High School Sadism
Jennifer Senior has an entertaining (and deliciously illustrated) piece in New York magazine about the toxic effects of high school. She makes a great point about the tendency of “experts” to focus on childhood (which is critical for academic learning)—and their relative silence about the importance high school, which shapes people’s personalities and neuroses in all kinds of horrible ways.
My one question is: Couldn’t high school be less toxic? Senior doesn’t get into this, suggesting that the problem is endemic to grouping large numbers of strangers together in one building. I don’t know if I buy that; I think there are probably huge degrees of toxicity, just as their are in different families or offices.
I would love to know what makes one high school more sadistic than another…
Web hosting said on February 06, 2013 at 5:01 am
High school was like a purgatory for me, almost a small hell on Earth…
I thinks it should be totally modified….
Raskausarvet said on February 17, 2013 at 9:34 am
We have the exact same problem here in finland.. unfotunately.
Colin said on February 19, 2013 at 4:35 am
The problem is exacerbated by grouping large numbers of adolescents together in one building.
As the (pre-) adolescent brain develops there is a lot of reorganization. The prefrontal cortex can’t be as effective in reasoning, control etc. It is something like moving house. You can take all the same furniture including kitchen utensils to the new house, but it takes some time before we can comfortably cook a large meal for for fifteen friends.
During this time adolescent brains are making many decisions based on the rest of their brains, much more emotionally based. (Of course all decisions are emotionally based, but with a functioning prefrontal cortex we may be able to moderate some of these decisions).
If culture is being created by groups of adolescents then groups from different schools may randomly create different cultures. Some schools will be more sadistic than others. And cultures can be self perpetuation.
This is a very interesting topic, and at last the methods and effects of middle and high school education are being given more attention. If the effects of these school years are carried forward int adulthood, then the effects will also be constantly molding the more general culture of our society. This was known and exploited by many of the mass manipulators of the past.
gift hampers said on February 21, 2013 at 3:16 am
The joke around Boulder’s Fairview High School used to be that the mouse infestation was so long-running and so pervasive that the mice were learning to read.
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Amanda Ripley said on February 25, 2013 at 4:46 pm
Raskausarvet, can you say more? We all hold Finland up as a perfect model for education everywhere. The reality is more complicated. What was your experience like? When? Why?
Thanks.
Chuk Gleason said on March 25, 2013 at 9:47 pm
I think high school sadism begins in middle school/junior high school; here’s why I think that:
Many times, 6th, 7th & 8th grade are separated into a ‘middle school’ format; sometimes it’s called ‘junior high’ for 7th & 8th grade. It’s a time of great physical, emotional & hormonal change, and with those grades separated from both the lower (K-5) and upper (9-12) grades lots of kids don’t have any chance to model good behavior, or be shown good behavior. The kids are left largely to their own devices to handle their problems and navigate all those changes without much guidance. Then they move to high school, and take up with older students who’ve already learned to be nasty to each other.
I labeled it ‘the hormonal ghetto’ about 14 years ago when my first daughter started thru middle school; and there is not a parent I’ve met since then who disagreed with me!
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