Are middle school girls mean in general...

[Anonymous]

In our MS, the mean girl behavior actually started when the kids were in 5th among a certain travel sport group. In MS, they joined together from several schools. I imagine it will get better in HS when they are small fish

[Anonymous]

In my experience, I would say yes.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else get the feeling that people are as mean on DCUM as they may be in middle school?.
There is little support in this thread, just parents harshing on other people's views of themselves or their kids.

[Anonymous]

yes, MS girls are mean. It's a developmental thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else get the feeling that people are as mean on DCUM as they may be in middle school?.
There is little support in this thread, just parents harshing on other people's views of themselves or their kids.

yes, MS girls are mean. It's a developmental thing.

yex, DCUM posters are mean. It's an anonymity thing.

As to the original question, all middle schoolers are feeling their way through many changes--physical, social, emotional. Sometimes their best versions of themselves are present, sometimes, not so much. Helping your child to develop a strong sense of self, a bit of caution when dealing with social situations, a lot of flexibility, and the willingness to self-evaluate will help so much. My daughter went through a number of rough spots with friends' groups in middle school. Most of them were not her fault, but at least one was. Whenever we talked about negative situations, I always advised her to examine her role in the situation and determine a better way forward for the next time and to reach out and make reparations if an relationship was hurt because of something my daughter did. In the latter situations, it was not my daughter's intent to injure someone, merely her lack of experience that led to a misunderstanding.

Witness the parent who was very hurt by the use of ther word "wrong" and the original poster who meant nothing by it. It was a simple misunderstanding that did not need to result in name calling, but it did--amongst adults. Amongst tweens, these types of issues can fester until someone lashes out unpredictably.

Most kids are not mean, they are just inexperienced. Middle school is filled with "experiences."