Importance of Peer Group

sakacar
Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:59:38 +0000

Just my experience – My daughter who is off to college this year spent her first 10 years of schooling in very competitive academic magnets. We moved before her sophomore year, and she attended a regular public high school.

My kids have both positive and negative things to say about the experience. They do, however, feel that the level of discourse and commitment is lower than they’d like to see.

I teach high school, and I know the caliber of students who attend state schools, and attend honors programs. There are some very bright kids, and some very motivated kids. There are also some kids who are neither.

I’ve attended both types, and there are pros and cons to each. I’ve meet great people at both types odd schools.

Can you find the smart, motivated kids at a state school? Sure.

Do you sometimes find yourself feeling like a nerd? I believe so.

Is it sometimes frustrating? I think so.

There are advantages, though. Those people are a much higher percentage of the people your son will meet and have to work with after college.

They may not represent a stable a peer group (state schools generally have lower on-time graduation rates) and your son may have to work harder to find his niche and find peers that share goods intellectual passions. He may have an easier time finding kids to watch the game with, or go hiking with, etc. There are positives and negatives to both
experiences.
How does your son feel?

As long as he goes odd with a positive attitude, I think he’ll have a great experience.