<p>I go to a rowdy public high school. It’s pretty ghetto. But, I find that it’s the norm in American society for most people to ostracize teens who might actually care about school/studying/their futures. Average kids try to avoid the “smart kids”. Words like “nerd” or “geek” have extremely negative social connotations (practically synonymous with “loser” nowadays). People assume that smart kids are boring, friendless, and spend all their spare time locked in their rooms studying. (Not true.) Personally, I find that some of my smartest friends are being dragged down by peer pressure/stereotypes to NOT be smart and NOT excel in their classes. They try to hide the fact that they have a brain in order to “fit it” in high school (though they are so funny/witty/sarcastic that they don’t really fit the “idiot” mold). It shouldn’t be this way. </p>
<p>So why are smart kids stigmatized in high school?</p>
<p>It has nothing to do with intelligence, it’s due to the fact that there is a genuine correlation in high school between how hard someone tries in high school and how much they suck socially.</p>
<p>This tends to happen more during Elementary and Junior High, mostly due to immaturity and insecurity.</p>
<p>In high school, intelligence loses much of its negative connotation. Some continue to look down upon it, though, mainly due to their idiotic hedonism precluding them from thinking logically.</p>
<p>Smart people aren’t stigmatized, hard working people are.</p>
<p>I do find it quite funny the self-inflated belief in people’s intelligence on these forums. So many people who think they are gifted but in reality they struggle socially and work hard, therefore apparently qualifying them for the status of ‘smart’.</p>
<p>“I do find it quite funny the self-inflated belief in people’s intelligence on these forums. So many people who think they are gifted but in reality they struggle socially and work hard, therefore apparently qualifying them for the status of ‘smart’.”</p>
<p>Well often working hard is the line between being sort of smart and being brilliant. Read up on the 10,000 hour rule; hard work is what elevates people and there’s no reason it should be stigmatized. And there’s no reason hard work = poor social skills automatically, though there is a correlation in high school.</p>
<p>That said, CC’s sense of superiority does get a bit grating at times.</p>
<p>A big part of this, in my opinion, is the whole “nerd” stereotype: white kid with taped glasses, pocket protectors, tucked-in dress shirts, organized stack of books in one hand, calculator in the other. Another factor is probably the relative lack of smart kids at most public high schools. I’m fortunate enough to be at a public high school (pretty ghetto too) that has a nicely sized smart kid population, so I don’t really feel left out.</p>
<p>Obviously, the Asian nerd stereotype takes the white nerd to a whole new level, which doesn’t help the smart people. :P</p>
<p>Yeah working hard might be the difference between being smart and brilliant, but I didn’t mention anything in regards to that. I said that you get a heap of kids who work their arses off studying and think they are God’s gift in terms of intelligence, but in reality they aren’t that smart they just get good grades from hard work. </p>
<p>A great deal of truly smart and gifted people don’t put in when it comes to academia due to work ethic or they simply prefer other things. I just get frustrated by the arrogance of people who believe they are incredibly intelligent because they simply get good grades yet lack in just about every other aspect. </p>
<p>I didn’t say hard work = poor social skills, I said there is a correlation between it in high school, which you agreed with so I’m not sure why you tried to rebut what I said there.</p>
<p>To be at the very top of a class, assuming your school isn’t too inflated, you probably have to work hard and be innately intelligent.</p>
<p>I would agree that it is hard work that is stigmatized more so than intelligence, even outside of academia. It’s an insult on video games to call someone a “try-hard.” Especially in school, I don’t think most people empathize well with others who put a lot of effort into something that many people don’t enjoy. It is “weird” to care about your schoolwork to many people.</p>
<p>I fortunately have not had to deal with this too much in my private school. We aren’t really smarter on average (I think our SAT scores are still around the national average, for example), but the culture that is formed is a bit less judgmental about getting good grades etc.</p>
<p>At my public high school a fairly large amount of the smart kids or kids in AP/honors classes are typically popular kids… Those in smarter classes typically have a higher income family that can afford to wear nice clothes, makeup, and extracurriculars/sports. Obviously there’s always a few kids that are awkward, are shy, or have no social life. Most of the “weird kids” or “nerdy” kids or “different” people or whatever typically are in the “regular” classes and usually are not smart, or at least do not work hard in school. And no, it’s not just based on looks… If you’re attractive but have no social skills and are very awkward… you’re probably not going to do well socially.</p>
<p>Also, in elementary school? Really? Everyone was friends with everyone (well a small percentage wasn’t and I can assure you it wasn’t because they were smart). The dumb, “weird” kids were friendless… or those that were “different” with a mole covering half their face or smell terrible or those that were dumb.</p>
<p>My school is a mostly upper middle class suburban/small city school though, not in the ghetto…</p>
<p>In HS, my D didn’t party or break rules . She enjoyed working hard , and had several close friends who also valued studying . Today they are at Harvard , Yale and Brown . They have new friends who like to study . It was all worth it.</p>
For the most part its true: the most interesting people I’ve met are less academic in nature.</p>
<p>Those who focus on academics are the most ignorant and naive people I’ll ever meet. They waste their youth thinking they’ll accomplish something; I feel bad for them because they will never get those years of their life back.</p>
<p>I guess my schools is odd in the fact that people who care about their grades are not ostracized. Most the people in my AP classes are in sports and do well in their classes, the “cool kids” (if I had to designate a specific group though that’s difficult as well) also take lots of honors/APs. Of course there are the uber nerds people make fun of but that’s because 90% of them are extremely rude and condescending, it doesn’t have much to do with their intelligence. In fact, our top 10 is comprised almost entirely of “cool” kids and our homecoming court is comprised mostly of smart, dedicated students as well. </p>
<p>The only super-genius I can think of with 0 social skills in our school has never been made fun to my knowledge and I know about those kind of things… >.> … <.< …</p>
<p>I’m above average but not the tip top of my class and me and my friends make fun of the probable val/sal not because of how smart they are but how weird and awkward they are.</p>
<p>In my school, a lot of “GATE” kids are disliked, mainly because they’re so arrogant. If the supposed nerds at my school stopped acting like self-righteous pricks, we would all get along.</p>
<p>A lot of it has to do with jealousy I think. The other kids, in order to justify themselves, try to deride smart people who are nerds with no social life. In doing so, they feel okay in not working hard and focusing on a social life.</p>