The Three Personae of High School Students
Distinct Relationships Impact Student Progress and Failure
Nov 1, 2009
High school students develop three distinct personae while navigating through four years of education. Each persona becomes increasingly difficult to balance as high school experiences move from freshman to senior year. Each persona relates to the three most important relationships in high school years: the parent relationship, the peer relationship, and the teacher relationship.
The Peer Persona
High school students divide into cliques quickly, finding compatible groups to associate with. Frequently, these preferences change as students get older and new relationships with other groups are formed. In John Hughes’ classic 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the principal’s secretary recites a list of groups that comprise the cliques at the high school. These include the “jocks,” “nerds,” “dweebs,” and others.
Today’s students still bond with other students of similar circles. They sit together in the cafeteria and congregate in small groups in the school halls. Athletes form relationships with teammates; “drama kids” bond as a group; honors students gravitate toward academic clubs and school leadership positions, ever mindful of filling a high school resume with lots of activities.
Yet high school students also realize that these years are fun. There are parties and dances, proms, homecomings, and the senior class trip. Socializing, often in excess, balances the pressures of parents and teachers. Balancing social obligations – even updating Facebook or other social networking sites – with academic demands and parental expectations creates tension and frequently results in senior-year “meltdown.”
The Parent Persona
When meltdown occurs, parents are often shocked, not having seen the warning signs. Students generally want to appease their parents, bringing home good scores and expecting continued largesse as they work toward acceptance into a good college.
Most parents are unaware of the weekend parties and many elect to ignore what may or may not be happening at these events. Always the first to defend their children, parents schedule school conferences at the slightest instance of grade decline. In many cases, teachers and administrators know more about the behavioral and social problems of the student than parents. Yet the student-parent persona continues to mask the complete portrait.
The Teacher Persona
All students strive to impress teachers if their goal is to obtain the highest possible grade. The shiny apple on the desk is no longer sufficient. Students want respect and are willing to give it to teachers that treat them fairly. Some students rise to the top, giving weight to the charge that all teachers have favorites. The fact is that most teachers do. There are exceptional students as well as students teachers wish to forget.
This fact of life is demonstrated on college recommendation forms where teachers are asked to rank applicants. The highest ranking pertains to “one of the most exceptional students I have ever taught.” All rankings, whether for merit scholarships or school awards, take into account the student-teacher persona. Little wonder that students receiving recognition for particular achievements sometimes elicit shock from peers: “don’t they know Dean didn’t complete 500 hours of community service?”
Balancing the Faces of Janus
In many ways, the two faces of Janus aptly demonstrate the high school experience: the beginning and the end. For the post-modern student, however, there are three faces, a new mythology that describes survival in four years of high school. Teachers and parents that recognize these distinct faces are in a better position to help students balance the pressures of the high school experience.
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