So,
Mac was talking about the high school dropout rate and its possible causes. It's a complicated issue, and it's probably got a billion different things contributing, so there's not one "clear" cause.
Me? I think that one of the biggest causes is (and I am by
no means an authority - this is just my opinion)... by societal standards, being smart just isn't "cool." Yeah, I've said that many times before, but it's pretty true, isn't it? Well, I'm speaking from just my experience, so maybe people will disagree. I
hope people disagree. Because, yeah, I see nothing wrong with being smart.
So, my question.
Have you ever pretended to be dumber than you were, just so you could fit in?
Me? Oh, hell yes. Did I fit in, even with the subterfuge? Nope.
« close it up
Posted by mikey at 12:15 PM.
Filed under:
And you? •
(20) Comments •
Permalink
Next entry: Mr. Morton walks, Mr. Morton talks, Mr. Morton reads, Mr. Morton... blogs?
Previous entry: Round-up
I never pretended to be dumb but, when I started hanging out with the smoking crowd in high school (a lot of whom didn't excel grade wise) I didn't wave my report card around.
Posted by
Kathy on 12/04 at 12:39 PM
I haven't necessarily pretended to be dumb...but I did pretend that I wasn't into my homework and studying as much as I was. People would sit around talking about how they hadn't completed their homework and how bad they were going to fail the upcoming test and I would chime in "Oh yeah...me too. I haven't even taken my book home." when the reality was that I'd already did the next chapter's homework and had studies for the test for a few hours already...
Now? Now I just pretend I don't know the answer to something. But that's more so I don't get it wrong in front of everyone. I'd rather "play dumb" than actually get something wrong in public...
Posted by
itchy on 12/04 at 12:47 PM
I haven't necessarily made a conscious effort or anything, but I've been told that the way I talk to people I just met randomly isn't usually as smart-sounding as the way I talk to people I know.
But, at my school the popular kids were the smart ones. These same smart ones were also all in ASB and sports and cheer, and all the other "cool" things, so as long as you didn't try to go from "smart" to "nerdy" (by playing chess at lunch or something) then I think you were all right.
But, perhaps my school isn't the norm?
Posted by
Icyshard on 12/04 at 01:09 PM
I don't really remember pretending to be dumber but I do know I wasn't always vocal about how much I knew.
As for the dropout rate, we can put a little of the blame on the school systems and how easy they make dropping out. Hell, I can't tell you how many stories I hear about kids just being advised to go to night school or just get a GED. Granted, these are usually the "trouble" kids and I don't work in the that environment so I can't really speak to how difficult it is to deal with them but I can't say that I really like those options being the first damn thing that are given to a person who is struggling through school.
Posted by
Patricia on 12/04 at 01:27 PM
I was quiet, not brilliantly smart, but got tagged as being "smart" because of my lack of loudness. (nor was I "cool" but I also didn't brag too much about how much I liked to learn)
Posted by on 12/04 at 01:52 PM
I've never pretended to be dumb in order to fit in - but I have played dumb just to mess with people. I'm blonde, so it works and it can be very entertaining. But generally, I'm just myself and that happens to be sometimes smart and sometimes dumb. I don't ever try to prove my intelligence to people. Unless, it's my husband challenging me to some sort of IQ test then I'm like bring it on.
Posted by
elise on 12/04 at 02:09 PM
I think sometimes I have. I don't do it intentionally, but it does get weird when I'm hanging out with some friends and start dropping SAT words. It's been a big adjustment to get used to people understanding me w/o explanation in grad school.
I never fit in with the "cool kids" even if I tried to play dumb.
Funny thing -- among some of my "smart" friends, there's a joke that I show my blonde frequently. I think it's b/c I'm not afraid to look silly on occasion. Nothing in the world says smart people have to be straight-laced, right?
Posted by
Leah on 12/04 at 04:31 PM
As an adult, I have pretended to be dumb. It worked out for a little while with some of my shallower friends but got old really quickly.
In school, I didn't pretend to be dumb but was also a huge loner.
Posted by
Jennifer on 12/04 at 06:55 PM
Heh, I had typed out a much longer comment above but ended up deleting most of it. I could carry on forever about this subject. I think kids need to be given more options than what is available to them in schools these days. Of course, with funding cutbacks and such, that's not likely to happen any time soon.
Posted by
Jennifer on 12/04 at 06:58 PM
Back when I was in 1st grade, we were supposed to raise our hands when we finished our tests. I had a crush on a girl at the time, and when I finished I intentionally waited until just the moment she raised her hand to do the same. Somehow I thought she'd like me more if we were both as smart as each other.
Posted by
Dating Dummy on 12/04 at 07:50 PM
I was a girl growing up in Alabama. I had no idea it was ok to be smart (ie being smarter than the boys and therefore undermining their 'me boy me smarter than you' mentality without facing a rash of retaliatory mean comments on my looks) until I was about 18 and in college.
Posted by
Noelle on 12/04 at 09:25 PM
Yeah. I admit it. There have been times when I've acted like I had a harder time getting something or was having problems remembering something because I was afraid of what other people would think of me.
It never really worked for me either.
Posted by
Craig on 12/05 at 04:22 AM
uh back in the day my gfriends and i had a game : who got drinks paid for by acting "dumb" um ya, it works. but the truth is i would like to be much smarter!!! and i definently encourage my daughters to use the brain power.
Posted by
acaligurl on 12/05 at 05:24 AM
i mean definitely 
Posted by
acaligurl on 12/05 at 08:10 AM
I don't have a good enough internal filter to act dumb. If I know something, no matter how trivial, I have a compulsion to share it. That doesn't exactly make me the "smart" one, just the "annoying" one.
Posted by
Melissa on 12/05 at 08:22 AM
It was different in my high school. It was cool to be smart. You were respected more. I understand that this isn't the norm, though. The not so cool kids were the one's who did the goth thing and the wannabe rednecks.
Posted by
April on 12/05 at 01:29 PM
Oh I forgot about the question.
Yes, I've played dumb before, but not to be cool. I've done it with men to get them to do things for me. Worked like a charm.
That's bad isn't it?
Posted by
April on 12/05 at 01:34 PM
I've never played dumb, but being the smart kid certainly left me out socially growing up. People didn't want to hang around the kid that "blew the curve."
Posted by
LaDonna on 12/05 at 05:52 PM
I've never pretended to know less then I did.
As for the dropout rate, it's not the rate of kids dropping out that gets me but rather how many parents in this country ALLOW their kids to dropout. I mean, WTF? What also floors me is when they are seniors and want to drop out. You can't wait a few more months to be done and get your diploma?
Posted by
Lori on 12/05 at 09:40 PM
i never had to pretend
i was always kinda dumb. i went to a college prep HS and wasnt really interested in doign REALLY well like a lot of my other classmates. i graduated 56th out of 83. i was fine with that. now that my husband is in grad school most of our pals here are ALSO in grad shcool and I REALLY don't have to pretend to be dumb. I'm usally the most quiet person at any gathering, mostly because they're talking about things I hardly understand. Now, I don't think of myself as dumb or stupid, I just don't speak their highly technical language, so I sorta FEEL dumb.
Posted by
Luka on 12/06 at 09:10 AM
mikey: ...and I said "What about Breakfast at Tiffany's"? She said "I think I remember that film."