The school has two cafeterias in order to accommodate it's large student population, one cafeteria to provide for fifth and sixth graders, and another for seventh and eighth graders. Interesting enough, the different classes do not attend lunch together, in other words, seventh and eighth graders do not attend lunch together nor fifth and sixth graders. Again I assume this is strictly do to the large population of this school.

I entered the school at the start of the day, I considered this to be to my advantage, therefor not standing out so much among the huddles of people gathered outside the school building. It can be said that the students appearances varied somewhat, but a whole it remained within a certain unspoken code. The girls wore their hair long-shoulder length or longer, and had it tied back in a pony-tail or very straight. Some were in skirts (slightly above knee level)-all were either corduroy or floral material. Most of the girls though were in jeans an

Of the two subjects that I studied I noted that both had characteristics of the normal adolescent, although in very different ways. The girl displayed behavior that is associated with the imaginary audience. She was very self-conscious, afraid to look around in fear that others might note that she was alone and be the target of their ridicule. I also believe that she is currently in the stage of role confusion, she seems to have doubts about identity and is withdrawn from others almost completly. The boy on the other hand, seemed to be very well adjusted, even more than the average student. I believe that he is at a point of identity achievement, he defiantly appeared to have a higher self-esteem, he had a balance of relationships with his peers and was able to committ himself to tasks that were required of him.

Notorious adolescent vocabulary. When the teacher asked for silence, he responded, whereas a few of his friends still wanted to continue conversation. One situation that was particularly notable was when the students were assigned to depict parts of the sentence structure on the board. Many of his friends joked around when they were in front of the class and had to be told to focus on the task, whereas he went straight to work when his turn was called. Another thing worth mentioning was that when a not-so-popular student was called to the board, many of my subjects friends were quick to make fun, and he didn't take part. I am not going to say that he told them to "shut-up," or anything near as admirable, but during a time when conformity is very important, this boy took a very passive approach.

Observing the students that sat alone, it was quite hard to figure out exactly why this was. As a young adult, I know that I tend to choose friends that have similar values, interests and goals. And, it can be said that the early adolescents I observed were doing a similar action, but it appears that the level of discrimination is dramatically exaggerated. A students interest goes past just "interest" and straight to a direct reflection as to who they are as a person. And the image of the group is more important than any single part. The students I observed that were alone were for the most part the ordinary kid. Some of the boys were small, some of the girls were awkward looking, a few of the students were overweight and a few students looked like maybe they had come from lower income households. I think the main reasons these students were excluded is because of low self-esteem. During adolescence, teenagers are overwhelmed with feelings and most of them being confusion. Many are questioning their assets and flaws, and trying to sort out who they are as a person and where they stand in the world as a whole. There are endless pressures from parents, teachers, and piers. It is quite easy to see how a low self-esteem can be developed. I think that the excluded students felt either that they don't quite "fit" with anyone or that they are not good enough to keep anyone's company.

d hip length sweaters and wore tennis-sneakers or the "clunky" type shoes which are all the fashion now. All the girls I saw wore earrings, mostly the small dangling type and often they had two holes pierced. Most of the girls wore make-up, mostly lipstick and eye-shadow, although it was not excessive. The boys all seemed to be in clothes that were least five sizes too big. It consisted primarily of one of these two clothing options: extra-large sweater overlapping a thermal-type shirt, with jeans that were just short of slipping to the ground or extra-large flannel overlapping a thermal-type shirt, with jeans that were just short of slipping to the ground. A close second to this dressing trend for boys was the sweater and jeans/sweater and khakis style, although nowhere near as prominent. Nearly all of the boys wore their hair short, most frequently with the back cut close to the nape of the neck and t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3511
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)