Podcast Response: Middle School

The episode of American Life which, a podcast that goes through and describes the stories of people lives in American, is new to me however, it grasp my attention every time I listen to an episode.. In this podcast named “Middle School” the radio host Ira Glass, has been asked to do a show over the life of students in middle school. This is brought up due to an email sent by a fourteen year old female by the name of Annie, who was curious about whether or not people felt the way she felt about middle school. At first Ira wonders what exactly causes so much frustration in middle, and in Annie words she felt that it was the time that children in that socially awkward stages. They went through a great deal of drama such as relationships amongst each other, and peer pressure of being someone or something that you are not because a person wants to fit in. I feel this especially happens when it comes to coming to a new school in the middle of the school year and trying to make friends, which is not very easy to some people at a certain extent. During this episode of American Life, we are able to listen to a lot of different opinions/ ways that middle school was not one of the finest times in life. In the first act the host, Ira Glass is interested in wondering about the emotional and physical changes that occur during middle school. While a different act, in American Life explains the difficulty transitioning from one school to another

In the first act, a former middle school teacher named, Alex Blumberg that reflected upon his past experiences that he felt that he recognized during his time at the middle school. In his words he explained that during this time students were wonder where they “fit in the social order, who they are attracted to and who they are going to be, figure out a sense of identity.” He also feels that the students are not taking their studies extremely important but just wondering the perception people have towards them. This is something that I can say that actually happens in middle school. Students at this do not understand the value of an education, feels that by going to school, will not benefit them…necessarily….Most students perceive this as a time of social-hour and would wake up every day wondering about unimportant things such as  what are they going to wear. And then worrying what people think of them all the time.

In the other act a boy by the name Leo, his family has recently moved away from Rochester, NY, leaving behind all of his friends and stranding him into a new untouched environment, that he has never seen before.  Leo (not his real name) a 7^th grader has had a rough with the move, he is struggling to find friends, which I think may be because of the cliques that are developed around this time. And once these cliques are developed its hard for a newbie to come in and join.  In addition to that he feels that the move was overwhelming for him. His time in Rochester, he had already thought he been through the minor stage of establishing those key friends that become essential for many children, and once  at a bigger and “louder” and he knows absolutely no one, it becomes very much overwhelming to him. However, in this case the boy Leo made a friend, which allowed him to feel more comfortable about going to school, but not really. He feels sick, because he has to go to school day after day after day. This is just shows that even though he may have one friend it is still not as equal to his old life in Rochester, New York.

These two acts are very similar in a way that it shows the hardships that are brought upon during the time of middle school.  The transformation of figure out who you are. In addition to that gather a sense of friendship with a group of people, which will in the end make each and every person feel like they are a part of something. All in all I have realized that middle school can be hard for certain people due to the problems of friends.