Are 6th Graders Hazed in MCPS?
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Anonymous
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Just trying to get an idea:
Do any parents feel as if 6th graders undergo hazing in MCPS? Are 6th graders formally excluded from all sports at all middle schools? Is that really county policy? What is the educational purpose in that? At a few middle schools 6th graders are only allowed in selected after school activities (some "only" for 7/8). Is that the case in all middle schools? The play at our school says it is open for all, but the 6th graders seem scared to participate. They eagerly signed up and then ALL slowly crossed off their names. . . I am mindful of the fact that it flies in the face of all modern educational theory to justify any exclusion of a student cohort by saying it is developmental appropriate or to provide them a period of adjustment into the school. Wondering if anybody has any experience in the 6th grade in MCPS. . . |
Anonymous
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No, I didn't feel that my children were 'hazed' in MCPS.
At least at the middle school my children attended, many of the 7th and 8th graders were physically MUCH larger than the 6th graders, so I understood why they were not allowed to participate in the sports. Overreact much, OP? |
Anonymous
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I did not feel that my sixth grader was hazed in his middle school.
Sports are limited to 7th and 8th graders, although if your school has outside clubs those might include sports that are open to sixth, and there are often community rec teams and travel teams that draw from one school so a sixth grader can play with classmates. I think that's a matter of scarce resources, limiting it to 7th and 8th increases the number of kids who will get to play for 1 or 2 years. In addition, since there are still a few (2?) elementary schools with sixth grade, it would be hard to provide an equal experience for those kids. My kid was too shy to try out for the play in the fall of sixth, and by 8th was a student director. I don't think that's unusual, but again, I don't think any hazing was involved. |
Anonymous
| Never thought about 7th/8th grade sports as hazing. Bizarre thought OP. Not very many sports are offered in MS in public middle school anyway. For example at ours the soccer team is about 20 kids out of 900 7th/8th graders (although I guess that's out of 450 boys). It's pretty tough to make the team. You might try private school although at the one my kids went to there was a 5th/6th grade team and a 7th/8th grade team so your 6th grader would be hazed out there too. |
Anonymous
| Does seem like an odd definition of hazing. I think a lot of kids have trouble with the transition in 6th Grade because they often move to a very big school where they can no longer be sheltered by their parents (no more walking kids to school). But there is actually not that much interaction among the grades so not clear how hazing would even occur. As for sports, makes sense for all of the reasons stated, plus if they were doing real tryouts, most 6th Graders would get cut, which according to the OP, would just add to the hazing. |
Anonymous
| What exactly is going on with your kid, OP? |
Anonymous
| Very odd post. 6th grader will rarely make sports teams because they are physically behind. There are club teams they can play in until it is there time in 7th and 8th. |
Anonymous
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So I agree that hazing is not the correct term but it is a really unfair and dumb policy to not allow 6th graders to do sports. First of all, two of the 4 sports in MS are no contact. And second if they are not physically ready, then they will not make the team. And the sport seasons are so short anyway.
And if anyone argues that it is to have the kids focus on the transition to Middle School, then how come the 6th graders can do drama, math club, etc. that take up just as much time? It really makes no sense, and Freshman in HS can play when there is even a bigger age difference. Really dumb..... |
Anonymous
Freshmen in HS are usually on JV, which is 9th and 10th graders only. There are sometimes 9th grade girls on varsity teams, much less often 9th grade boys. There was one 9th grader on our Varsity soccer team this year but he was 6"1" so fit in physically. The Catholic schools actually have 9th grade teams, then JV and Varsity. Still not hazing in my book. Relax, he will get to play next year. In the meantime there are lots of rec and club sports out there which offer much better coaching and competitive opportunities than MS sports. |
Anonymous
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Not too much going on with my kid. Just a general discussion within the grade. Also, my other kids are older in MCPS, but this is the first in 6th. (Had a freshman and there were no discussions within the mom groups about this then)
Just collecting other reasonable insights. It was helpful to read your thoughts. The size and social emotional development argument is somewhat dated, as many 6th graders are skilled and can compete on a high level. Parents have kids competing in sports at very early ages. At our school, the most popular clubs are off-limits till 7th and 8th grade. A better solution might be to have some slots for all grades? By hazing, I mean reducing the 6th graders ability to participate in activities such as sports, clubs, activities (such as the play or international night) thereby not allowing them to become a full part of the school community. This can make the students feel demeaned and fearful. It reduces their ability to move freely around the school and feel completely safe. Then some 7th grade students feel a sense that they were treated in a lesser manner in 6th, so they “payback” the incoming 6th grade. There is very open dialogue that this is a social role of 7th grader in our middle school. In a classic sense, this is hazing. It is interesting in and of itself to see how worked up moms get over a simple question and request for feedback. Appreciate the discussion OP |
Anonymous
Yea, but if they can make it, they can make it in HS regardless of class, and many girls do make Varsity as freshman. You have such a great agrument, "relax". Well thought out. Of course they do not need it to make them a better player, they can get that by club sports. I was just pointing out that there really is no good logic for it. Why can they be in the school play and practice 15 hours a week and not run cross country for 5 hours a week? Not talking about making them a star athlete from MS sports, not at all my point, just that it doesn't make any sense to exclude them from an extracurricular activity for no good reason. |
Anonymous
Really? They are fearful because they can't run cross country or play MS soccer? There aren't even that many kids who do those sports. As noted soccer is 20 boys in a 1400 kid school. And the XC team at our school is the nerdiest of teams (highest GPA of any sport) so hardly the types that would be terrorizing kids who aren't on XC in the hallways. Sounds like there are some other issues going on at your school or with your kid. |
Anonymous
People have pointed out the logic already. Most MCPS middle schools have 1 sport a season, with about 20 spaces for girls, and 20 for boys. So 40 out of 1,000+ kids. If a middle schooler plays all 3 years, then that's another middle schooler who doesn't get to play at all. Better to allow it for fewer years, and let more kids play. |
Anonymous
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Why narrow the discussion to just sports when the OP pointed out that multiple activities exclude? The discussion is about an atmosphere of exclusion for 6th graders that could be perpetuated in older grades.
Good point about JV and Varsity levels in HS. Is it possible to have intermural programs for MS that 6th grade could participate in? I am just interested in the whole system. I come from a state(NJ) that does Pk-8. Kid's can do sports and activities starting in 6th. The whole idea of excluding an entire cohort of students because of the size of the population or the size of the child seems counter to modern social and educational theory, especially in county with the types of resources of MCPS. The idea that there is something wrong with someone's kid for asking these simple questions or worse that someone is a "nerd" for running cross-country is so ridiculous. |
Anonymous
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Did you look at the definition of hazing before you posted?
weird
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