“All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten.”

I'm so glad I'm not in junior high anymore.... aren't we all? My last child is in 7th grade, and the drama is non-stop. Yesterday a boy in her class called her a 'D' bag in front of the other boys in her class, and she was so humiliated. She's a pretty sunshiny kid and actually has pretty thick skin. She's been in the same school since pre-school and knows everyone well. But this boy is fairly new and they are like oil and water. She still came home very upset, saying he was bullying her all week. As the parent, I would LOVE to say something to him, or his parents but I know I can't. She's got to start learning how to deal with it.
I've tried to explain that it really doesn't change much from here on out. Every workplace I've been at had the same kind of drama as in junior high. I realize I've worked mostly at large Metro newspapers, where you have lots of employees in many different areas, and there are always, shall we say, 'interactions' between the sexes. Many bosses are the bullies or there is a 'teacher's pet' that tattles on everyone. There are the mean ones, and the sweet ones, the ones that deserve praise, and ones that cheat. Every job I've started at, I've looked for the obvious ones that fill these parts. And then there's the gossiping... (sigh) There are clicks, just like in junior high. There are the 'popular' ones and the 'nerds.' And lunch is still really important.

It's pretty sad that we don't change much after the age of 12, but that's just how it is....