yes. I do think we all are very class conscious, especially in high school. but really I think it just boils down to that fact that we are all self conscious. I think most teenagers probably care more about fitting in general, then about what class their apart of. when people start becoming less self-conscious is when they start being able to blend more among different kinds of people.
It's kind of like this. So say there is a kid who likes to swim in the pool, mind you he is a weak swimmer. However, he feels good in the pool. He can put his feet down if he gets tired, he can get out when he wants, he's familiar with it. But, if you asked this kid to go swim in the ocean, do you think he would? no. why? because he's scared. He could barely swim in the pool, where he felt safe. Now, the ocean it has waves, riptides, sharks and tastes like salt. Its not that he hates the ocean or even thinks he's to good for the ocean. He's just not confident that he could make it out there. So what does he do when people bring up the ocean? He talks bad about it, avoids it. But, really he just needs some help learning how to swim.
I feel like most high schoolers are just weak swimmers in the social pool. Its scary to try something new when you don't even feel that great at the old. therefore, I say lets help improve students self confidence. give something else to identify themselves with beside clothes, money, friend, "class." lets be honest. we might not be able to break down social class constructs in the classroom but we can encourage better healthier more loving relationships between people of the same class, same clique. Maybe once students start to feel more secure with who they are and the friends they have, they will be more confident to break out and reach new people. then when we put them in groups, and encourage them to look at how similar they are to eachother and try to find ways to encourage individuals they will feel less intimidated and defensive. lets teach our students to "swim" and then we might have a real shot at getting them to willfully jump in to the wonderful and unfamiliar deep blue sea.

Jessie, what you wrote is really interesting. I know that I was and still am really self conscious. I was afraid to talk to certain people because of the fear of rejection. I wish I was more care free, and that I worried less about whether or not people excepted me. But it is somthing I feel like I cannot control. I feel like I can relate to alot of young adolescents who have the same fears, but I wish that since I know better, I would be more brave. It used to hurt my feeling in school when kids would say I was stuck up because I was really just so self conscious that they wouldn't like me. I am a really nice person, but it is hard for me to go out of my way to start up a conversation with people I don't know. I want to know more people and make friends, but I am just scared.lol

Another thing is that some kids might just be mean. Their parents might be dumd and teach them not to hang out with certain kids who are "lower class." However ridiculous this might sound, I definitley think that this happens. Cruelty is a taught skill, in my opinion.

Jessie that is a really nice analogy with swimming! kudos

I agree that students are scared of not being accepted by others. I believe most of it comes from the fear students have with failure. Our society focuses so much on competition and winning, that everyone is scared to take a chance just because of the small chance that they may fail.

I think that high school students are being self-conscious which then leads them to be class-conscious. Pretty much every person has something that their aware of that makes them different from others around them, but as teachers I think that if we can help our students to realize that their differences are good rather than bad that it would really help their self-esteem and it would also help them later in life.

I totally agree that middle and high school students are much more self conscious than class conscious. Although, if a lower class kid tries to be friends with some wealthier kids he/she may run into problems even if that student is not self conscious. Things like what clothes he/she wears, or what car he/she drives can have a huge affect on whether he/she will be accepted by the wealthier students. Most kids don't care how much money their friends parents make, but they may care about the effects that money has on their lifestyle.

All have good points, I particularly like the ocean example for I have noticed in certain instances that that scenario does play out to be true. Fear can have an astounding impact on people to a point where fear will control their life and every aspect of it. This is often why people do not like change because they are afraid of what will happen to their life when change occurs. Like the child in the ocean, the fear was because he would not be able to touch the ground and the waves would be pounding around him. Perhaps this analogy also can be used to also teach of how important it is to be grounded in life to something much greater than ourselves.