Study: High School Put-Downs Could Put Students Behind

Ashley Villanueva
Soc 313-003
Olson
Blog Post #1


I found this article from cnn.com. There was study done at the University of Illinois that found that students who are often put down by their peers in school have a harder time learning and doing well in school. They recorded that one in five students are frequently put down by their peers. This is not only happening in public school but private schools as well, and actually boys in private school are more likely to experience this put down than in public schools. This study also took into account the racial and academic aspect of it. It found that African-American high school students who believed themselves to be good students, experienced the most verbal abuse. This is an example of informal control because it’s the peers who are in control. This shows just how much of an impact our peers can have on us. In this case the peers of high school students are controlling how well they are doing in school. The simple action of speaking to one another in a negative way is powerful enough to determine whether a student can learn. The article refers to bulling as no longer being the only thing schools should be focusing on and I agree with this. Bulling is more obvious but verbal abuse is probably more prevalent. It seems to have just as much control if not more over students and should be brought to the attention of all schools to show how big of a problem is really is.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/03/high.school.put.downs.study/index.html