Taylor Wallisch 1

Who is the current middle school student in the 21st century?

Middle school is an awkward in between phase for adolescents. It is a time where they

are not yet adults, but are expected to take on adult responsibilities. It is also a point in their lives

where they are trying to figure out who they are and where they fit into society. On top of all of

this, they are experiencing many developmental changes by starting or undergoing puberty.

This affects each child differently given that individuals are inherently unique. Even though each

middle school student is diverse, there are three common characteristics I believe they all share.

These three characteristics are what make the current middle school student in the 21st century

who they are.

One characteristic which I personally find to be the most common among middle school

students is being extremely socially aware due to changes in cognitive development. This can be

detrimental to students education as being more social and being accepted by peers is their main

focus. Kathleen Cushman and Laura Rogers state, The new cognitive competencies of

adolescents influence social relationships in myriad ways. Students motivation to succeed

academically may become overshadowed by their desire to succeed socially. They become more

alert in their standingboth in relation to other students and in the eyes of their teachersand

they begin to doubt themselves and the whole enterprise of schooling (Kagan, 1972) (14). At

the Winona Middle School this statement is very apparent and true. I noted in an observation in

Mrs. Goblers seventh grade special education classroom, The students would rather socialize

with one another than work on their homework assignments (21 March 2017). Middle school

students are natural social beings regardless of being extroverted or introverted. When I was in

middle school what concerned me the most was fitting in with the popular crowd instead of

focusing on achieving academically. I even recognized that I was shy and awkward in social
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situations, but still wanted to be accepted by my peers. Thus middle school students social

awareness is high no matter where they fall on the social ladder at school.

Another characteristic that makes up the current middle school student in the 21st century

is being a thrill seeker. Middle schoolers are at an age where their brain is not fully developed

yet, which increases their chances of wanting to take risks despite the destructive consequences.

According to Lisa Price, Ongoing cognitive development and emotional shifts result in a

biologically based drive for thrill seeking, which may account for adolescents continued risk

taking despite knowledge of the accompanying hazards (25). Middle schoolers understand the

risks that they are taking, but are continual thrill seekers because their brain is wired this way at

this stage of development. This can also be attributed to hormonal influences in the brain. Arthur

Allen in the Washington Post states, These circuitswhich include dopamine-containing

neurons in the prefrontal cortex and deeper areas of the brain, such as the nucleus accumbens and

amygdalamay provide a hormonal jolt that causes some teens to embrace risky behaviors,

according to researchers (1 September 2014). Therefore, the blame can be placed on brain

development as to why so many middle schoolers are thrill seekers.

The final characteristic that makes up the current middle schooler is being self-critical.

This is a very normal thing for middle school students to feel as their bodies are going through

many changes. When I was going through puberty in middle school, I was very self-conscious of

how my body looked. I went through puberty before many of the girls did at my age, hence why

I was more developed than them. This took a major toll on my self-esteem because the girls who

had not started the process of puberty in my class were skinnier than me. According to the

Development Chart under psychosocial (or socio-emotional) development, They become

painfully self-critical and develop self-perceptions of all areas including height, weight,
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appearance, intelligence, sexual development, etc. (4). Being self-critical is just the way middle

school students are. As they continue to grow, middle schoolers come to be more self-aware of

themselves and are aware of how they compare to others. Social emotional development and

puberty are the key factors that contribute to this.

Middle school students are very unique individuals. No two middle schoolers go through

puberty at the same exact time or are in the same stage of puberty. However, there are common

characteristics I believe that each middle school student shares with one another. The

characteristics they share are being socially aware, a thrill seeker, and self-critical. These are

what make the current middle school student in the 21st century classroom who they are.

What are the potential barriers to the: student, teacher, school, community?

Imagine a perfect world where all students love going to school, teachers make a

difference in all of their students lives, everyone has the same learning resources available to

them, students with disabilities are accepted by their peers, and every student in the whole entire

world receives a free appropriate public education. Sadly, we do not live in a perfect world and

these statements are not true. There are many potential barriers that can pose problems to

education in todays society. I will focus on what I believe the main potential barriers are to the

student, teacher, school, and community.

Bullying is a huge barrier that students can face in schools across the nation. It can have

detrimental effects to the student who is being bullying, but also to the student who is doing the

bullying as well. Amy Milsom and Laura L. Gallo claim, Bullies and victims are both at risk for

negative outcomes. Kaiser and Rasminsky (2003) reported that as bullies go through adolescence

they are more at risk for severe problems such as delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, and

dropping out of school. In addition, both bullies and victims have been found to be more
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depressed than students who are not involved in bullying (Seals & Young, 2003). Depression

associated with bullying and victimization can lead to academic problems, self-defeating

behaviors, and interpersonal problems (Seals & Young, 2003) (13). It is apparent that there are

many negative outcomes for students involved in bullying. This is a major issue because it can

be harmful to a students education. Bullying can cause a student to be afraid to come to school

every day. Furthermore, it can take a toll on his or her academics as this can consume a students

life. This is a potential barrier that schools need to eradicate to make school a safe place

conducive to learning for students.

Teachers can also encounter potential barriers which can be harmful when trying to

effectively teach a room full of students. A potential barrier that many teachers face is their

heavy workload. Having too much work, can become overwhelming to teachers. In fact, it is one

of many reasons teachers experience burn-out. I had the opportunity to interview Mary Jane

Housh, who has been a special education teacher for over 35 years. I asked her, What would

you say the greatest potential barrier you have encountered throughout your years of teaching

would be? She responded with, I would have to say the workload. There is too much

paperwork required and not enough time to just teach my students (23 March 2017). Teacher

workload is a potential barrier that needs to be addressed in education. Teachers have a lot of

things that are expected of them. When given so much work to do, this can cause teachers to

solely focus on things like filling out paperwork or writing IEPs. If teachers continue to have

too many demands placed on them, this will continue to keep them from actually doing their job

which is to teach their students.

A potential barrier that schools can face when providing education is lack of funding.

With insufficient funding, some schools are unable to provide the resources that schools with
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funding have. According to the website Resources | Educate a Child, In many countries there

are insufficient materials such as blackboards and chalk, textbooks, teacher support materials,

student workbooks, and supplementary learning aids. They may be unavailable due to lack of

financial resources to publish and transport themA key element in delivery of quality primary

education is the quality of material resources for delivery of content (25 March 2017). Lack of

funding creates major issues for schools. Without funding, there would be no schools in the first

place. Money is what makes it possible to provide students with things like technology, sports

teams, and clubs. When schools do not have the appropriate funds, it makes it impossible to

provide these things. For that reason, the school is hindered from being able to provide high

quality education.

Community plays a vital role in the quality of education. Schools in low socioeconomic

communities often suffer because there are many issues schools have to face when they are

located in a low-income area. Some of these issues include things like unemployment, lack of

resources, lack of support, and untrained teachers. The Education and Socioeconomic Factsheet

published by the American Psychological Association claims, Schools in low socioeconomic

communities suffer from high levels of unemployment, migration, of the best qualified teachers,

and low educational achievement (Mujis, Harris, Chapman, Stoll, & Russ, 2009) (26 March

2017). Community is a major deciding factor that predicts what type of education the school is

going to be able to provide. If a school is located in a socioeconomic community, they are going

to be unable to provide the highest quality of education due to lack of money which creates the

issue of hiring good quality teachers. If the school cannot do that, then they will be unable to

provide a superior education to their students in these communities. What is problematic about
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this is that students in these areas need a first-class education the most. However, a low

socioeconomic community creates too many barriers to be able to do so.

We live in a world that is far from perfect. Education in todays society has many

potential barriers that hinder students access to a free and appropriate public education. I believe

there are main potential barriers that the student, teacher, school, and community face in

education. Students are being bullied, teachers are being overworked, schools are not receiving

enough funding, and schools in low-socioeconomic communities are struggling. If these barriers

are not attended to, then education will continue to be flawed in todays society.
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Works Cited

Allen, Arthur. Why do teens do such crazy stuff? Its all in their brains and how the grow. The

Washington Post. WP Company, 1 September 2014. Web. 25 March 2017.

Developmental Characteristics. Development Chart. D2L. pp. 1-6. PDF.

Education and Socioeconomic Status Factsheet. American Psychological Association. n.d. Web

26 March 2017.

Cushman, Kathleen, and Laura Rogers. Middle School Students Talk about Social Forces in the

Classroom. Middle School Journal, vol. 39, no. 3, 2008. pp. 14-24. PDF.

Milsom, Amy, and Laura L Gallo. Bullying in Middle Schools: Prevention and Intervention

Middle School Journal, vol. 37, no. 3. January 2006. pp. 12-19. PDF.

Observation. 21 March 2017

Price, Lisa. The Biology of Risk Taking. Educational Leadership, vol. 62, no. 7. April 2005.

pp. 22-26. PDF.

Resources. Resources | Educate a Child. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2017.