Middle school is tough on most of us

UF Health Podcasts

It lasts about three years but feels like 300. You’ll endure unspeakable terrors, like public speaking, group exercise and misperceiving your talents as a dancer … all while dodging pimples and acrid body odor. You won’t recognize yourself — or your friends. It happens to everyone.

It, friends, is middle school.

According to research from scientists at Florida Atlantic University, we know the harsh truth — those years are much harder on those perceived as unattractive or unathletic. Some of us still carry the unhappy memories.

The study included 580 middle school students between 10 and 13 years old. Participants were asked to pinpoint classmates who best fit a handful of descriptors, like athletic, attractive, and unpopular.

Students were also asked how often they felt lonely and how many times they drank alcohol to the point of intoxication during the past month.

Results indicated that those rated as low on the attractiveness and athletic scales experienced decreasing popularity over the course of a school year, which led to more loneliness and alcohol misuse. Notably, there were no differences between gender — or even location. The same pattern held in youth from a large metropolitan area in Florida as it did for a homogeneous sample from a small town in Lithuania.

The study’s authors offered suggestions for mitigating these effects in the classroom, like creating a supportive environment for everyone and emphasizing the importance of other traits.

But it seems even researchers agree — middle school can be a traumatic ordeal. Its saving grace? It’s temporary.