Skids, losers, grubs, chumps, preps, jocks, nerds, stoners; the stereotypes of high school, the inescapable, judgmental clicks that we find ourselves in. Being in Grade twelve at Bow Valley High school this year has made me realize a number of things about the atmosphere that high schools provide. Although it should be a safe learning environment for teens to prepare themselves for the big world out there, it’s much more then that. Everyday kids go through so much more then you think. In every school, in every town or city, you will find labels for groups of people; groups of teens like you and me. These labels are marked without thinking, without getting to know the person you’re calling a skid or a chump.
I’ve found that grade twelve has made a huge difference on how the students treat each other. We’ve now matured enough to give those who we wouldn’t even speak to a chance at a friendship. Which brings me to why? Why now? Why so late? I’ve made amazing friends that now I don’t know if I could live without, but this time in grade ten or even eleven, I would have never spoken to them. Sure maturity has something to do with it but at the same time, why didn’t we give these people these, grubs, nerds, stoners a chance in the first place.
I’m going to do my very best to answer this question for everyone who thinks about it in the back of their mind. When we arrive at a new school, a high school, our instinct is to want to fit in, want to have friends and want to have fun. No one wants to go through school not having a best friend, not having someone that they can share things with. But this finding a friend stage, can be difficult, because certain people just won’t let you be there friend. Even though you may have so many things in common, so many loves for the same things, there’s one tiny thing about you that makes them say no. It may be the way you dress, or where you live, the music you listen too, how much money your parents make a year. There’s something in the way that we’re just to scared to let pass. So we just stick with the friends that we know we have.
It’s these differences that draw us apart from one another, if we could only just put them aside for five minutes to get to know one another, how many people would still be called skids? How many Teens would still get called Chumps? How many friends would you have? I know that I have more friends now then I ever had, because People not only gave me a chance, but I gave them one too. What’s the point of wasting time, with those few people you treasure when you could have even more friends that care about you? What’s the point in regretting not talking to that girl on the bus who sits by herself? What’s the point in saying you should have… you would have… you could have!
Written by Jenna Lambert
Grade 12 student @ Bow Valley High