Sitting here in my rocking chair, wrapped in a shawl thinking back to what is now called middle school - no we didn't have "middle" school where I lived and when I went to school.
Grade school was K-6, Junior High 7-9, Senior High 10-12
So technically, grade 6 was the top of the food chain for our grades. And yes, we had bullies, bad girls (mainly smoking and cussing) and clothes were, to a point, important. But not like they are today. It was more a clique thing -- wearing the right thing to be "in" - which I never was. I was a complete dork with my mother picking my polyester *shudder* outfits from the Sears catalog; and those darn plaid pleated skirts - not minis, down past my knees. I used to roll them up a little, so I always had a huge waist!
I can't even imagine trying to outfit a teen these days! Between the cost and what alot of the girls around here want to wear, honestly.
But, for our school, aside from the few bad eggs, we didn't have the kinds of things going on at grades 6 and 7 that seem to be happening now. No dating in 6th grade, that much I do clearly remember. We didn't even like boys (boys didn't like girls either).
7th grade - we were at the bottom of the pool, and were picked on - alot by the older kids. We accepted it as part of school life. Same with Senior High, the 10th graders took alot of flack.
Problems with things like drugs didn't start until Senior High, then you'd walk in the girls room between classes and they'd be doing drugs right there! Pregnancy, we only had one girl and they wouldn't let her come to graduation, it was such a scandal (1972).
13 IS too young, IMHO, to be wearing alot of the clothes I see, dating?! and I won't even get into how I feel about young girls having babies.
In general, being near 3 schools - 2 public, 1 Catholic, I have to say I find alot of the kids to be rude and thoughtless. I don't know when this happened, but things have definitely changed. Making fun of each other is bad enough, these kids stand on the corner or walk down the street and make fun of everyone else. Being disabled, I get alot of it, and have had kids deliberatly walk into me, kind of pushing, to try to knock me down. I don't know where the parents are or what they're teaching their children.
Thank goodness all of you are so wonderful! I wish you all lived near me, I'd adopt you all and be "auntie" to you
