Freshmen year in high school for a teenager is a year of transition. Coming from middle school or eighth grade, your child was in the eldest level of students among others. They may have been well-accustomed to everything around them, their classmates, the school itself, and how the students from lower levels saw them as the ‘seniors’ of the school. So it is understandable how a sudden change from ‘senior’ to freshmen can take a fair amount of adjustment. When your teen enters freshmen year in high school, he is suddenly faced with a totally new environment. The campus is different and so are the teachers and students around them. They may also have to adjust to a whole new set of guidelines for the school too. Then add the strain of having to adjust to being a freshman among the higher levels in high school, and you’ve got a hurricane facing your teen.
Social Adjustment
Entering ninth grade, your child must now go through social adjustment as he establishes himself among a whole new set of peers. For a teenager, having an “ok” group people to sit beside during lunch break is an important matter. After a teen may find this group of people, they may then move on to finding those people whom they can be themselves with. This may even mean changing the first group of people they began with to a whole new group. It’s interesting to note that in ninth grade, the sexes may often be clearly defined. It has been observed that girls may have less trouble fitting into the new environment than boys of their age or level. The boys from higher levels (juniors or seniors) may particularly welcome them more warmly. Freshmen boys may be noticeably different from the guys from higher levels as they are just beginning to physical mature as a teen. Girls and boys face varying social situations where their alternatives can differ as well.
Teenagers are also coping with a faster pace in high school compared to that of lower levels. Beginning high school also coincides with one’s sharpening sexual awareness. Maybe in earlier year levels, your child may have put an emphasis on individual opinion over that of the group, but now your teenager is more likely to put more emphasis on the opinion of his peer group. At this time, adolescents are working on a budding relationship with their own sexuality. You may notice that your teen appears “self-absorbed” at this period, but this can be understandable from the abovementioned changes that hit him all at once. |
