It’s Not a Popularity Contest

P O P U L A R I T Y opinion | february 2020 | 29 P O P U L A R I T Y it’s not a

contest the high school hierarchy through the eyes of the new generation

charlie trent design editor

is popularity real?

79% yes

We’ve all seen the classic ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s movies that depict the football stars and cheerleaders mocking the art kids or the clichés where the edgy girl ends up falling for the jerky jock.

But — newsflash — this is not the reality of the high school hierarchy.

While it may be true that many football players and cheerleaders are friends and in the same social circles, this does not mean that they refuse to talk to other people at schoo. The majority of them are nice people who will be friends with whoever they want to be friends with.

By putting these people in this hypothetical position of power, it creates a social bubble for them — they don’t ever have to ignore anyone if everyone assumes they already don’t like them because they don’t fit the stereotypical criteria of potential friends.

In addition, most of the kids considered popular at Blue Valley are generally well-liked, which is the majority of the reason they are well known and have a large group of friends.

Arguing that cheerleaders and football and basketball players shouldn’t be friends is problematic, not only because it allows a stereotype to continue. It also creates an argument that people aren’t allowed to be friends with those they spend a lot of time with, especially if it involves school activities.

54%

of students think popularity is

irrelevant

*based on a poll of 166 bvhs students *based on a poll of 166 bvhs students

21% no

erika kolseth staff writer

Teenage movies portray high school as popular girls walking in slow motion down the hallway and jocks who will steal your lunch money and dunk your head into a toilet. Obviously, this isn’t realistic — just like popularity.

Although 21% of students believe popularity doesn’t exist, I believe popularity exists only inside people’s heads, whether students admit it or not.

It seems like students define popularity by how many followers or likes they have on Instagram or how many Snapchats they get a day. That shouldn’t be what popularity is about. Popularity should be about radiating kindness and being a good person, that’s what makes you likeable. I will speak for the people and say that we do not care about who you hang out with.

You shouldn’t pretend to be someone else just to be in a “likeable” friend group. Guys, it’s high school. As long as you’re happy in your friend group, then who cares?

Popularity is overrated and irrelevant because we are all going to end up going to different colleges and restart in new environments anyway. You shouldn’t change your interests and personality just to be popular.

When the going gets Tough

Pursuing your ideas without the fear of being rejected

shay lawson co-editor in chief

68% Does rejection affect the way you go about life?

out of a poll of 166 students

32%

Rejection is when someone is dismissed. It’s when someone feels shame, sadness or grief when they are not accepted by others.

Being told no or that it isn’t the right time is something that, without a doubt, will happen to everyone in their lifetime and something that comes in many different forms.

That can be a teacher telling you your answer in class is wrong.

A coach cutting you from the team. Your friends not including you in their plans. And as much as it hurts to feel shunned or shut down, one of the best things to happen to a person is rejection.

People do not grow stronger when situations are easy.

A strong individual is created when they have to adjust and persevere to create the desired outcome, and there is nothing that challenges a person more than rejection.

Rejection helps us prosper because it forces us to embrace denial instead of running away from it. Author and entrepreneur Jia Jiang spoke about rejection in his Ted Talk where he “desensitized himself to the pain and shame that rejection often brings and, in the process, discovered that simply asking for what you want can open up possibilities where you expect to find dead ends.” Rejection empowers you as long as you do not draw broad conclusions about why you were dismissed.

Just because one person told you no does not mean everyone else that follows will.

When you reflect on what happened, make changes that will benefit the next time.

You can present your idea in a new way. You should never be afraid of going after what you want because you’re scared of what the person you’re asking might say.

The more rejection you face, the easier it will be to continue to express your thoughts.

In the end, being able to present your ideas to someone and get criticism back to make it better is one of the most important skills someone can possess in life.

“I am afraid of rejection because it makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable. When someone says they can or they don’t want to, to the plans I ask for it just makes me not want to ask them again because I feel like it’s going to constantly keep happening.” - Courtney Carvajal, 12

| CARTOON BY VERONICA PETERSON Working teens should know their rights

Historically, children were an unrestricted source of labor. It wasn’t uncommon for children to help their parents out with farm work, or within urban settings, go to work in factories where their small stature lended itself to work that was befitting their size but was no less dangerous.

In addition to children suffering workplace accidents while fiddling within the smaller spaces of large machines, the opportunities for schooling were lacking when the children had to work 12+ hour shifts.

This all changed, at least in the United States, with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. While the main focus of the bill was the establishment of an 8-hour work day, 40-hour work week and minimum wage, it also included a clause that prohibited the employment of children in certain dangerous jobs.

Additionally, children under 16 could not work in manufacturing, mining or during school hours. Overall, this was a

significant win for labor and established the foundation of children’s rights within the workplace.

According to the modern iteration of the Fair Labor Standards Act, children under 16 can only work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at most jobs in the state of Kansas.

However, several students at Blue Valley have told their stories from their first job about working past 11 p.m. This is representative of a problem that, fortunately, has a solution — teens who decide to work need to be aware of child labor laws.

This knowledge is crucial to ensure that teens who work are not taken advantage of. They may be shorted on wages or overworked.

For instance, according to NBC25 news, the U.S. Department of Labor found 38 Michigan businesses in violation of wage and child labor laws.

Thankfully, there are some resources online to learn the child labor laws in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Labor website has information for children and parents, including the number of hours the child can work and the times. An additional resource that provides information on not only Kansas’ child labor laws, but labor laws for all 50 states, is MinimumWage.org.

Additionally, teens and laborers of all ages, should be unafraid of discussing wages. If one eschews discussing wages, workers may not notice that they are being paid less than their co-workers for the same job. Furthermore, by knowing your wages compared to those of your co-workers, it provides you with an advantage in negotiating wages. Put simply, avoiding discussing wages only benefits the employer.

Teens should be better acquainted with this information for the simple reason that having a well-educated child labor populace will allow them to make smarter decisions regarding employment, both now and in the future.

Traveling Tigers Traveling Tigers

Taking a look at where BV students visited over Winter Break

Hadley Way, 10 Canada

Avion Jones, 11 Florida

Joaquin Toro, 9 Puerto Rico

Jada Clayman, 9 Mexico

Sam Fine, 12 Thailand

Riley Hinmon, 12 Jamaica