A Teens Reputation

Above: The movie Easy A+  shows good points when it comes to having a good or a bad reputation.

Watch it, maybe your kids will learn something from it. :)

They say that when your teen is associated with a certain kind of group, that they do the exact same things as everyone else in that clique. Sometimes its true, but 8 times out of 10, your wrong.

Lets be honest, to alot of teenagers reputation is everything. Expecially when they are in high school and will do anything to become 'popular'. But often times, teenagers hang out with a certain clique that addresses their specific style, taste, or just because they are good friends. We all know that friendships and relationships dont last when in high school, but it is nice to make the most of your four years of still being a kid. At this time, its a way to grow up and also a way to figure out who you are and where you will be placed when judged. Reputation is the opinion of the group of entities towards a person or a different group of people. The main things that come up in high school and reputation is social status, the way you look, your online status, education and identity. Reputation is the result of what you do, what you say, and what people say about you, and people take that way to seriously. 

In the past, when I was in middle school I was a bit of a nobody. I ate alone, talked to few people, did what I had to do then left and went home. I was considered a nerd, and when I stepped into Junior high, I was called goth, emo, and a vampire. The other kids judged me by the way I dressed, how I did my hair, my makeup, and the people I hung out with. I talked to 'skaters', 'goths' and 'emos' so they instantly thought I was each and every one of those things. Though I was emotional but its part of being human, I did skateboard but I was better then the boys at that school, and I do love black but its just a color. Its like the preps that love pink, or light blue, maybe even white. Whenever I called them out on labeling me and thinking I did everything my friends did, they didnt know what to say and put up their fists. What ended up happening is I kicked their butts, broke their arms, their noses, their nails that they just got french tipped, and always made sure they didnt mess with me again. Yeah, I ended up in juvie, I spent alot of time in anger management classes but I was just starting to grow into my muscles and the stress of reputation. Later on in life, I figured out the reasons why people thought the way they did back then, and noticed that not only they thought I was but the adults did too. Beating the other students up didnt help my rep either, so I learned a whole lot of things. Now, when it came to stepping foot in high school, I already knew everyone and everyone already knew me. They couldnt say much but realized I changed, with in the ages of 14 and up I have tried every drug, any choice of alcohol and done every thing you could think of (cutting, skating, drawing, reading etc.) So my reputation was put on a new scale of things when I became a freshman. Again called 'emo', 'bookworm', 'gothic', 'scary', 'a freak', and now 'scene'. To everyone in that school, I was a threat and a problem. So they were going to treat me a whole different way then they treat the other students that they grew to label and throw into groups they thought appropriate. Teachers looked at me only from a student stand point but often got into the labeling I dealed with and too threw me in a group they believed was good for me. I was never one to just stay in one group, so they were confused, they saw that I was not just one thing but a whole list of crude names and labels. But its only because I talked to everyone, I talked to the goths, the emos, the preps (even though they are really annoying), the druggies, the partiers, the jocks, the skaters, and the scenes (which is a group of only two people). So when they got to know me, they no longer labeled me but gave me the reputation one should have. After a while, I started hanging out with one group more then the others, lost interest in the other people that just blurred by me when I see them here or there. So they thought I was in one clique, that did the worst things possible. Adults started to think less and less of me, until I realized what the community saw when they noticed I was hanging out with what they called, the wrong group of people. 

To me reputation is a stand point, where us teens can grow to know who we are. Not to get used to where we were put but to make ourselves for us, not for others. You know? Sure I hang out with older kids that do drugs, drive, drink, and do the worst things possible but it doesnt mean I do the same things they do. Seems that way, but its not correct. I hang out with those types of people in hopes to learn something, I have changed groups so often that I learn new things about myself. I have a big heart so I care about everyone, to an extent to where I am not labeled like they are but distinctively known as a friend. We are all growing up in a world where eyes are always on us, either online, or at home, at school or in the community. What we do now effects everyone and some have yet to understand that. I have learned that all the people I hang out with have flaws, struggles, and do things they regret. But its apart of life and we are learning to adapt ourselves to this world, so that when we are on our own we dont judge every single person that walks on by. People that were born back in the day probably didnt get labeled as much as we do, sure they were really into themselvese but look at us. 

We hang out with people that can see the world the same way as one another, or come from broken homes, do drugs, drink, like to get in fights for the heck of it, teens that skateboard, or into fashion, like the same clothing labels as eachother or who think the same way. We live in a state of mind where we are all thats left, and we are the start of a new generation. So what we do effects everyone and more people/kids/and teens need to understand that. I do, but it took me a long time to really grasp the effect that hanging out with adults, or older teens, or druggies etc etc, looked from the eyes of the community. What we dont know is that everything we do has an effect on companys, stores, and mainly people. 

Reputation has its ups and downs, good and bad, rights and wrongs. But not everything has a bad side, and not everything has a good side. Listen to what your teenager has to say about the type of people they hang out with, and why they do. Its not always because they do the same things as each other, sometimes its because we try to help one another.