Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
On one occasion, Steve (SR) explained, when the bus driver opened the door, “the
freshman kids see that their parents' cars are right there so a couple of kids thought it
would be funny to jump off the bus and run into the car and get away.” The break in the
seniors' perceived entitlement to their privileged status caused a strong reaction:
Some of the seniors thought this was ridiculous. So they [seniors] were like
taunting them [freshmen] in school and then the bus rides were hell for these
kids. They made them do so many things. They took one kid and pulled him out
of his seat and put him in the aisle and put book bags on him and sat on him and
stuff.
Itgotsobadthatthefreshmen'sparentsgotinvolvedandcalledthecoach,“Mr.Smith
[administrator] and the school got involved somewhat.” Steve (SR) thought the seniors
would be reprimanded for their behavior, “I seriously thought that the next day all the
seniors, whether you were involved in it or not, were going to be like this is wrong and
[the seniors] would be made to run [during practice as punishment].” However instead,
Steve (SR) found Rockport's hegemonic masculine culture—in this case represented by
the seniors' privileged and violent status amongst lower-classmen—upheld by faculty
and the institution:
When I got [to practice the next day] the coach (who had gone to Rockport)
tookmeinsideandhesaid,“Whathappenedyesterday?”andItoldhimthetruth
about what happened and he said, “That's ridiculous.” I was like “I know” and I
meant that the seniors were abusing the freshmen. And he's like, “That's ridicu-
lousthatthey[thefreshmen]disrespectedyouguysanditshouldn'tbelikethat.”
He made the freshmen run [extra] for the next week. [Those] freshmen ran like
a total of 40 miles in a week because they rebelled against the seniors.
Steve's (SR) description of how forcefully the resistance to the norms were discip-
lined between peers was striking. John (SR) commented on the bus incident, “Yeah and
those kids [freshmen] have never adjusted— ever since those incidents—haven't adjus-
ted.” Steve (SR) added, “And the kids who keep their mouth shut and just let people
hit them are the ones who get respect.” Our data suggested silence and conformity gain
greater respect than resistance to and departure from the traditional boundaries. What is
moststrikingaboutSteve's(SR)storyisthatitexemplifieshowthestudentsatRockport
are expected to handle a certain amount of physical or verbal bullying not only from
their peers
but also
from the adults at Rockport. In this case, it
was also
the adults that
assisted in legitimating violent bullying between boys along with the messages about
masculinity it conveyed.
