clothes, etc. As the book says athletic kids were definitely
seen as the ‘cool’ kids however I think this is just because they have a lot of
people backing them, and their friend group is already defined for them so they
don’t have the added pressure of trying to find friends, etc. Also people look
up to them since schools are supportive of the teams and everyone goes to the
games and they’re “hometown heroes” in a way. Kids are definitely the meanest
at the middle school age because everyone’s trying to fit in and figure out who
they are. Once high school rolls around at least junior/senior year everyone
has their set group of friends and knows who they are/is looking towards the
future.
Kristen,
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the points you made! The experiences I had during preschool seemed very similar to those you had during day care. Most kids were very open to playing with any other kid. I think that the fact that my preschool class was a small group of children helped us be more comfortable in any situation. During my early years of elementary school I noticed cliques start to form, but they were based off of gender. Toward the end of elementary school when students were able to participate in groups such as choir, band, and art club, people started to hang out with others who were interested in the same activities as them. Middle school is definitely the time where the most bullying happens. I think part of the reason this occurs is because kids in middle school are trying to grow up and impress everyone (especially their peers) and they think that putting others down will make them seem better. I agree with the point you made to justify why athletic kids are the “cool” kids. I think another reason why athletic kids are at the top of the social pyramid is because of the way our culture is. People are more likely to recognize a quarterback from the NFL than a famous doctor, for instance. Fortunately, my school district had a multitude of activities, clubs, and sports teams to participate in, and cliques were not as prevalent as they were in other schools in my area. For example, students from all different “groups” would come out to support our football team, academic team, and various musicians and artists when they had meets or performances.