Switching schools: Impact on the teenage mindset
Walking into a new school, noticing glances coming your way, hearing whispers from every direction. Entering your first block, wondering if there’s a seating chart or where you’ll be sitting. You wonder where you’re sitting for lunch. Oh, the joys of being the new kid.
According to attendance secretary Courtney Fletcher, 39 of the 618 students transferred into the building this school year.
Moving into Stockbridge as a teenager builds stress. Making friends, understanding a different curriculum, moving into a new house—it all adds up.
Consider that 35 percent of children who move frequently end up more likely to fail a grade. Some 77 percent of children whose families move around often are more likely to have behavior issues according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
While none of these concerns fit junior Morgan King’s situation, her move from Inland Lakes, a small community just 30 minutes from the Mackinac Bridge, presented some challenges.
Most noticeably, King found her education in Stockbridge to be more tech heavy. “Everything here is more electronic,” she said.
Pacing her learning was dramatically different as well. At Inland Lakes, “lessons were more spread out, and for me that was better” on a 7-block day compared to Stockbridge’s 4-block.
King has managed the academic differences, but the social ones have been on her mind as well. “Not exactly having a friend group or knowing many people” adds stress as does forming” relationships with teachers and their expectations,” King said.
