Dumb Kids Class By Mark Bowden Summary

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In his essay, “Dumb Kids Class”, Mark Bowden argues that society labels all people, especially children, and he speaks about expectations society has for people based on their labels or stereotypes. In Dumb Kids Class, Bowden speaks about stereotypes and labels throughout his essay, specifically about his school’s division between kids that are labeled smart and other kids that are labeled as dumb.The smart kids are described as “pampered” and “overly concerned” while the dumb kids are described as “unafraid, boisterous, occasionally defiant.” The school was divided and labeled based only on their intelligence. He explains how if there was any form of trouble at the school, the staff would automatically assume that it was one of the dumb…show more content…
For example, the dumb kids are expected to cause trouble while the smart kids are expected to be “goody-goodies" because of society's pre-set expectations of people of a certain intelligence. This makes dumb kids feel like they have to cause trouble because that is what is expected of them. They are not supposed to become more than what society tells them to be. Society tells people that they are one thing and suddenly that is how they are perceived and expected to be like. The author having “the best of both worlds” in his school caused so much commotion because had been labeled as a “bad boy” dumb kid, however he became a troublemaking smart kid. He was feared because he was no longer considered normal because he was not acting under a specific label and society does not encourage its members to be different, it wants its members to be normal and act the way they are expected to. Society is teaching people, especially children, to fear being different, which is why Bowden was suddenly so feared. Teaching children to fear different causes them to bully those children that do not conform to society's idea of

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