Have any of you seen this? It’s very moving.
http://wtop.com/living/2017/05/7th-graders-why-am-i-not-good-enough-video-touches-millions/
She speaks from the heart.
Meh…didn’t do much for me. She’s like Middle School personified…where everyone is a drama queen, overly concerned about nothing. Cute kid, but so what?
Shockingly…there are a lot of girls who go through school who don’t buy into stereotypes and burst into tears over the unfairness of it all.
Lot of girls make a few good friends, accept themselves, and worry about more substantial things.
Not saying Middle School isn’t rough…it’s horrible.
But it’s nothing new.
I agree that it’s nothing new … but I also think that just because it s**ked when I was that age doesn’t mean it should continue to be that way. When I was in grade school, a particular kid got bullied every day on the way home. The solution was to have him leave school early, so that he would be ahead of the bullies. Boys will be boys, you know. Today, because of the focus on anti-bullying, there are fewer such incidents (I am not stupid - bullying will never be eliminated) … when people stand up and speak out, change can occur. If no one works for change, it will not happen.
I posted it because I am so far removed from what middle school and high school is like these days. Back when I was a kid us nerds and smart kids were the cool kids, we were the leaders, we were the ones others looked up to. Being smart was great.
The “poplular” boy in my D’s class mows my lawn now…
Middle School has always been horrible. You’re stuck between being expected to act like an adult…and being treated like a child. It’s like the purgatory of middle management. LOL. It’s a private hell of having all of the responsibility, none of the authority. Plus, ya know…hormones are a thing. Hormones make everyone grouchy and short tempered and emotional.
My History teacher was hot, and I suffered looking really stupid a few times because I was so distracted. And I’m sure he didn’t realized this, but when he sat on his desk, we could see…ahem…the outline of something that held great fascination. A guy in a plaid shirt and khakis…to this day…still does something special for me. LOL. If I could have two years of extra life in exchange for reliving my eighth grade year…I would opt against it. Nothing on Earth would be good enough incentive to revisit that year.
When the group of middle school bullies instigated the last schoolyard fight I participated in toward the end of 8th grade, the “popular kid” who was a hanger-on to the bully and his minions ran off with the minions like panicking chickens after my roundhouse kick which was intended for his upper-body/head ended up in his nads because I was much shorter than him*.
Despite being derided as “nerds” by this bully and his group, my friends had no trouble finding the “popular kid” and the rest of the group, beat them up a bit, and toss them all into the nearest trash bin.
Good way to end middle school…and not too long after learning I was admitted to the public magnet HS I ended up attending.
Last I checked with a cop who knew of this group of bullies , with the exception of the “popular kid”, the bully and everyone else were serving time in Rikers or Upstate prisons for serious felonies committed during our high school years and a few won’t be due for release for another decade at least.
- He was ~5'8+, I was barely 4'11".
Sounds very much like my public magnet high school.
However, there the standards of what’s required to be considered a “nerd”* was such that the bottom 80% or more of my incoming/graduating HS class wouldn’t have been considered “eligible”. Especially folks in the bottom quarter of the class such as yours truly.
- A label which was considered something to be rightfully worn with pride if earned.
When I was in eighth grade I cried because another kid said they wanted to get rid of me because I was a nerd.
I was physically hit by various bullies from 2nd through 9th grades. It was a challenging time but I still made some amazing friends I’ve kept to this day and learned a lot in and out of school.