SchoolFinder Blog

Tips For Incoming High School Freshmen

Congratulations, you finished middle school! And now that summer is coming to end, you are on your way to becoming a high school freshman.

You have so much to look forward to in the upcoming four years, including prom, SATs, electives, dating, driving and off-campus lunches. You are also making the transition from top of the totem pole in middle school to the bottom of the food chain in high school.

Scenes from Napoleon Dynamite or Mean Girls of students getting bullied and picked on may be flashing through your mind and you may be wondering if this will happen to you.

Relax. Patrick Pemberton of McClatchy Newspapers has put together a list of high school worst case scenarios and how to survive them. Here are just a few of them that I find most important:

Scenario 1 – A bully throws you against a locker

1. Stand your ground and don’t show weakness; most bullies will stop picking on students who stand up for themselves

2. Look around – is there anyone nearby that can help?

3. Tell them you are interested in fighting and walk away

4. If they begin to strike you, yell as loud as you can and cover your head with your arms

5. Talk to a teacher or administration about the incident

Scenario 2 – Someone has started a rumor about you

1. Don’t talk about the rumor

2. When you hear about it, inform people that it is not true and change the subject

3. If you know someone is spreading the rumor, confront them, inform them it is not true and ask that they stop

4. Remember that people will lose interest at some point

5. Don’t spread rumors about people if you don’t want them spread about you

Scenario 3 – Asking someone on a date and how to avoid rejection

1. Get to know the person first as a friend and try to gauge any interest

2. Ask their friends if they might be interested in going on a date with you

3. Then just ask the person – you’ll never know if you don’t try

4. If you get turned down, don’t sweat it – there’s lots of fish in the sea

You may also want to check out these blogs on important things to remember when you are in high school or check out the newest high school documentary, American Teen.