Running Head: MIDDLE SCHOOL STEREOTYPES FACT OR FICTION

Middle School Stereotypes Fact or Fiction Alissa Jones Seton Hill University

Running Head: FACT OR FICTION Middle School Stereotypes Fact or Fiction

What if Middle School was the best experience of your life? What if there werent any bullies or disgusting lunches. Would you go back and do it over? After reading Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech and doing some research on middle school theory, I have found that Middle School should not have been as painful as it seemed. While I dont think I would go back and do it over again, I would definitely like to see some changes made to make a better experience for the young adolescents currently going through that time in their life now. While reading Walk Two Moons, a few areas stuck out to me. The main character, Salamanca, faces difficulties a typical middle school aged child would. She goes through the beginning of a divorce with her parents. While they never fully divorce because of a tragic bus accident that kills her mother, Salamanca can relate to the difficult family situations of middle school aged children. She is forced to move to a new area where she is an outcast. In this time of a middle school childs life, they are all outcasts. She wants to fit in, but makes friends with some students in the class that are considered different. While she embraces their friendship, she encounters their quirks, but accepts them. While being with her new friends, they go through all kinds of crazy situations. They deal with each others crazy and paranoid families, and they have their own paranoia that someone is following them. They think the whole world is a trap and they are afraid to face it, this is what this age of children are facing in real life. While the adults in their lives are good to them, they do not let the children know exactly what is going on. The children in the story are kept in the dark in various circumstances. I think this is a typical stereotype of families with middle school children. They understand they are becoming

Running Head: FACT OR FICTION adults, but they do not want them to be involved in the adults relationships or problems yet. They cant necessarily give their children a lot of information because they will disobey or go against their families wishes, just like in the story. Taking the time to review the article, The Best Antidote to Bullying? Community-Building, by Jim Dillon, I have come across ways to alleviate Salamancas

issues in Walk Two Moons. In the story, Sal and her friend find it difficult to get along with the other girls in their classes. From the article Dillon wrote, Students can learn how to support and defend their peersand not just those with whom they share obvious similarities, Sal and her friend defend each other, but they truly need the approval of the adults in their lives and the classmates in their classes in order to achieve the ultimate acceptance they want. They want their parents to see they are hurting before they have to ask. But in the story, the parents and adults are hurting and cant see past how they feel in order to help their children. This is crucial in the middle school age range. A second source I found is, The Battle over Student Engagement, by Jack Berckemeyer. It discusses how it is so hard to capture the attention the middle level students. In the story, Walk Two Moons, their teacher finds it difficult to capture the attention of his class. He assigns them a journal that they had to write about their summer vacation. He then reads the students work to the class, which causes an up rise. As middle level theory has developed, it is a very touchy subject to share students work with the rest of the class due to judgment and acceptance issues. However, Berckemeyer surveyed the teachers and students in his school to see what they thought motivated students. Teachers gave the typical answer of more rewards for behavior or good grades, better lunches ect. However, the real answers from the students were as follows: Teachers with

Running Head: FACT OR FICTION a sense of humor, A classroom that looks like a middle school classroom, and a teacher who really wants to be there. While we never thought these would be the cases, I think that middle school students are the ones that know what they want! All in all, Walk Two Moons describes teenagers possible implications of their lives in todays society. Students in the middle level can relate to the fictional story, but be alleviating from their lifes struggles while reading. The two articles are resources to help guide middle school students in the appropriate direction and help us, as educators, understand how to prevent the implications in a middle school students life. It helps to identify the cooperation of young adolescents ideas and interests and describes the mental health of a middle school aged child.

Running Head: FACT OR FICTION References Berckemeyer, Jack. The Battle over Student Engagement. Association for Middle Level Education. Retrieved from http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/MiddleSchoolConcept/MSCDet/TabId/193/ArtMI D/817/ArticleID/366/Battle-over-Student-Engagement.aspx

Dillon, Jim. (2013) The Best Antidote to Bullying? Community-Building. Education Week, 33 (14). Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/12/11/14dillon.h33.html