It should come as no surprise that at almost every school, there is a popularity scale.  Not many people often address this issue,  but most everyone is aware of it. Some believe that being “popular” is the equivalent of being rich and having expensive possessions such as cars or clothing – this is far from the truth. Those who are considered “popular” are merely people that are widely known throughout the school and their respective grade.  Maybe one is “popular” because they’ve made a big impact. Or perhaps they are known for performing exceptionally within a sport. It’s possible they are genuinely nice person who are easy to get along with. 

 Many students never actually talk about popularity because it often does not affect them in their day-to-day life.  Everyone  goes on and does their own thing.  But, this doesn’t take away from the fact that it is present and exits.  While it may go unnoticed or talked about, there are students who experience being made fun of every single day because of their “lack” of popularity.  Oftentimes it’s for little things, like their looks, their clothes, hobbies, or even who they are friends with. 

“I feel like there are just some people who are just more known than other people,” senior Chris Krohn said. ”If you were to say their name to someone they would go, ‘Yeah, I know that person.’ They might know of them but have never seen them.”

Chis said he doesn’t believe someone is popular just because they are in sports, but some kids in sports are popular. He shared it’s the people who are very good at just talking to others and being open to everyone are the ones he considers popular.

He also thinks some teachers treat popular kids differently in class.

“Yeah, no doubt if a kid doesn’t have his work done and he is just sitting there on his phone they won’t be as stern and they will let you just sit there and talk to there friends but like if your sitting there they will tell you to get back to work or tell you to get off your phone.”

We talked about if he thinks popular kids get away with more stuff he said that it depends on the friend group and if they are going to tell other people. 

Another considerable factor to popularity nowadays is the internet and social media. 40 years ago there was no Instagram or Twitter to post pictures of yourself on. Some people use social media to obtain popularity by posting pictures. 

Here are some more opinions from seniors Max Glen and Olivia Kelly on if popularity matters.  “No it doesn’t matter,” Olivia said.  “ I dont think being popular really matters to most. To me the whole popular to unpopular thing is just a joke. I mean its just a thing we make up in our heads, there is no like official you are popular or you are unpopular, its stupid,” Max said.

At the end of the day does popularity matter? When it comes down to it, when you hit the last day of school your senior year and you’re walking with your high school diploma in your hands.  Your social status throughout your high school career will not matter in the end, it is truly about the friends, connections, and growth that you  make along the way.