Post by katieeepimp on Sept 14, 2008 20:35:09 GMT -5
Most would think that social barriers are created merely due to differences in personality. In second grade there may not be the popular kids and the outcasts, but there are still kids that everyone gets along with and kids that eat lunch by themselves everyday. This segregation is created naturally as kids grow and mature at different ages. Once they reach middle school the tables turn a little bit. Rather than a judgment of someone’s personality, it becomes a judgment of their group. It doesn’t matter how someone got in the group, if they belong in the group, or if they even want to be in the group; that ‘group’ they hang out with tells everything about them.
Once kids reach high school, the effects of these social differences are prominent. Those who ‘fit in’ are invited to all the parties and have all the fun; those who don’t are looked down upon. When Matt refers to “them” vs. “us” he is pointing out the simple difference between popular and not. He refers to it as if there's a clear line drawn between the two. Matt thinks this just formed on its own, when in reality people like Josie work for it everyday. Josie had to walk away from the only best friend she ever had to fit in with the crowd. Whereas for Matt he just plays his sports and does his thing and everyone still worships him.
“Then one day, when I looked in the mirror, I understood. I looked into my own eyes and I hated myself, maybe as much as all of them did. That was the day I started to believe they might be right.” Pg 161. If it weren’t for that one group of popular kids then maybe the others wouldn’t feel so inadequately about themselves. Kids might love their friends and love themselves, but they’re constantly being compared on the scale of standards that the popular group creates. So no matter how much effort is put forth, they’re never good enough. The reason kids try so hard to be popular is that they want to fit in and be accepted. They don't want to go to school eachday in fear. There’s nothing high schools can do to interfere with this unfair yet most common way of things. There will never be a time when every singular student in a school feels equal in importance because as unfortunate as it may be, superiority is the natural way of things.
Once kids reach high school, the effects of these social differences are prominent. Those who ‘fit in’ are invited to all the parties and have all the fun; those who don’t are looked down upon. When Matt refers to “them” vs. “us” he is pointing out the simple difference between popular and not. He refers to it as if there's a clear line drawn between the two. Matt thinks this just formed on its own, when in reality people like Josie work for it everyday. Josie had to walk away from the only best friend she ever had to fit in with the crowd. Whereas for Matt he just plays his sports and does his thing and everyone still worships him.
“Then one day, when I looked in the mirror, I understood. I looked into my own eyes and I hated myself, maybe as much as all of them did. That was the day I started to believe they might be right.” Pg 161. If it weren’t for that one group of popular kids then maybe the others wouldn’t feel so inadequately about themselves. Kids might love their friends and love themselves, but they’re constantly being compared on the scale of standards that the popular group creates. So no matter how much effort is put forth, they’re never good enough. The reason kids try so hard to be popular is that they want to fit in and be accepted. They don't want to go to school eachday in fear. There’s nothing high schools can do to interfere with this unfair yet most common way of things. There will never be a time when every singular student in a school feels equal in importance because as unfortunate as it may be, superiority is the natural way of things.
