Poll: On senior seniority (High School)

[Saviordd1]

So my school has recently been undergoing some annoyingly tough "Anti-Senior bullying measures" lately.

What I mean by that is they have put an end (or are trying to end) the whole "We're seniors, lower classmen are worthless scum, especially freshmen" thing typical of high schools. This normally takes shape into seniors running through crowds of freshmen or messing with freshmen in prankish ways (such as pretending to be a teachers assistant and asking for hall passes from freshmen) but nothing ever physical. (except for the creeps who date the freshmen).

While a lot of my classmates think this has something to do with Newtown (my high school only being an hour or so away from there) it just seems to me to be a part of the over-sensitivity of our culture.

At any rate, with that context in mind me and my friends were discussing whether "Senior seniority" is really an outdated thing or a needed "trial by fire".

Personally I see both sides; on one side abrasive seniors can lead to an unpleasant freshman experience, on the other side (The side I camp on) its something that gives the freshmen a rallying cry to unite against and I think is part of the loop of high school that ends in the freshmen of now being able to look back with pride that they dealt with the seniors when they themselves become seniors.

Then again maybe I'm just bitter because I think freshmen should go through what we went through; who knows.

So what do you think? Is senior seniority something that should go the way of the dodo bird or should it remain in high schools.

TL;DR
Should the whole "Seniors rule the school" idea and practice still exist?

[small]I apologize if this seems like a poorly written OP, I am tired.[/small]

 

[PsychicTaco115]

As a current senior right now, I've never had anything close to a "senior running the school" ideal

If anything, I mess with the freshman ironically (I hope that's used correctly, but probably not); it's all done for satire and lolz

 

[ohnoitsabear]

My high school never really had any upperclassmen harassing the freshmen, or really anybody. Basically, the only time your year made any significant difference was during pep rallies, and even then it was rare that anybody got too into it. Of course, this very well could be just my school's culture, as there were some other odd aspects of it (like the almost total absence of cliques in my class).

So, coming from this perspective, I really don't see the need for freshmen hazing or anything like that. My high school experience was just fine without it. And frankly, if your school is actively taking measures to prevent seniors bullying the lowerclassmen, then there probably is a pretty significant problem.

 

[triggrhappy94]

This reminds me of my class's failed senior prank.
A bunch of people got the word out that something was going down in the upper-quad. Some of the same people tried smuggling coolers full of water balloons and there was going to a big senior v. all water balloon fight. Too bad administrators stopped the cooler in the parking lot. Everyone, instead, tried to have a massive larp/ninja game. It was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen (in person).

La Snippa

Oh hey Taco, I didn't recognize you. I actually wrote an article in my High School newspaper about the Dorrito taco.

 

[Launcelot111]

I went to boarding school for high school, and when I was a freshman, seniors were allowed to go home whenever they wanted (on weekends that is), have fridges, TVs, and microwaves in their rooms, and go to the nearby shopping center whenever they wanted after school had ended, among many other privileges. By the time I was a senior, that all had been reduced to seniors can have fridges and can go to the shopping center on Wednesdays only. The fridge rule was poorly enforced, so 60% of underclassmen had fridges anyway, so seniors really had the off chance to go to McDonalds if they didn't have class obligations. Seniors also sometimes got free donuts to make up for every other lost privilege, though these were then given to underclassmen too if the seniors didn't polish them off in about 45 minutes. The best senior perk- first room choice- is still a crapshoot because it was still a lottery system and there are only like 6 rooms worth really pushing for across the whole campus.

There were also a handful of teachers whose full time job was essentially looking out for the freshman and making sure there wasn't any real hazing going on. To most of the kids' credit at my school, every example of "hazing" was essentially goodnatured roughhousing, and any real hazing would likely get the hazer expelled. There were lots of mentor-type programs to get seniors to help underclassmen if they needed help with whatever.

Long story short, senior privilege in all senses of the word were largely stamped out. In some senses, that was a needless shame, but for the most part, seniors accepted any responsibilities that the school asked of them and didn't grumble too much about what they had lost.

 

[Orange12345]

I am from east coast of Canada and this is something I never experienced, in high school there was no real distinction between grades (in some cases you might even take a class with different grades). I imagine that the general mood to anyone who tried to hassle someone because of grade would have been "grow the fuck up".

(I went to a public school with no dorms or anything)

 

[Twilight_guy]

Yes because you're hazing is so beneficent and wonderful. This has always been a stupid idea. It's taking advantage of the less experienced (with freshman) for your own perverse self pleasure. Nobody needs a rallying cry for high school, they already have the shared experience of finding there place in a new environment and your making it worse. They already have the shared experience of going through 4 years and seeing the changes in the school. Hazing only exist because some people like to be douches to those who are ignorant.

 

[Shock and Awe]

I'm currently a senior in High School and I never had anything really negative happen to me because of my class when I was a Freshman so I don't have a chip on my shoulder when I say this; fuck this "go seniors!" bullshit. Its incredibly annoying and the hazing of freshman is just fucking wrong. Its not even sportsmanlike anymore. You have a dozen or two 18 year olds running down a 14 year old kid thats already smaller then all his classmates(its always the little ones) and the little guy doesn't even have a chance. All it does is give jackasses a little power trip before they're kicked into the real world and hurts a kid.

If it was only one or two seniors going after the big freshmen (they exist) I would dislike it less because then it at least is a little more fair, but this mobbing of the weakest ones is just to much for me.

 

[Berithil]

Where is the "I was homeschooled and what is this?" option?

Anyways, even though I was homeschooled, I still (kinda) know what you're talking about. What changes from Junior to Senior in which suddenly you get the right to pick on the younger students? In my opinion, no one has the "right" to harass others. And no, I'm not in the politically correct camp of "Oh, don't hurt poor Jimmy's feelings". I think people should grow a thicker skin, but that still doesn't give anyone the right to be a dick. And I'm definitely against the whole "Seniors rock!!!" douchebaggery that, as far as I know, prevails in a lot of schools.

Sorry, but the whole "they should go through it because I went through it" just sounds bitter.

 

[Saviordd1]

I'm currently a senior in High School and I never had anything really negative happen to me because of my class when I was a Freshman so I don't have a chip on my shoulder when I say this; fuck this "go seniors!" bullshit. Its incredibly annoying and the hazing of freshman is just fucking wrong. Its not even sportsmanlike anymore. You have a dozen or two 18 year olds running down a 14 year old kid thats already smaller then all his classmates(its always the little ones) and the little guy doesn't even have a chance. All it does is give jackasses a little power trip before they're kicked into the real world and hurts a kid.

If it was only one or two seniors going after the big freshmen (they exist) I would dislike it less because then it at least is a little more fair, but this mobbing of the weakest ones is just to much for me.

Yes because you're hazing is so beneficent and wonderful. This has always been a stupid idea. It's taking advantage of the less experienced (with freshman) for your own perverse self pleasure. Nobody needs a rallying cry for high school, they already have the shared experience of finding there place in a new environment and your making it worse. They already have the shared experience of going through 4 years and seeing the changes in the school. Hazing only exist because some people like to be douches to those who are ignorant.

I feel like I gave the wrong impression

We don't hunt down freshmen like its a god damn blood sport. The worst thing I think I heard of is a senior called a freshman short. (Which, coming from that particular senior, is god damn ironic)

Mostly it comes into play as that prank I mentioned above, and when I say "Blow through the freshmen" I mean it in the way of we're big, they're small; how the fuck have they not figured out that we only have three minutes to jog from one side of the school to the other in the 5 months they've been here?

Where is the "I was homeschooled and what is this?" option?

Anyways, even though I was homeschooled, I still (kinda) know what you're talking about. What changes from Junior to Senior in which suddenly you get the right to pick on the younger students? In my opinion, no one has the "right" to harass others. And no, I'm not in the politically correct camp of "Oh, don't hurt poor Jimmy's feelings". I think people should grow a thicker skin, but that still doesn't give anyone the right to be a dick. And I'm definitely against the whole "Seniors rock!!!" douchebaggery that, as far as I know, prevails in a lot of schools.

Sorry, but the whole "they should go through it because I went through it" just sounds bitter.

Well it's actually a climbing order; the sophmores know they're better than freshmen but still below juniors and seniors; juniors know that they're near the top but still below seniors and seniors are tippy top by seniority. There is never really a "click" (Hell, some of the freshmen this year are so cocky its not even funny; they're worse than some of our worst seniors)

As for being bitter, I don't know, could be part of it.

And to everyone in general I think the "Seniors rock" attitude is because we're the oldest, most experienced non staff in the school. We're the Morgan freeman's to Tim Robbins in shawshank basically, if Freeman occasionally called Robbins an inexperienced idiot between his lessons.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Yes because you're hazing is so beneficent and wonderful. This has always been a stupid idea. It's taking advantage of the less experienced (with freshman) for your own perverse self pleasure. Nobody needs a rallying cry for high school, they already have the shared experience of finding there place in a new environment and your making it worse. They already have the shared experience of going through 4 years and seeing the changes in the school. Hazing only exist because some people like to be douches to those who are ignorant.

I feel like I gave the wrong impression

We don't hunt down freshmen like its a god damn blood sport. The worst thing I think I heard of is a senior called a freshman short. (Which, coming from that particular senior, is god damn ironic)

Mostly it comes into play as that prank I mentioned above, and when I say "Blow through the freshmen" I mean it in the way of we're big, they're small; how the fuck have they not figured out that we only have three minutes to jog from one side of the school to the other in the 5 months they've been here?

So its just generally being a jerk then?

Only you know the context of the situation, but if you're targeting a certain group to be a jerk to because they have less seniority, it's not okay. That's thew way it is and only you know if that applies in your situation.

 

[janjotat]

Since before I was a freshman there was virtually no harassment, since the the rules have only gotten stricter. My lunchaid can suspend me, simply because I pushed one of my FRIENDS. That is not bullying, its insane with the new rulset. So no, no the seniors can't rule the school even if they tried

 

[Bravo 21]

Meh, as a current senior, I've seen very little of this. There are a few who take it out on the younger students, but they're just dicks, for the most part, and they hardly limit their abuse to the younger students.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I never had much of that in my High School. Everyone would pretty much just hang around with people in their own year level and didn't interact with the younger kids.

 

[Tahaneira]

Never really had anything like that in my high school. There wasn't a 'top of the heap' or a 'bottom of the heap'; there was a just a heap. Case in point, two of my (still) best friends were seniors when I joined as a freshmen, and when I myself became a senior I hung out with a group of freshies quite often. I was never looked down on or seen as 'weird' for it, and there weren't any abuses of power that I saw going on.

So I guess no, I don't think it's necessary. Just something you get used to.

 

[Fuzzed]

The cool thing about senior chicks is: We keep getting older, they keep stayin the same age.

(You can quote the fact that I didn't quote something that should have been quoted. Even the line just previous to this one about quoting something that wasn't quoted should have been quoted. Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaart)

 

[Yopaz]

My school didn't really have this. We were all kinda separate entities. There were the 3 classes of high school where there were some interactions between us and other classes, then there were those who studied health, mechanics, construction, cooking and so on.

There were some interactions, but that was mostly among seniors in the academic part against seniors in the practical part. Since the academics feel better because they're getting an education and the practical ones think they are so much cooler and stronger and that the academics are looking down on them (they are).

However as for banning it? I'm not sure. Banning things just tend to make them hide their actions. It goes for pretty much anything. Tackle things as it comes, treat every new situation as a new situation. Add "Other" as a poll option.

 

[StBishop]

When I was in year 12 (Final year of secondary schooling in Australia) the anti bullying was so rediculous that the year 8s (First year of secondary schooling) were abusing it, being absolute cunts and as soon as they were called out for it they were being "bullied".

It's bullshit. I'm all for stopping bullying but there's a point in everyone's life where they learn (the hard way) not to be a smart arse. It's safer to learn that lesson in school from a kid who will push you over and throw your bag on the roof than at a bus stop at 1am on a Sunday from an ex convict who will punch you in the face until you fall over and kick you in the ribs.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

I always assumed this was a guy thing. For whatever reason, I certainly never encountered it either coming in or going out of the HS years. There was some light "we are getting out of here and you guys are just coming in, poor bastards" kind of trends here or there, but nothing remotely coming towards bullying or harassment. Again - among the females I was with / knew... I can't remember if any guy friends (of which I had many, rather switched to all guy friends by my Senior year) had issues early on.

One did, but he had an additional issue of discovering he was homosexual basically the summer before hand and had, up until that point, been about the most contested "sweet, cute, wow" guy of middle school for all the girls. What he (and because I couldn't not get involved for my friend, me too) went through didn't have anything to do with what class he was in. Mid to late nineties bullying was not quite so life-threatening as it seems to have become today, but it wasn't something I'd have wished on anyone.

Then again, I have to ask myself: why in the heck would being a measly 3-4 years older really be something anyone would think they could lord over anyone else? Are these only-children or something who bully down Freshmen from the Senior class because they've not had exposure to a younger or older sibling or something? Seriously. What is the edge they think they have over somewhere they themselves should empathize with because they've been there recently?

 

[Jordi]

I frankly find the OP's position ridiculous. Pain, suffering and a common enemy can end up making people stronger and more united. It can also traumatize people and stifle development. If the bullying isn't too extreme, the consequences might not be so bad, but I really don't trust a bunch of adolescents to make that call. If you truly believe that being abused is a lesson that everybody should learn, then why the hell would you outsource it to the senior kids? Are they going to teach that lesson to everyone equally? Are they going to take into account how well each freshman can deal with it? Of course not (actually, they might do that last thing, but they'll get it wrong entirely by bullying the weakest kid the most). If you really think this needs to happen, why not have trained professionals do it?

Furthermore, the idea that you are inherently superior or inferior to other people is not a lesson anyone should learn. What kind of message would it send if the school would condone your bullying because they think you're an inferior human being? And what about the seniors? What kind of sad shell of a human being would you have to be to pick on kids that are four years younger than you at that age? They are learning that it's okay to pick on people who are weaker than you. It's not. It never is. This is simply an extremely bad lesson to learn.

And maybe the bullying is usually not bad enough to do any real damage. But look at the OP's mindset: "Well it's actually a climbing order; the sophmores know they're better than freshmen but still below juniors and seniors; juniors know that they're near the top but still below seniors and seniors are tippy top by seniority." Seriously? They know they're better/worse than some other group of people because they're one year older/younger? Guess what: your value as a human being is not determined by your age or who you can beat up. The sooner you learn that, the better, and this system is obviously not doing that.