Research+Paper



Peer Reviews

Jill Simmons --> Jamie Rodgers A. Date on covor page B. make sure to correct gramatical errors C. Phrasing is confusing and some not needed. D. try to not use contractions (they're, it's, don't)

Lauren Wolf --> Jamie Rodgers A. Numbers on Works Cited Page B. correct gramatical errors C. Word phrasing is confusing D. Have a better use of space throughout paper

Peter Levitt --> Jamie Rodgers A. make sure everything you want to say is in order B. Better transitions C. Word phrasing is confusing D. make sure cited things are correct.



A minimum of 2 total pages due: Tuesday, March 9, 2010

A minimum of 2 total pages due: Thursday, March 11, 2010

A minimum of 2 total pages due: Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A minimum of 2 total pages due: Thursday, March 18, 2010

A minimum of 2 total pages due: Tuesday, March 9, 2010

People are different. There are no two people in the whole world that are exactly alike. Everyone has something about themselves that makes them who they are. Attitude, personality, and kindness are just three examples of what makes someone an individual. One thing people choose to portray themselves is by what they look like. Some people may wear certain clothes to stand out; while others wear what their religion wants them to. Some people choose to not work out or eat healthy and are overweight while others do not eat enough and choose to be thin. In elementary to high school, the way students choose to look changes drastically. Some call this the developmental stages for young adults. At this age students start to become friends with one another and groups are formed. These groups can be very secluded and sometimes treat other groups badly. The main reason is because of assumptions. Why do they treat them badly just because they wear something different? Do they really get to know this group before making judgments? The way people look is their choice; so why do we choose to judge them based because of that? Adolescents between the ages of 7-18 judge their peers based on each other’s physical appearances resulting in depression and other chronologically mental illnesses.

In elementary school it seems that everyone is friends. As these people get older, their attitudes differ from one another and new friends are made. This is the age when the most emotional and physical changes occur in young people. Studies show that brain development usually stops at the age of about 21 ( Janes, Aprille). Before one reaches this age, they may go through a lot of emotional and physical changes to make them who they will become at 21. This not only applies to learning in school, but also social interaction and physical and emotional development. A majority of someone’s life before the age of 21 is in grade school. This includes elementary, middle, junior high, and high school. The ages range from about six to about eighteen and go from grades kindergarten through 12th grade. Those who go to school learn a lot ranging from math to science to history to even health. Along with these classes, social interaction between students grows and shape individuals to who they will become later on in life. The people they hang out with in elementary through middle school years usually leads to what sports one may pursue, or their study habits, or even their attitude towards life and how they treat other peers. As they get older these friends may change and shape an individual even more than it did in early years (Janes, Aprille). As students reach their high school years, their groups may change a lot more drastically then they did in early elementary or middle school years (Janes, Aprille). Some who like the group they’re in, are willing to do more to stay in these groups. To keep up with these groups, individuals feel that they have certain expectations to stay in these groups. These groups differ from one another and most have labels. Most of these labels are familiar to most students and include the jocks, the musicians, the intellectuals, the computer programmers, and the druggies. Throughout a high school career, students usually change groups and associate themselves with one another (Nutt, Amy). By doing this they have someone to talk to, and other people they get along with. It is very common when they choose to change groups though. The reason for this is because one may feel that he or she needs to focus on school work instead of music. Or maybe a student who plays sports along with an instrument in a band chooses to only play that instrument. As the group changes, so does the pressure to stay in that group. This pressure not only interferes with individuals academically, but also socially and developmentally (Janes, Aprille). Leading to stress to do well in school, stress to stay with extracurricular activates, and stress to stay with their social group. This stress eventually builds up and leads to depression and other mental illnesses.

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 4 pages total) due: Thursday, March 11, 2010 When you look at someone, what is the first thing you see about them? Is it their hair? The clothes they are wearing? Could it be their makeup? Are they a little on the large side? We make conclusions about people before getting to know them and we may not even know it. When we were young the expression was “don’t base a book on its cover.” This expression starts to slowly disappear as people get older. It seems easier to make assumptions about someone before getting to know them because to students, what other people look like is a representation of who they are as a person ( Lee, Jongnam). The chances of someone’s personality matching they way they look like is very unlikely. If an individual is on the larger side and wears clothes that look a little small, does it mean they are lazy or stupid because they cannot pick clothes that fit? This is just one example of an assumption that could be totally incorrect. The whole process is like a big loop. Adolescents make these judgments so they can feel better about themselves (Nutt, Amy). By doing this they show that they look in better shape then that person or their clothes are more authentic then that other person’s clothes (Mass General Hospital for Children). They feel that by criticizing others it makes them feel better about how they look. This criticism is usually not very positive and if it gets back to the one being criticized, they start to feel self conscious about how they look (Nutt, Amy). In return they feel obligated to themselves to criticize and judge another person to make them feel better. This results in hurting the self esteem of another student being criticized. This happens many other times and it never seems to stop. To many teenagers this happens in everyday life. It is not abnormal for one to make assumptions on the looks of others. This goes back to the obligation to stay with the group that was mentioned before. To relate to the group they are in, they may state how different that person looks or how they would make that person better. This negative attitude towards others is one of the things that groups look toward to see how their opinions are similar (Nutt, Amy). They want to stay friends so by doing this they are showing that they are worthy of staying in the group. When students go to school with each other for twelve years, they form their groups that were stated earlier. When these students form these groups, they look out of this group like everyone else is different. They see everyone else and criticize them because they are not like their group. The chances are these groups do not get to know each other before making assumptions (Mass General Hospital for Children). They treat each other like they’ve known them their whole lives. To students, it seems to take too long to get to know someone. It is a lot easier to judge someone based on their looks. Does wearing all black, baggy clothes with long chains mean that this person is dangerous and has a dark personality? Most groups share this close minded attitude and it is difficult to change. If they were to try to get to know someone before making assumptions about them, they may have a more positive attitude in life and get to know a broader group of people instead of the little group they are secluded to at the time.

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 6 pages total) due: Tuesday, March 16, 2010

As much as adolescents rely on their peers to shape how they will act and dress, the majority of the standards set for students are made by the media ( National Association of Social Workers). What is seen in magazines such as Sixteen, GQ, or Cosmogirl is what most high school students see as a goal to look like what they see. The images portrayed in these magazines and on television are of beautiful men and women who seem to “have it all.” Some, if not most, of the pictures that are in magazines are actually photoshoped to make the model seem more flawless (National Association of Social Workers). In reality the models portrayed weigh 23 percent less then the average female, and the males spend sometimes months on end to get those perfect abs and pecks (National Association of Social Workers). These images are meant to advertise certain clothes or cologne, but what is taken out of these pictures is a perfect body and image of a model that many adolescents try to imitate. The media also affects why people care so much about their appearance by showing what clothes are accepted the most by a wide range of people (Lee, Jongnam). These clothes come from brand name companies. The majority of them are too small, tight, or revealing then normal clothes. They have styles that are not used very often but because they come from those big corporations, the clothes are looked upon as acceptable. Some of these clothes distributors include Hollister, American Eagle, Abercrombie (and Fitch), Ralph Lauren (Polo), Coach, Pink (Victoria’s Secret), Nike, and more. The more popular groups that are found in schools wear a majority of these brands listed above. There are other groups that wear these same clothes, but it is hard to accept them if they are not in the same clubs or activities as these more popular groups (Lee, Jongnam). If there is an individual who does not wear clothes from those companies, they are more likely to get picked on or judged then those who do (Lee, Jongnam). These standards are looked upon greatly, and even those who do not think they criticize others on looks, they most likely have or still do. 

One of the biggest results of this stress brought on by meeting the expectations of their peers is depression. Depression is known as “ a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason” (dictionary.com). Depression is a mental illness that is caused by five main things; family history, trauma and stress, pessimistic personality, physical conditions, and other psychological disorders ( Depression.com) . What triggers depression for most adolescents are the trauma and stress factor, pessimistic personality, and physical conditions. As stated above, stress is a major part of what comes out of trying so hard to meet the expectations of the group an individual is in. Along with looking appropriate for the group, comes the commitment to stay looking that way and also the attitude the rest of the group has on other people. This includes what they think about other groups, other individuals, and even themselves. It may not seem like that large of an issue, but there is a lot that one must do to meet the expectations of that group.

At least 2 additional pages (minimum of 8 pages total) due: Thursday, March 18, 2010

After a long period of time, this stress builds and this results in more depression-like symptoms. Because of the constant judging of other peers and self criticism about looks, the self esteem of an individual may not be as great as those who do think greatly of themselves (Depression.com) . This results in a constant negative attitude and look on life. Someone who has depression can seem very sad a lot of the time, does not seem to have much interest in anything, and also constantly being or looking tired ( Depression.com) . There are also scenarios when the physical appearance of certain adolescents is not by choice but eventually lead to more serious depression. A child with a physical condition such as an amputated limb have a greater chance of acquiring depression then an individual who does not ( Varni, James W) . It is shown that it is harder for these individuals to be accepted into other social groups because of their handicap. As a result they are forced to try harder which puts more pressure on the child with a limb deformity ( Varni, James W) . Depression is not only a mental illness but can potentially lead to death. There are over 500,000 suicide attempts every year due to depression. A majority to these attempts are done by women and people younger than the age of 21. Although some cases of depression comes from family history, others come from poor self esteem and stress. By constantly being criticized by peers in grade school, the self esteem of these children are greatly diminishing. The more an adolescent is judged, the more likely that this individual will start to have depression like symptoms.

A big part of what comes out of adolescents judging each other is what we know of as bullying. On television we see bullying as a male, usually a tad on the larger side, physically or verbally abusing a smaller or younger individual ( PBS kids GO) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">. Another form of bullying that may be seen is a female, usually beautiful and very popular with a lot of friends, which mainly attacks by verbal abuse or criticism. What is seen with the female bullying is more relevant to what is seen in real life. The reason this individual bullies is because they feel that if they were to criticize someone else, it not only makes up for their own insecurities and lack of poor self esteem, but also intercepts the potentially bad criticism aimed at them and direct it onto the victim ( <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">PBS kids GO) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">. By abusing another individual, the bully feels better about themselves. This role is looked on by their friends and the attention makes them feel better about their own looks. In the process of bullying, though, the victim only feels worse about how they look and they feel that they have to dress more similar to the bully to meet their expectations.

Depression and other chronologically mental illnesses is the result of judgments made by adolescents on their peers from the age of 7-18. Throughout school, adolescents have a lot to juggle including school, a social life, and extracurricular activities. This age is a time when most young people make a lot of changes in a short amount of time to discover who they are. Some of these changes help them gain more friends, while leads to criticism by other peers. This criticism is usually never positive and can hurt many people. It has lead to depression in many and can be looked at as bullying. Criticism can be good, but for the majority of the time it hurts and can this can be avoided. What makes an individual is the difference from them and their peers. This criticism makes them feel that this difference is bad and they want to change it so that they will not be criticized anymore. Let people express themselves whatever way they want. Their creativity is their choice and should not be looked down upon.