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"Middle school…was basically a place you tried to survive…Everybody was rushing around and you hardly knew anybody, and there were predators. Even some of the kids you knew started turning into them. Plus, a lot of kids at our school were changing and making these tight little cliques, and if you didn't fit in somewhere you could be in trouble." (Page 9)

 

  "…the whole place is an obstacle course of kids alert for someone they can pound on or ridicule. If you have no hope of being accepted in a cool clique, or any clique for that matter, you're safest if you can manage not to get noticed at all." (Page 10)

"You know how there's always one kid in school who's the dirty one, one kid who's the smelly one, one kid who throws the ball over the backstop…and one kid who it's okay for anybody, absolutely anybody, to trash? In our school that last kid was Elliot…I wasn't really sure why he was the one, but the fact was that in Parkland School seventh grade, no matter who you were, Elliot Gekewicz was lower on the social scale than you." (Page 17)

Russell describes middle school as a place with "predators" that you "try to survive."

Can you relate to his experience?

How was your transition to middle school similar or different?

Why do you think fitting in to "tight cliques" or groups is important to people?

What types of people are considered "cool" at your school?

 

27 comments:

  1. People who arn't to smart and people who arn't nerds.

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  2. I think fitting in is important to kids because they dont wanna be left out.

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  3. I't was scary a little cause when I got here I thought nobody like me cause they kept staring at me.

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  4. people that are cool in my school usualy try to dress up and try to look good. Also people that make fun of other people.

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  5. most of the time its people that fight other people and try to be better than you or some one eals

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  6. The kids that think they are big and bad and people that think they can pick on littler kids.

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  7. I really cant relate to his experence Im the one who sees kids getting bullied and say leave him/her alone what did they do to deserve that

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  8. Yes, I can relate to this experience. It was similar to my transition because when i first came here I was by myself with no friends. I think it is important to some people to be in a groups but people like me don't really care. The people who are considered cool are the people who dress in name brand clothes.

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  9. i think fitting in "cliques" is important because you dont feel left out and have the thought that nobody likes you.

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  10. the preps and jocks are considered the cool group to fit into. but i personally wouldnt want to be apart of that group because most of them talk about each other behind thier backs. not true friends.

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  11. um... yeah because nobody dont want to be left out i mean yeah

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  12. No, i cant relate to this experience.Beacuse I try to say away fom bullys and when i see somone getting bullied i always try to stop it

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  13. yea i can because it done happened to me before thats y i can

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  14. My transition was different b/c I knew all the people there.

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  15. I think the people that are considerd cool are the people that never hang out with any body except their little "groups". Also preppy people and athletes are considerd

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  16. I think the people that are considerd cool are the people that never hang out with any body except their little "groups". Also preppy people and athletes are considerd cool.

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  17. i can't really relate to this experience. i've never really been picked on by anyone.

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  18. i think people that r considered cool r the people that think they came become a ruler/leader of something when they came not

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  19. I have been bullied by students for no reason. They know who they are. I think they have no respect for others

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  20. No i cant relate to this experiance because ive never been bullied

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  21. The type of people that are considered cool at our school are really smart first of all. They also all look nice. Some of them arent the nicest people though. They usually get everything they want and are everything else I said. They are also known by eveyone. They also always care about how they look. They also dont care what people think of them. That's pretty much what the cool people at our school are like.

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  22. Caleb Baxter (C-Bizzzz)March 7, 2008 at 3:06 AM

    I think its important to fit in at schoool is because people want to be seen around the school. Its not "cool" to be left out here in school. Most people would die to be in the popular group. Me personally i do hang out with the popular group and i'm considered popular at this school. I think people want to be cool so they can be seen and so people know who they are. MOst everybody that is in the popular groups play sports and are very athletic.

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  23. I think the reason people stay in groups beacas evry one has there own group of people that they fit in with. There is no one important class or a group of people that are better then the next. There is a holebunch of mean people at our school.

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  24. I can relate to the boy who brought a hat to school on Hatday and got it damaged because when I brought my hat to my other school on Hatday the kids thought it would be funny if they put water on it.

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  25. if you are in a group it makes you feel noticed and cooler than they were.

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  26. No i cant relate because im considered cool

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  27. maby, it makes them feel cool

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