Middle School

Ira Glass (0:01)

Hey everybody, Ira Glass here. So we got this email at our radio show near the end of the school year, from a 14 year old.

Annie (0:07)

Hello?

Ira Glass (0:08)

Hey, is this Annie?

Annie (0:09)

Yeah.

Ira Glass (0:10)

I called her up at her house in California and asked her to read it.

Annie (0:13)

Mm-hmm, it says, Dear This American Life, I just escaped the whitewashed, brick walled, iron gated prison that is commonly known as middle school. And I'm finally out for good.

But in all the time I have listened to your show, I have never heard an episode devoted to what goes on inside the walls of a middle school. I hope you'll think about it. Anonymous?

Ira Glass (0:33)

Yeah, you signed it anonymous, but then you actually, your email was signed with your name.

Annie (0:38)

Yeah.

Ira Glass (0:39)

Yeah.

Annie (0:40)

I had said anonymous because in middle school, everybody's so judgmental, and I didn't want the kids to judge me or anything if they heard me on the radio.

Ira Glass (0:53)

Mainly she says that she wrote to us because she and her friends are talking right after they left eighth grade about how terrible middle school was. And she wondered, was it just as bad for other people as it was for them?

Annie (1:05)

You always wonder whether other people are going through the same thing as you. And it'd be cool to hear other people's stories about it and what they went through.

Ira Glass (1:16)

And if you had to explain to somebody, like what are the worst things about middle school? Can I ask you to just walk me through it? Like what is so bad about middle school?

Annie (1:23)

Kids there are all in kind of socially awkward stages that the drama every day can be frustrating and girl boy things or someone likes so and so. And then no matter who you are or what you do, you'll get made fun of for it.

Anything, anything in the world you can get made fun of for.

Ira Glass (1:44)

In Annie's case, she had friends who smoked, so she got criticized for smoking. But then she also was made fun of for not smoking, for being too much of a sissy to start smoking.

She was made fun of for coming from a bilingual elementary school where everybody learned to speak Spanish and spoke it throughout the day.

Annie (2:00)

And leaving elementary school, I guess I thought that when I got to middle school, everyone would think it was really cool that I spoke Spanish. But when I got there, they mostly just thought it was dumb. I don't know if they were jealous or what, but they would make fun of me for it. Then they'd say we were all full of ourselves for that. We spoke different languages and stuff.

Ira Glass (2:24)

Did it make you feel bad?

Annie (2:26)

Yeah.

I didn't want to stick out in that way. If I got a new sweater or something, say for Christmas that I really liked, and I would really want to wear it to school or something, but I'd be nervous because like, what if someone didn't like my sweater, someone made fun of me for wearing it? It can be hard to do even the smallest things because you're so nervous that people tease you or judge you from it.

Ira Glass (2:51)

That sweater example, is that a real example?

Annie (2:54)

Yeah, it actually is. I worried about it so much. I also had a pair of moccasins that I had never worn and they're kind of my signature now. Everybody really likes them.

They're like ankle-high lace-up moccasins.

Ira Glass (3:06)

And how long did you have the moccasins before you actually wore them?

Annie (3:10)

A few months, like probably two months. I guess I just thought if people didn't like them, they would all make fun of me for wearing them and I didn't want to stand out that much.

Ira Glass (3:25)

What could be done to make middle school better?

Annie (3:28)

I don't think you can really do anything about it. Nothing.

Ira Glass (3:37)

We talked about this for a little while. She said basically, everybody comes into middle school as a little kid, and you're going to have to grow up and figure out who's in what group and who you are and who's above who. And you'd have to figure that out somewhere at that age, right? Might as well be middle school.

It was terrible, she says, but now she's in high school.

Annie (3:58)

Whatever middle school was, it worked. Everyone's a lot friendlier, and everyone's lives are a lot better now.