Quote:
Originally posted by Ginger
Is there really that much difference between a 12 year old (7th grader) and 14 year old (9th grader), though? I guess where I'm getting lost is the big emotional difference between the two... 
|
At my school, there was a LOT of emotional difference between the average 12-year-old and the average 14-year-old. People tend to forget how much kids change from year to year -- especially during the middle school years. A 12-year-old might easily be prepubescent and playing with Barbies, but two years later she's got hips and breasts, has started smoking and is spending her after-school time making out in the back of some 17-year-old's car.
I don't think that means that every student who goes to a 7-12 school is going to turn out badly, obviously, but like Cluey said -- it's a lot easier for most middle schoolers to have their own environment at that age and if we can help them with that, why not?