He was staring in a way that cut her to the quick. Josie shivered. “I’m not,” she said quickly, and she took a deep breath. “I just…I don’t like the way you treat kids who aren’t like us, all right? Just because you don’t want to hang out with losers doesn’t mean you have to torture them, does it??
“Yeah, it does,” Matt said. “Because if there isn’t a them, thee can’t be an us.” His eyes narrowed. “You should know that better than anyone.” (pp. 218 – 219)
In a middle school setting…talk about the “them” vs. “us.”
Can middle school ever break down the barriers so that each and every student feels a part of the school?
12 comments:
I think that its possbile in out school to break down the barrier and make everyone feel a part of the school. If the "popular" students didnt talk about people while looking at them, and making it obvious then people wouldnt feel low or not feel like coming to school. If everyone talked to eachother nicely instead of spreading rumors, etc no one would feel left out. But gossip and rumors is like gum in our school. You get caught chewing (spreading) it then your caught in the middle.
-nichole :)
no i do not think middle school can ever break down the barriers. yes i know this sounds cruel and wrong and it is but there will always be that one person or group of people who want to be or think they are better than everyone else.and with that selfish thinking come a very cruel power that posses their mind and they think it is ok to degrade and tourture other students wether it be their grade or younger. (generalyy they do not pick on grades above them because they would put them in their place.)sometimes i wish somebody was strong enough emotionally to put all the "populars in their place well the bad ones.
~veronica lee browne~
I don't think middle school can ever completely break down the barriers. The "popular" people that think they are better than everyone would never help make school better. There would be a lot of people that would help break down these barriers, but there will always be those few people that want school to stay as a them against us situation.
~HaLeY :]
I think its possible, but we are far from it because every day people rely on "them" for popularity and the joke of the day. My group of friends is almost beyond that, but if you want to break the barriers you are really gonna have to persuade people to stop making fun of others. The whole school system is set up that way and unless you set young kids up with a different system no one is gonna change the way they are. so yes I see that it is possible, but you might have to go to the lengths of making a whole new class in school about how to set up a good school friend system or something. :)MATT(:
Okay. This is a perfect example of how some movies can be so realistic. My all time favorite movie is Heathers. It's about J.D. (Christian Slater) and Veronica (Winona Ryder) accidentially killing Heather Chandler, who is the queen bee of their high school. And after she dies, her second in command, Heather Duke, takes over. And if Veronica and J.D. had killed her, then Heather McNamara might have taken over, then maybe Veronica. And it would just go on and on. There would always be someone else willing to step on people to be at the top.
Go watch the movie.... It's really funny.
~Jules:)
no, them and us will never be one. even if they were to become one there would still be that one kid who got picked on, or that one kid who was "better" than everybody us. for them and us to become one it would involve everybody to get along and everybody to see themselves as equal. unfortunately middle schoolers cant think that way, someone is always better than everybody else or someone is always the loser. it would take a miracle for everybody in middle school to see themselves at the same spot on the social pyramid.
and like jules said if the top dog of the school came to his/her senses and started caring and being nice to the other students then their second in command would take over, and etc etc
or lets say that the school nerd finally stuck up for himself and then got the crap beat out of him. those bullies would just move onto the next victim and beat the crap out of him! so it's just a never ending cycle of middle school social classes. the jerks move from one "loser" to another and make every single one of them feel like dirt. and those jerks take turns making them feel like dirt.
I wish that this could be stopped, but unfortunately i do not think it is capable of happening.
dan o
I feel like people dont make an us and them on purpose like matt. For me i dont see much us And them. Its more like i have my friends and they have theirs. There is definatly hierarchy, dont get me wrong but it isnt defined as geek and envyous. The groups are really, average and above average.
-jenna-
I agree with dan. i dont think that the barriers could break down because theres always going to be that one person who thinks theyre better than everyone else. and if there is that one person then there is always going to be people who feel like they are lower than everyone because of the people who think theyre better. so what matt said "if there isnt an us, there cant be a them" is true but i am 100% against it and hopefully someday, kids will learn that everyones the same.
*bridget*
I agree with Bridget and Dan, because there is going to always be someone that thinks for no reason they are better than the others. They will treat people differently and then that will form the other layers in the hyarchy. It may help if kids were trained from a young age but probably not prevent it from happening later.
Leah O. :)!!
I really don't think its possible to break barriers in any school.Even when u r in kindergarden you who the "weird" kids are and the "normal" kids are.So the hyarchy of the school happens at all ages even when ur a senior in college.I really think it would be neat to break the barriers all the social groups and see the outcome is.
Leah D.
I do think it's possible to make everyone feel the same. If we all work together we could do it. But there are a couple people that I know that would probbaly ruin it. The downside is that it only takes 1 person to ruin this. By if we could make our school a school where everyone was popular I think it could help a lot of people.
Zach Wood
its imposible to break down barriors to a middle school. thats how middle schools run. popularity is something you can cut down on but you cant break it. some kids are just set in there ways and wont lisen to people that dont think the same as them.
Haas
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