In many movies, you see freshmen being picked on and bullied in high school. However, the staff of The Current came to the consensus that freshmen at Bear River are treated pretty well.

Freshman Corina Shaw agreed with the opinion of The Current.

“If anything, [freshmen] are treated the best,” she said.

We at The Current believe that freshmen are respected and treated with kindness at Bear River.

Shaw elaborated on her opinion.

“I think they are treated the best because they are the newbies at the school, so everyone wants to make them feel good,” she said. “Like, ‘Hey, this is going to be your home for four years.’”

Bear River’s Resource Officer, Tim Highsmith, expressed what he thought.

“I think freshmen are treated fairly,” he said. “Stop crying about being a freshman, and grow up.”

Despite how freshmen are treated at Bear River, there are still many movies that spread the idea of freshmen being picked on in high school. Freshman Ryder Kiggins explained his thoughts.

“It’s mostly the upperclassmen just playing around and screwing with the younger class yet again,” he said. “Not necessarily bullying, but it’s pretty disrespectful.”

Officer Highsmith explained why movies show freshmen being treated differently.

“Movies depict it as a rite of passage,” he said.

Shaw explained why she thinks freshmen are portrayed differently in movies.

“Because they’re new, and they’re like aliens or something abnormal,” she said.

Freshman Hannah Ingle explained how freshmen are treated at Bear River compared to the stereotypical high schooler.

“I think freshmen are treated good for the most part,” she said. “There’s a lot of freshmen that have upperclassmen friends that kind of look out for them in a way, and make sure they’re alright.”

Sabrina Watkins, a sophomore, describes how she views freshmen, and how they can be treated.

“Freshmen can be treated badly if they think they’re the [best],” she said.

Although many Bruins believe that freshmen are treated well, there are still others that believe that freshmen aren’t treated well at Bear River.

“Personally, yes, most freshmen are treated poorly because the ‘upper class’ thinks they have a better advantage in any situation and think that have higher priorities which is sorta true but only in certain circumstances,” said Kiggins.

Freshman Allisyn Roddie had a similar perspective on Kiggins statement.

“[Freshmen] are often looked over and not taken seriously and causes them to feel inferior to the other classes when they pretty much deserve the same kind of respect and kindness,” she said.

Matthew Heinle, a freshman, disagreed.

“I can be friends with anyone and I’ve never really seen a freshman being picked on by an older student unless they were siblings or something,” he said. “As long as they treat their peers with respect they’ll most likely be treated the same.”

Ingle expressed her feelings about her freshman year.

“I’m actually really glad that freshmen aren’t bullied or anything because that makes anyone’s first year of high school so much easier than it probably is for those kids in the movies,” she said.