seems like 70% of my high school in whatever made up made-for-TV-movie-archetype discrete configuration people want to pretend exists (jock, nerd, prep, goth, punk, drama, band, gamer, jrotc, hippie, criminal, cop, drug user, sex haver, artist, wizard, rogue, italian) steadily sanded all their distinctions down to become some bland :frothingfash: or :LIB: . "don't worry, you'll see them all again on their long journey into the middle."
the people that went on to do or become interesting don't seem to have come from any of those b.s. "types" in particular. it's as though maybe those are just placeholder identities people adopt while figuring themselves out, eventually sloughing them off like dead skin as they grow anew inside.
it's a hack take, but whenever i have a high school aged human's attention, i endeavor to let them know that the task of high school in the US is to not get shot, go to jail, or to flunk.
if they can pull that off, they beat high school. if they get through without being shitty to anyone, they are a hero. all the social bullshit stew that occurs as hundreds of young people transition to adults with hormones and varying levels of individualization from family and personality development repeatedly bounce off each other is barely worth remembering later in life. so go to class, learn math or some shit, and get out. the people who are your friends and enemies are probably going to be really different in 20 years.
it’s as though maybe those are just placeholder identities people adopt while figuring themselves out, eventually sloughing them off like dead skin as they grow anew inside.
They’re also placeholders used by screenwriters to quickly establish motivation. It’s the social equivalent of the villain murdering the protagonists’ puppy.
seems like 70% of my high school in whatever made up made-for-TV-movie-archetype discrete configuration people want to pretend exists (jock, nerd, prep, goth, punk, drama, band, gamer, jrotc, hippie, criminal, cop, drug user, sex haver, artist, wizard, rogue, italian) steadily sanded all their distinctions down to become some bland :frothingfash: or :LIB: . "don't worry, you'll see them all again on their long journey into the middle."
the people that went on to do or become interesting don't seem to have come from any of those b.s. "types" in particular. it's as though maybe those are just placeholder identities people adopt while figuring themselves out, eventually sloughing them off like dead skin as they grow anew inside.
it's a hack take, but whenever i have a high school aged human's attention, i endeavor to let them know that the task of high school in the US is to not get shot, go to jail, or to flunk.
if they can pull that off, they beat high school. if they get through without being shitty to anyone, they are a hero. all the social bullshit stew that occurs as hundreds of young people transition to adults with hormones and varying levels of individualization from family and personality development repeatedly bounce off each other is barely worth remembering later in life. so go to class, learn math or some shit, and get out. the people who are your friends and enemies are probably going to be really different in 20 years.
They’re also placeholders used by screenwriters to quickly establish motivation. It’s the social equivalent of the villain murdering the protagonists’ puppy.
I tell kids I dropped out and am fine. It takes a lot of pressure off