Week 5 - Lunchroom with Jocks and Burnouts


This situation brings me to reflect on a similar happenstance in a class a few years ago when I was arranging a study session with a college classmate.  A few seats away was a student from my former high school who was academically talented and while my intention was not to ignore him, apparently, he was offended that I didn’t reach out to include him in the study session as I later learned from a tweet to another former high school student.  Worse was that when I met up for the study session at the classmate’s residence hall, I learned the former high school student was his roommate, making the situation a bit more uncomfortable.  Exclusion was never the intention and it could have been resolved easily with the former high school student simply asking if he could join the study session.  In fact, I know that he could have probably added much to our discussion should he have initiated inclusion even though I failed to recognize his wanting to join the study group, and he certainly would have been welcome to participate.  Just as perplexing was our having known each other since elementary school as part of an advanced math cohort and all of our interactions over the years had been positive and uninhibited.  However, I realize people change, and I’m not entirely without blame for not identifying a problematic situation in advance.

In Jocks and Burnouts, the statement “the most common Burnout (and In-between) criticism of Jocks is that they consider themselves ‘better’ than others” resonated with both the lunchroom activity and my personal reflection.  Whether intentional or not, Jocks can carry this burden.  How can this be dispelled?  More importantly, how can Jocks (and some In-betweens like myself) be more inclusive?  Further reading in Queen Bees and Wannabees, one ‘Queen Bee’ stated “People exclude themselves. Nobody else has the power to do that.” when talking about cliques.  Often viewed as exclusive, cliques (whether of the Jock or Burnout variety) are more so a banding together “to navigate the perils and insecurities of adolescence.”  Cliques also later form in the workplace.  How can educators/employers appropriately address formation of cliques (Jocks versus Burnouts) and social hierarchy within the school/workplace?  Being inclusive will require accepting responsibility, making a conscious effort to include everyone, putting personal bias aside, and communicating (not just placating) and corroborating social validation for everyone.

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