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Han Jade Ngo

Ms. Shaffer

Eng. GATE, Pd. 2

January 31, 2017

Stereotype-threats Affects the Relationships Between Students at North Salinas High School

Stereotype-threats at North Salinas High School affect the relationships between the students

attending the school, no matter the difference in race, color, gender, or nationality. According to Shankar

Vedantams article How a Self-Fulfilling Stereotype Can Drag Down Performance, he states, The

impact of stereotype threats has been demonstrated in several settings including educational settings

ranging from kindergarten to college and a variety of settings where children learn and play (9). This

quote also relates to the stereotype-threats that are experienced at North Salinas High School. Because of

self-fulfilling stereotypes, students create bubbles around the school campus, avoiding others that are

different from them in order to survive in high school without any troubles with classmates. This

unconscious action leads to the unfriendly relationships of students at the school.

In one interview, an upperclassmen shared their thoughts about stereotypes in the school and have

concluded that the majority of upperclassmen avoid and despise freshmens because of their immature

behavior and acts, therefore, upperclassmen give a negative vibe around the Fresh Meat, or so what

they call freshmens. The 9th graders feels the same way towards upperclassmen, especially the eldest at

the school, the seniors. Seniors are known to be smart, mature, but conceited and rude towards their

younglings. Being the oldest means that they know everything there is to survive the four treacherous

years of high school. A fellow freshmen in class stated, They are basically the top of the food chain, so

that is why they look down on us with great annoyance and displeasure. I try to avoid them as much as

possible in the hallways.

Seeing how stereotypes affect the different age groups at the North Salinas school campus, it also

affects students of different nationality. North Salinas High School is filled with the diversity of

nationalities, including Hispanics, Asians, African American, Caucasian, and much more. Although it is
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nice to see colors and difference on campus, stereotypes keep the unique races from forming strong bonds

with one another.

A common stereotype regarding the Latinos at school are that all Mexicans are gangsters.

Occurring to student with a latino background, she stated, Not all Mexicans are gangsters. Im sure that

they know that this is just a generalization and act normal towards us, but there will be times when I

notice little hints of cautious and alertness from the non-latinos. This stereotype has made it so that

students of other races are prepared every time a Mexican student approaches them. It makes me feel

untrustworthy or dangerous, the participant of the interview included.

Of course this feeling of displacement does not only apply to Hispanics, but Asians also relate by

these types of stereotypes. Asians are smart. This is one of the most common stereotype regarding to

those with Asian descendants. A student has said, I know some classmates who will try to become

friends with me only to use my brain instead of being friendly for the simple pleasure of making a new

friend. She have concluded that there are many fakes or two-faces in the school towards Asians and

those who are academically inspired in general. There will be times in class that the students will create

peer pressure to the Asian students because of the distant relationship that they share.

Stereotypes at North Salinas High School include the different groups or also known as cliques

around the campus, which includes the cheerleaders, the jocks, the Asians, the Mexicans, the gamers, and

the ASB. Although it may sound rude, there are many untrue stereotypes used to label the different

students and their popularity status at school; Sound like a school drama, right?

From personal experiences and results from the interviews, stereotypes about the different groups

at school is probably the most expressed by the students.

Cheerleaders are popular and are the most well known girls at school. One stereotype includes

that cheerleaders are rude to the others around them and care about their looks in order to impress their

peers. We are normal humans too you know. It seems like many of these students have that idea because

of high school movies, but they have to understand that those are just fictional. stated a freshman

cheerleader.
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Jocks are those who do sports and are believed to be popular, but unmanageable boys at school. A

classmate who has participated in football season as well as basketball season has given his point of view

about the stereotype that all jocks are idiots. That is a false stereotype. Its very offensive to myself and

my friends. I participate in many sports events but have always cared about the importance of my grades.

Students have seem to block the fact that to be able to participate in a sport at North Salinas High School,

you must be able to do well at school, which means that you must receive acceptable grades in order to be

in the team, and that is the reason why athletes at North High are required to do grade checks every

Wednesday in order to keep track of their grades and continue to do well in classes. Once again,

stereotypes such as these create false barriers from people getting to know them better.

Stereotypes regarding to Asians include: Asians are the nerds at school, they spend their time

studying, and they hung out with other Asians only. As being an Asian myself, it feels uncomfortable to

have standards set by other students who do not know me personally. The annoyance of these

expectations causes anxiety and stress to those of the same race as me because of the standards are we

believed to set for ourselves. Not being able to receive the best grades possible will cause the students

around to state negative comments and remind you about the stereotypes without realizing.

Mexicans have dealt with many stereotypes at school as well. According to a fellow student, he

stated, People think that us Mexicans are rude, lazy, and poor. It makes others look down at us

sometimes. Stereotypes such as these result in the feeling of disgust the unpleasantness towards the

students. Although a large portion of our school population are Latinos, the smaller portion of non-

Latinos are still able to affect each other views towards the Hispanics. This creates distance between the

different groups of friends.

It may be difficult to believe that some students even create labels for those who simply share the

same interest as each other such as the gamers. Students believe that the gamers are the most unsociable

ones. They only hang out with other gamers and their entire lunch time revolves around games. The

interest of games that some students share lead to them being outcasted by the other students. Students

made it clear that gamers are geeks and do not deserve to be around them because of their personal
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feelings towards playing video games. A simple and small difference in preference and interest can cause

a large negative affect towards the students and the relationships they share.

The last set of cliques at school are the ASB. Although they are in leadership and serve a large

role in the school activities and events, it seems like other students do not appreciate their effort and

instead believe that ASB students are considered and are the teachers pets. These stereotypes will only

continue the ungratefulness of the students.

Stereotypes are the reason why students at North Salinas High School do not have a positive

relationship with those who are different from them because of the bad habit of looking at the

appearance only and ignoring the students special personality and character traits, always judging a book

by its cover. As Shankar Vedantam states in his article, By taking simple measures, stereotype threats

will reduce effectively (17). In this case, the answer to this problematic threat is to simply open up to

others and acknowledge them for their preferences, personality, and accept the way they are instead of

insisting to the common stereotypes against them, relationships will only then improve among the

teenagers attending at North Salinas High School. Help each other change the way students view about

others in order to make a difference in improving North Salinas High. Let's be there for each other at

school because once a viking, always a viking.

Works Cited

Vedantam, Shankar, How a Self-Filling Stereotype Can Drag Down Performance. Washington

Post, February 02, 2009.

Students at North Salinas High School, Interview Questions and Answers. Interviews, February 01 - 06,

2017.