Junior High Sucks

I dedicate this blog to my son, Alex, who this very day spent over 6 1/2 hours in one of the roughest, most judgemental, confusing, challenging and altogether frustrating places on earth - Junior High School.

It has been a while since I have written about the SB code of ethics and nothing displays those ethics better than our advice to our children on surviving junior high. Now we don't sugar coat much here in SB-land. No matter how you slice it...no matter how prepared you think you are for it...no matter if it is a 2-year or 3-year stint...the plain and simple fact is...

Junior High Sucks.

I may have mentioned in a previous blog the terror I experienced going from a small, Catholic grade school to a large, public junior high. Talk about being thrown to the wolves! I went from wearing uniforms and attending church every morning to wearing anything I wanted and being allowed to pick some of my own classes - hey wait, I guess it wasn't all bad.

The worst part of JH is how it seems to hit at the time of your life when you are most insecure and your hormones are making all the decisions for you. It is also time when you are expected to make the all-important decision on your school social grouping. You know: jock, nerd, invisible, druggie, brain, slut, etc. Being an SB my whole life I was a bit rebellious of this plot to be labeled. I discovered that a good sense of self deprecating humor allowed me to mingle amongst all the tribes without really joining any.

When my son started JH last fall I told him it is a time in your life you just sort of endure. Like hitting puberty - it is inevitable. My son has already managed to get in a fight and punch a bully, break his leg, discover acne, get sent to an after school study class to catch up on algebra and meet a girl. Not bad for his first year. I learned the other day that the main activity on the long bus ride to school was comparing the amount of armpit hair each kid had acquired. I guess some of the girls are in the lead. Ahhhh progress.

So for those of us who have made it through junior high relatively unscathed I want to applaud you. And for those who are in the throes of learning to shower in groups and stand endlessly staring at each other at school dances - I feel your pain.