Popularity And Its Consequences
I am a nerd. And a proud nerd at that. I have a group of friends called "The Nerd Herd". This name was originally spitefully given to the group by one of the more popular girls in the year - but it kinda stuck.
Now to the point. My school is full of complete idiots. The year above, the years below. My year - all full of idiots. Even The Nerd Herd can be idiots on the odd occasion. But most popular kids in my year are spiteful, idiotic morons with no maturity and sense, it seems.
There are a few that I get on with, but most of them are obsessed with snogging every reasonably pretty girl they see, or making fun of at least one member of The Nerd Herd. Being popular must have some sort of effect on you because they all seem to be arrogant kids who think that if you are not friends with them, you are not worthy of their time. They all think they are good looking, funny, and popular among the ladies. In actual fact, they follow the trends and spend half an hour on their looks, they cause trouble in lessons, and the ladies are desperate for a boyfriend.
I mean, I can't say I don't follow the trends - I wear SoulCal, Topman, Hollister etc. - but, to be honest, I couldn't care less what I look like. I am aware that I'm not the best looking of 14-year-olds, but that doesn't mean I'm going to try and make myself good looking. I am picked on and poked fun of because of my 'nerdiness', as are most of The Nerd Herd - but we honestly don't care.
Yes, this could be seen as stereotypical but, in my opinion, around one in three of the pupils ranked 'popular' in my year, unfortunately, are idiotic and immature. I would love to be better looking, and more popular, but I would never want to become as stuck up and moronic as these goons. Hopefully they will mature in the coming years and show that they have some sort of sense in those big heads of theirs.
Info Education In School 11-16 Bullying
IMAGE: Chris Pirillo bakes Nerd Cakes by Chris Pirillo
20 Comments – Post a comment
Tom_Bevan
Commented 67 months ago - 18th October 2010 - 16:14pm
"if your'e popular in school it usually means you'll end up on the dole..."
heard that on the telly once and made me giggle but it is probably true in a lot of cases. if u are successful in any way other than in football or rugby in my school then :/ not good. Nerd Herd for the win, thats what i say!!
SoRawSUgAr
Commented 67 months ago - 18th October 2010 - 17:03pm
This is the most amazing post ever to me! :) I'm a bit of a girl 'nerd', I agree with you 100%.
bsimo
Commented 67 months ago - 18th October 2010 - 19:38pm
Right on! I'm with you here, definitely better to be a nerd than a popular. Any why should it matter what we look like on the inside, it only ever leads to anorexia, vanity or insecurity.
Tyezer
Commented 67 months ago - 19th October 2010 - 08:42am
I agree with that statement tommy b. It was certainly like that at my school. I remember one boy who was labeled 'the geek' in my year. Believe it or not he was intelligent and wore glasses... he also had an extremely mature music taste, would go to gigs with his dad, was interested in literature- the list goes on. Thinking back, it's crazy that he was 'the geek'. Such a cool, cultured, well read and rounded person. Needless to say, he's not 'the geek' anymore.
emb789
Commented 67 months ago - 19th October 2010 - 16:59pm
Us Nerd Herd members are the best, no matter what the others might say!
But really, I'm surprised they call you nerdy D: I think you're pretty swell, if it makes you feel any better ^.^
Rowe_x
Commented 67 months ago - 19th October 2010 - 17:25pm
It's good to see a guy who's proud to be classed as a 'nerd'. My friends and I often get call nerds, simply because actually ATTEMPT to do well in school (shocking I know). I don't mind being called a nerd, but sometimes it seems a bit..well, immature? And sometimes upsetting, when it comes from people who are classed as 'popular'. Basically, good for you mate :)
Sambow
Commented 67 months ago - 19th October 2010 - 18:42pm
Right on for this article!
But to be honest, even if we (as a collective group of non-populars) don't associate ourselves with the populars does that make us completely out cast? I think we're popular amoungst our cliques- nerdy or not :D
In my english classes I have the wondeful job of sitting next to "popular" girls who every popular guy would lose their right arm over to date, it truly is infuriating listening to the droning conversations of "I haven't had a boyfriend this year" and "he's too skinny to go out with" Ugh. I know our group in school may be labelled "nerds" but at least we are trying to succeed in life. At our crucial stage in our education I think the food chain of popularity should take a rest, because if we're honest, those who don't buckle up and forget about who their going to get off with and what teacher their going to distress next will be working for us in the next ten years ;D Great article!
Chinese Thunder
Commented 67 months ago - 20th October 2010 - 12:11pm
Nerds are the way forward ;)
lerpwl_am_byth
Commented 67 months ago - 20th October 2010 - 15:53pm
thanks for all the great comments guys!! :D
BrokenEggShells
Commented 67 months ago - 20th October 2010 - 20:11pm
Often the 'popular' people aren't actually that popular, usually they don't like other 'popular' people and tend to bitch about each other a lot. Lots of these people are self-appointed, if you asked everyone in your school whether they preferred a particular 'nerdy' or a 'popular' person, most would say they preferred the 'nerdy'. What I'm trying to say is that the only people who make the 'popular' people 'popular' are themselves and the majority of people don't actually like them. Half the time I'm not even sure they like themselves...
Pasternak
Commented 67 months ago - 20th October 2010 - 20:28pm
I totally agree with BrokenEggShells' comment.
In fact, it reminded me of this (frankly hilarious) song.
((Warning: There is a naughty word in this song, so don't follow the link if you get offended by everything))
http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2010/09/10
cid
Commented 67 months ago - 21st October 2010 - 17:15pm
be prepared to be surprised as the future unfolds
a nerd is not always a nerd
an idiot tends to stay one .........
BrokenEggShells
Commented 67 months ago - 21st October 2010 - 17:46pm
Thank you Pasternak. I also looked at the link you pasted in your comment and I have to say it's very funny and made me smile. (Not sure if a smiley face would be looked down on, but still, I don't care) (:
Liz_R
Commented 67 months ago - 21st October 2010 - 19:32pm
Interesting article.
I think that taking ownership of the word ‘nerd’ is a really powerful way to respond to being labelled. The word ‘nerd’ is not necessarily negative it can often mean possessing a great deal of knowledge about a particular topic. For example, directors who may describe themselves as a ‘film nerd’ or musicians who say they are ‘vinyl geeks’. However, do any of us need to be labelling ourselves at all? We are all individuals and we all have the right to be free to be ourselves rather than define ourselves by a label.
I think it is great that you are proud of who you are, but maybe don’t be so hasty to label others in the way that you resent being labelled yourself.
Popularity is a heavy burden to bear some young people feel as though they are trapped by others’ perceptions and judgements of them but feel too scared to stand up and speak their mind for fear that they might lose their group of friends. No one wants to feel left out and lonely. It is possible that some of the ‘popular’ crowd are not happy or confident with their role in the group but don’t know how to make things better.
Who defines popularity anyway? By labelling a group of individuals as ‘the popular crowd’, are we not labelling them in the way that we find unacceptable?
The reasons why some people pick on others are complex often bullying behaviour arises from insecurity, or an inability to manage relationships and conflict in a positive way.
The best way that we can improve our relationships with others is to avoid making judgements, be happy to be ourselves and let others be themselves.
We can’t always change the behaviour of those who seek to ridicule and mock, but we can choose how to respond to this behaviour.
I love the quote below from Eleanor Roosevelt:
Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Please stand up as an individual and show others the respect that you wish to receive from them.
If you would like to express your individuality, enter our competition ‘Free to be me’ http://bit.ly/alhN39
Liz @ Cardiff Against Bullying
EmilyJaneCole
Commented 67 months ago - 22nd October 2010 - 16:27pm
If you were in the Nerd Herd in Oxford Uni say, you'd be the most popular there, only because you're in high school is it negative. My school had the 'populars' but most people got along luckily, it wasnt too cliquey tbf which I think is a good thing. Wait til you leave high school and start working/going to uni and those 'populars' drop out, do nothing then try to add you on FB... quickly click 'IGNORE'! x
Biscuits
Commented 67 months ago - 23rd October 2010 - 19:36pm
It's quite surreal to see perfectly normal people completely lose their sanity when they get to year 7 and change their personality; I knew a really sweet guy in primary but the minute he hit high school, he became a loud mouthed, spiteful 'popular'. At the beginning of high school, when everyone was desperate to seem cool, some people were quite mean to the others who tried hard in class or (horror of horrors) put their hand up to answer questions and there were really strong cliques within our year. Thankfully, as (most) people have matured, the teasing and nasty comments have reduced and everyone tends to get along much better. People now respect me for who I am. I think it's because they've realised that the only place that the 'lauren cooper' act will get them is a job at mcdonald's for life!
neilramsden
Commented 67 months ago - 26th October 2010 - 10:43am
I don't know if I was lucky, but at my school the 'popular' people were almost all perfectly nice people, happy to talk to you even though you didn't generally hang out with them unless you were in a class with them. There were one or two idiots, as there are in every social situation. But all the labelling of them as 'populars' surely isn't constructive- it's still labelling. I agree with Liz R above, basically.
bubblewrap123
Commented 51 months ago - 8th February 2012 - 12:03pm
well in!!! i agree 100%!! dude!!
Mr Nerd
Commented 51 months ago - 9th February 2012 - 14:49pm
Nerds all the way !!!
twilightcrazedxxx
Commented 51 months ago - 9th February 2012 - 20:04pm
Good for you! Don't change the way you are, I am sort of a nerd too! I seriously wouldn't change the way I am just to be popular. keep up the coolness!