Mean girls use subtle, cruel tactics to isolate
by Kara Adkins
September 24, 2010
The word slipped out of her mouth like venom. I could smell its pungency and feel the sting. My day was ruined.
“Ew.”
That’s what one of my three former best friends said as they walked by me, mumbling the insult under her breath. There is something about the word “ew” that makes you feel so unworthy and disgusting. As if you are a nasty flea that won’t go away. No not even just a nasty flea, a nasty flea on the rear of an old ratty mutt that has been thrown out on the street in the rain. Yes, that’s how I felt my entire sophomore year, like a useless mutt.
After accidentally spilling the beans about a surprise party, I was treated like I had committed a horrendous crime. I was called every offensive word in the book. From my body to my family, they attacked every angle, skewing reality. They ganged up and taunted me to my breaking point for more than a year.
This mean-girl morality is nothing new. But it needs to be put to rest…
High school girls tend to use passive-aggressive behavior in order to get ahead and climb the social ladder. It’s no wonder experts say an estimated 160,000 kids miss school every day out of fear of intimidation by other students…
According to Irene Levine, a professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, girls may “exclude, gossip or do other things to demean one individual. Making someone feel alone, rejected and treating her as an outcast can be as vicious as physical assault.”
Kara is a junior at Coppell High School and volunteer columnist. This article appeared in the Dallas Morning News in its entirety but the link has since been deleted.
Category: IN THE MEDIA
