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A study proves: the last will be the first
The popular, cool kids from school often end up as losers. Many suspected this for a long time - a new study proves it now.
She was the first of the girls who came to school make-up. She looked great (so grown up by the make-up) and also had a boyfriend very early.
He was admired by everyone. His pants hung down to the knees, he always had, always, headphones with the latest music in the ears, every weekend at parties and could drink like a hole.
Well, the cool kids back then ... what happened to them? Probably nothing - that's what a new study claims.
Many of us have already suspected it. Because thanks to Facebook and Co., we can keep a close eye on our former classmates. Have you ever noticed that many of the cool ones did not get far? Many of them are still hanging around in their home village. They still have the same friends as before - which is nice in itself, but no new friends will come along either. They often post party pictures, get stuck in a job without prospects (if they even have a job after having dropped their education twice).
University of Virginia researchers have published the results of their latest study in the "Child Development" journal, confirming these observations.
Because they found out that the popular children from school usually showed a " pseudo-adult behavior ". They drank alcohol, smoked, the girls put on make-up especially early, the boys went to the gym ... they behave older to be more popular and admired.
But this pseudo-adult behavior has a disadvantage: At some point, the other children follow suit, also grow up. Then the cool kids have to step up to continue to stand out. And that leads to problems later.
From a certain age is just not the same cool, which used to be cool. Being drunk as a teenager was something daring and exciting. As an adult, it is only embarrassing. But you do not necessarily notice that. "In the old days everybody thought it was funny, why not anymore ?!"
Many of the formerly popular kids are later prone to (excessive) drug and alcohol use and to criminal behavior. Their social skills also suffer: they can hardly enter into close relationships, such as good friendships and deep love relationships.
For the study, 184 13-year-old adolescents were followed for ten years to the age of 23, including 86 boys and 98 girls. In these subjects, the association between "pseudo-adult behavior" in teens and social issues in adulthood was very noticeable.
However, the researchers themselves admit that the study was probably too small to deliver really groundbreaking meaningful results. 184 people are actually too few, besides, all subjects went to the same high school.
However, to repeat the study on a larger scale is planned according to these results.
