Meet The Staff

8th Grade Staff Members

Skylar Bishop is a researcher who specializes in law, and crime. She reads an upwards of 4 books a month. Skylar also enjoys swing sets, playing piano, and eating tons of snacks. Skylar also has a crippling addiction to horror movies, and she’s a total adrenaline junkie.

Addy Cook is an 8th grader this year and is part Scout Shout Staff. She was also on the Scout Shout last year. In her spare time, Addy loves to play her saxophone, bake, and make crafts. She is planning on doing track and field as well as swimming this school year.

Maddison Couture is an 8th grader who is in her first year on the Scout Shout. She likes writing stories and sharing them with people. In her free time, she likes watching her dogs run around playing, she also likes to read and write stories, when she is bored and has writer's block she draws random drawings depending on her mood.

Evie Holloway is an 8th grader at Laramie middle school. She moved to Laramie last year. She is 13 years old. Some of her talents and hobbies include art, guitar, ukulele, robotics, baking, and writing. Interesting facts about Evie include that she has moved 9 times in her life, she is passionate about rights for minorities, and is addicted to making finger hearts.

Sophia Huntington is a soon-to-be volunteer at the local animal shelter and an after-school tutor for elementary students. In her spare time, Sophie also plays the piano, and occasionally dabbles in acoustic guitar. (Though she avoids playing as much as possible because the metal strings on guitars make her fingers hurt.) Some miscellaneous facts about Sophie are: she had her poetry published in a school-funded book, she speaks (semi-fluent) French, her favorite color is light blue, and she's a - self-proclaimed - connoisseur of cheesecake.

Kate Lewis is an 8th grader at Laramie Middle school. She is a third-year member of the Scout Shout, and is excited to create new writing and to inform the student population on important information. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, track, and traveling the world.

Kate Murray enjoys watching movies and listening to music. She loves to cook, and always researches new recipes. Her passions included boxing, writing, and mathematics. She loves making new friends and going out to social events. Her favorite sport is volleyball and she watches football every weekend.

7th Grade Staff Members

Olivia Brant is a 7th grader here at LMS and is a part of the Scout Shout. Some other activities she does after school include volleyball, Youth Advocacy Council, crafts, and cooking. So basically, she loves to make stuff and is excited to join the Scout Shout this year.

Allysa Hansen is a 7th grader here at LMS she is a part of the Scout Shout, and is planning to be on the swim team this year. She enjoys playing the viola, being with friends, and creating art. Allysa loves to travel and try new things, she is super excited to be with friends at school and make new ones, and lots of new memories.

Sawyer Layson is a staff member of Scout Shout and is 12 years old. He is joining Scout Shout for the first year this year and is excited to be here. In his spare time, he likes biking, doing sports, and all things Nintendo.

6th Grade Staff Members

Lauren Chamberlain is an artist and a softball player. She is dedicated to her school work. Lauren has worked very hard for her dream, which is to be a softball player, and so far, she has succeeded. This year in school she has had all good grades, and she has proven to be a great artist as well.

Kaeleigh Lange in 6th grade and loves to read, make up stories, and play with her younger brother. As a Laramie native, she loves being here because her family is all close by. Kaeleigh is excited to join the Scout Shout this year.

Adelaide Vasek is a hard working determined student. She is an amazing athlete and friend. In her spare time, she loves to play softball and to ride her bike.

Staff Sponsor

Ms. Paytoe Gbayee is the sponsor of the Scout Shout and the Arts and Crafts teacher at LMS. Ms. Paytoe Gbayee is the sponsor of the Scout Shout for a third year and has had many years of experience with graphic design and working with student leaders. In her spare time, Ms. Paytoe Gbayee love to make art and go on road trips with her family.

Football

By Kate Murray

This year's football team did amazingly well out on the field. Despite the challenges they faced, they still brought their best out to the games. I interviewed Coach Krysl, an 8th grade science teacher and football coach, on his thoughts about the season and football in general.

How did this year's football season go?

“This year's football season went well. We chased our first win for most of the season. The team never got discouraged and were always ready to get back to work and prepare for the next game. The highlight of the season was our last game against Johnson. We lost the A game 14-22 but was finally able to see success on offense. We scored two touchdowns and dropped a third touchdown pass in the end zone at the end of the game. It was deflected by a defender. Our B team rallied and got our first win of the season 7-0 in the second game. However, our success this year wasn't measured by wins and losses. I'd say it was measured by the good times, relationships, and skills that were built by everyone. I got to know most of the team when they were 7th graders and when I got promoted to 8th grade head coach and got the chance to work with them again, I feel like I got to know everyone even better! The 8th grade team is incredibly scrappy and has a tremendous amount of heart. I think they showed that this season. I hope they stick together, grow, and achieve even more success as freshmen next year!”

What should other students who want to participate in football know before joining?

“Everyone's football journey is different! Some students have been playing since 4th grade, for others, it's their first year playing. All students should work to build on their skills they already have, but also, they shouldn't be afraid to try new things! It's a team sport, and we play as a family, so you must play with pride and support your team no matter what!”

Why did you become a football coach?

“I absolutely love the game of football. It's taught me work ethic and how to work as a team. It has also given me some of the best memories that I have in my life. I enjoy imparting my knowledge to other players, so they can be more successful both on and off the field.”

Any advice for aspiring pro-players?

“There is no offseason for football. Make sure you play other sports and hit the weight room hard when you aren't competing in other sports. They should ideally be training all year long.”

Who's your favorite football team and why?

“The Denver Broncos! Mile High Stadium is my happy place. I try to go to at least one game every year. Their fans are the best and they have a long history of being a successful team. I've been a Broncos fan ever since John Elway captured my attention when I was around 5 years old!”

To wrap up the football season, the LMS football team showed us just how important teamwork is. As Coach Krysl said, the wins and loses don’t compare to the relationships gained. Hopefully our 7th and 8th grade football scouts will stick together and carry on the legacy throughout highschool. Go scouts!

Our Cross Country Team

By Olivia Brant

The cross country team has had an amazing season, from winning state to just winning the everyday meet. But how did they get there, what else did they do, and what's next for the team?

I asked a few members of the team some questions about cross country and what it was like, this was the result. “Is there anything people should know about cross country?” Mr. Miller, the head coach answered “Cross country is an amazing sport, where people from different groups, ages, and ability levels. To grow in their ability to push themselves hard. It’s a mental sport, this year's season and team really embraced that hard to accomplish some really big goals.”

“How do you think the season went?” Brynlee Enevoldson, a 7th grade runner said “I think our season was absolutely amazing, we went undefeated except for one of our DECA [a race in Colorado] races. The whole season was just a great opportunity for everybody, and just such a great aspect to life to have just like that big accomplishment.”

“Are you going to do cross country again in the future?” Lainey Berryhill, another 7th grade runner stated “Yeah, I think that I’m going to do cross country next year and through high school. Because it was just a good team aspect and I feel that you grow so much and meet so many new people, and it’s just great to accomplish things as an individual and not always as a team.”

“Do you recommend it for people who have never done it before?” Brynlee commented “Absolutely, everybody that is interested in doing a sport or just wanting a goal to reach. Cross country is something that is easy to make goals and accomplish them , but also at the same time work together as a team and not always lean on yourself but have others to lean on as well.”

“What was the team relationship like this year?” Lainey observed “I think that our team aspect this year was amazing because we were all so close and we were comfortable with each other, and I feel like it was just really great to have such an amazing team and to feel so close with everybody on the team. And to always congratulate them and like to do so well together.”

Though the cross country season came to a close, you can see how amazing this season was for all of the team. Plus you can start deciding if you're interested in doing cross country next year or any other sport or club. This season was really the best it could have been.

‌‌Girls‌ ‌Basketball‌ ‌ ‌

By Adelaide Vasek

Girls‌ ‌basketball‌ ‌started‌ ‌on‌ ‌October‌ ‌11, 2021.‌ ‌Ms.‌ ‌Simmons‌ , the coach for the girl's ‌basketball‌ ‌C‌ ‌team‌, said ‌that‌ ‌a coach looks for ‌skill,‌ ‌defense,‌ ‌attitude,‌ ‌knowledge,‌ ‌and‌ ‌sportsmanship‌ ‌in a player. She also said that to‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌conference‌ ‌the‌ ‌girls‌ ‌have‌ ‌to‌ ‌practice‌ ‌hard,‌ ‌learn‌ ‌plays,‌ ‌defense,‌ ‌and‌ ‌teamwork.‌ ‌The‌ ‌season‌ ‌started ‌on‌ ‌October‌ ‌11th ‌and‌ ‌games‌ ‌started ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌26th.‌ ‌ ‌

Now‌ ‌to get ‌a‌ ‌view‌ point ‌of‌ ‌some‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌players‌, ‌one‌ ‌agreed‌ ‌to‌ ‌have‌ ‌an‌ ‌interview.‌ ‌Luna‌ ‌Revis ‌said ‌that‌ ‌she‌ ‌thinks‌ ‌that‌ ‌her‌ ‌team‌ ‌will‌ ‌do‌ ‌well‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌season‌ ‌this‌ ‌year.‌ ‌One‌ ‌question‌ ‌she answered was‌ ‌“Do‌ ‌you‌ ‌want‌ ‌to‌ ‌move‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌A‌ ‌team?”‌ ‌Luna‌ ‌says‌ ‌that‌ ‌she‌ ‌thinks‌ ‌it‌ ‌would‌ ‌be‌ ‌cool‌, ‌but‌ ‌it‌ ‌would‌ ‌be‌ ‌a‌ ‌lot‌ ‌of‌ ‌pressure‌, ‌and‌ ‌she‌ ‌does‌ ‌not‌ work‌ ‌well‌ ‌under‌ ‌pressure.‌ ‌Luna‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌playing‌ ‌for‌ ‌around‌ ‌four‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌half‌ ‌years‌ ‌both‌ ‌competitively‌ ‌and‌ ‌for‌ ‌fun.‌ ‌Luna‌ ‌says‌ ‌that‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌her‌ ‌strengths‌ ‌is‌ ‌stealing‌ ‌in‌ ‌basketball.‌ ‌Luna‌ ‌loves‌ ‌playing‌ ‌basketball‌ ‌and‌ ‌she‌ ‌says‌ ‌that‌ ‌she‌ ‌will‌ ‌most‌ ‌likely‌ ‌make‌ ‌the‌ ‌B‌ ‌team.‌ ‌A ‌final‌ ‌word‌ ‌from‌ ‌Luna‌ ‌was that she‌ ‌said ‌that‌ ‌basketball‌ ‌makes‌ ‌working‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌team‌ ‌easier‌ ‌because‌ ‌you‌ ‌get‌ ‌to‌ ‌use‌ ‌your‌ ‌team's‌ ‌strengths‌ ‌when‌ ‌playing.‌ ‌

In closing, ‌after‌ ‌the‌ ‌evidence‌ ‌I‌ ‌have‌ ‌collected‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌interviews‌, ‌it‌ ‌sounds‌ ‌like‌ ‌we‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌good‌ ‌team‌ ‌and it will be ‌an‌ ‌excellent‌ ‌season.‌ ‌

Bullying and mental health

By Evie Holloway

20% of students are bullied. Students that are bullied are around 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims. Bullying is a large issue in today’s society. Whether it’s cyber, social, verbal, emotional, or physical bullying. Although some schools, work environments, and online social media platforms don’t always focus on bullying and mental health issues. A no-tolerance bullying policy needs to be enforced if they want to create an environment that people want to be around and feel safe. This article will discuss the kinds of bullying, the side effects of bullying, the psychology behind it, graphs based on bullying at our school, and personal interviews.

Types of Bullying: Bullying comes in forms of, sexual, verbal, bias, physical, cyber/online and social. Despite having so many forms of bullying doesn’t mean any of them are any less toxic than the others. Stompoutbullying.org defines physical bullying as "what many people envision when they hear the word bullying: a child or teen being physically attacked in some way. Some examples include punching, kicking, shoving, pinching, and other such attacks." Verbal bullying is when someone "uses abusive words, statements, and name-calling to gain power and control over their victim. They will use insults to belittle, demean, and hurt their victim. This type of bullying often occurs when adults aren’t around, so it can be very hard to spot." Cyberbullying occurs "over the internet or smartphone. In this case, the bully is using technology to embarrass, threaten, harass, or target another child or teen." Sexual bullying is when "repeated, harmful, and humiliating actions that target a child or teen sexually. This could be sexually-charged name calling, inappropriate and uninvited touching, vulgar gestures, sexual propositioning, and pornographic materials. While boys are targets for this form of bullying, girls are the most common target by boys and by other girls. Calling another girl an offensive term referring to promiscuity , for instance, is an example of sexual bullying that might not be immediately recognized for what it truly is." Bias bullying is often "focused on prejudices tweens and teens have towards others of a different race, religion, or sexual orientation. While bias bullying can take the form of cyberbullying, verbal bullying, and physical bullying, the root of it is bias! Being singled out because of race, religion, and/or orientation. This type of bullying tends to be more severe and can open the door to hate crimes, so it’s important to report it immediately if you know it’s happening."

No matter the form, bullying is not, and never will be okay. No matter what goes on in your head it still is not okay, but understanding why bullying is so common in certain age groups and certain people is truly important to stopping the situation completely.

Side Effects of Bullying: The side effects of bullying can range from depression, anxiety, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, self isolation, and low academic effort. Bullying can cause so many mental issues especially in today's youth. Bullying is usually directed towards people who look/think/act differently than the social norm. According to StopBullying.gov kids who are bullied can experience negative physical, social, emotional, academic, and mental health issues. Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience: depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy. These issues may persist into adulthood: health complaints, decreased academic achievement including GPA and standardized test scores, and school participation. Also students who are bullied are more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school. A very small number of bullied children might retaliate through extremely violent measures. In 12 of 15 school shooting cases in the 1990s, the shooters had a history of being bullied. Additionally, kids who are bullied are at risk of suicide, sometimes bullying alone is not the cause. Many issues contribute to suicide risk, including depression, problems at home, and trauma history. Additionally, specific groups have an increased risk of suicide, including American Indian and Alaskan Native, Asian American, LGBTQ+ youth. This risk can be increased further when these kids are not supported by parents, peers, and schools. Bullying can make an unsupportive situation worse, may cause issues with mental health, and the side effects can have terrible, long-lasting results.

The Psychology of Bullying: Understanding the psychology behind bullying is truly helpful to understanding how to stop and overall prevent the whole situation. Bullying more than less of the time, is usually an act of deprivation. According to aplatformforgood.org "as a child enters the typical turmoil that are the toddler years, emotional volatility is the bane of a parent’s existence. However, it’s crucial to teach our children how to manage these feelings, encouraging them to talk. It’s likely to be slow going at first, but eventually they’ll come to practice these methods without even thinking about it. From there, developmental psychologists believe that unsupervised free play is crucial in furthering these communication skills, and allowing children to solve disputes on their own, without parental intervention. This not only shows kids how to interact and coexist with one another, but pushes other children to assert and stand up for themselves." Aplatformforgood.org also stated "interestingly enough, it appears that most bullies are completely unaware of how they are perceived. Often they find ways to justify their behavior, and have no concept of how their peers actually see them. For the most part, they consider themselves well-liked, though this is usually just a result of fear-based manipulation, and people being too afraid to speak up." The message is clear bullies are made, not born. A difficult upbringing can result in low self esteem, which coupled with aggressive behavior can create a child who not only lacks communication skills, but feels the need to defend themselves constantly. This lack of self esteem can also foster a need to be in control of something. If they’ve had a tumultuous upbringing with a lot of big changes that were completely out of their control, they might lash out and assert their dominance over others as a means of coping. The trouble is, bullying behavior is something that is developed over years and years of difficult circumstances, threatening parenting styles, and a lack of healthy social interactions – it could take years to correct.

Interviews:  Individuals who were interviewed included LMS 8th graders Skylar Bishop and Aaron Haas, Amber a midwife and nurse practitioner in Laramie, and a student who chose to remain anonymous.

How do you do you think bullying impacts the target? “People become either way more reserved or way more outgoing depending on the person. Personally, just by being observant you can see the child’s life become more dull and how they deal with their abuse.” “I think it affects people pretty directly, you can definitely tell the before and after results.” “Individuals who are bullied, particularly teens, are at much higher risk for anxiety, depression, and self harm. In addition they’re more likely to participate in substance abuse.” “Bullying impacts people in different ways but I believe most of the time it never ends well and can do some great damage to the target leaving them with certain things they never had before such as mental health issues or sometimes physical damage such as marks or scars. It never impacts them in a good way”

How do you think the principals are doing when it comes to dealing with bullying? “Honestly, they tend to assume, especially with minorities, we’re lying and do little to nothing about it.” “They could be better honestly. They don’t really talk about it in our classes. They basically just suspend people for a couple days, but nothing really ever happens. In one particular situation this one kid was reported and they did nothing about it.” “I personally haven't seen it but judging by other people's stories it sounds like they aren't doing so well.”

How often do you experience or witness bullying at our school? “Not me personally, but I do see lots of backhanded compliments and people treating those who don’t look or think like them, terribly.” “I’ve seen occasional bullying and people looking depressed and anxious. I know a lot of bullies, although this doesn’t speak for everyone, talk down to people to make themselves feel better.” “A few times a month I hear about it. It is to note that bullying is a serious topic with serious health consequences.” “Not that often.”

What can teachers and staff members do to make things related to bullying and mental health easier on targeted students? “I believe a no tolerance policy for bullying to be enforced, because no teacher has the right to tell anyone, that they’re invalid and their abuser will get off with merely a slap on the wrist." “Teachers could spend more time talking to individuals about mental health, bullying, etc. ” “Just being open and present. Being there and able to talk.” “Maybe help defend the student when they tell someone like the principal, maybe the teacher or staff can talk to the student that's targeting the other.”

Additional Comments: “School should be a safe place not a place where people can bully others and get away with it.” “Stop being bullies. It’s not that hard.” “If anyone is struggling with anxiety or depression, whether or not it’s relating to bullying they should seek medical care. And if you feel like self harm go to the emergency room.” “Despite coming in so many forms, each results in negative impacts for both sides. Most bullies don’t even know they’re doing it, so it’s important to think about what we say, before we say it, and be mindful of others.”

Stress as a Middle School Student

By Kate Lewis

A new year has begun which creates stress for students, whether that be because of schoolwork, sports, or home life. Over the last two years students have been faced with problems like no other generation. Whether they realize it or not, what has been happening in our day to day lives can impact not only their mental health but also it can increase stress levels. Some students might be stressed because it is a new grade, with new material and more difficulty. Some students may be stressed out because of out of school activities, like sports or clubs.

The most important thing at this time is to recognize your stress and deal with it accordingly. According to research.com, “For American middle schoolers, 61% of teens admitted feeling a lot of pressure to get good grades. In contrast, 29% feel pressured to look good, 28% need to fit in socially, and 21% feel the pressure to involve themselves in extracurricular activities and be good at sports… 50% of middle schoolers described themselves as “often or always feeling stressed” by schoolwork.” This is showing overall that lots of students, middle schoolers especially experience stress on a daily basis. Middle school students are put in an environment that not everyone knows how to handle.

Almost every student in our building is expected to do schoolwork, pass all your classes, participate in activities out of school, and that is a lot for some people to handle. Some students this year are experiencing this feeling for the first time and don’t know how to deal with it. A good way to deal with this is to celebrate the small wins. Whether this be celebrating that you have your homework done for the day, or that you got through a sports practice, everyone needs to recognize how much they do for themselves and the people around them.

If you are struggling with stress due to school work or something to do with stress, make sure that you're recognizing yourself. Each day you get up, even if you're learning something new that confuses you, or that you have to work harder to understand, you never give up. So let me just remind you that you are amazing and that you’ve got this.

Another way to manage stress is sometimes just to talk it out. For some people this can be a little bit uncomfortable, however sometimes we just need someone just to talk to. Everyone struggles with stress, so sometimes just talking to someone whether that be in the building or out of the building. When some students get stressed out they act like everything is fine and do nothing about it. However lots of students just need to talk and get all the thoughts out of their system. Stress is something that everyone deals with and it has become something that is a part of our day to day lives. If you have stress and need someone to talk to you can always talk to a teacher or staff member.

This year is just starting and some students are struggling with their stress caused by schoolwork, out of school activities, or maybe home life. If you are struggling with stress make sure to deal with it. Stress is something that will affect everyone at one time or another, the most important thing is to always have someone to talk to about it.

Failure

By Lauren Chamberlain

“I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ~ Michael Jordan.

So what does failure mean, and/or look like? Failure is different for everyone; every single one of us has a different definition of failure. For some of us, it could look like not trying hard enough or the inability to meet an expectation, but what if failure could mean something positive? What if it could mean something better than just failing? Well, to make that happen you'd have to evolve the definition of failure.

Typically we avoid failing because it's seen as a bad thing, but to change this we need to start accepting failure as something good. Failure can be useful because it helps us get out of our comfort zones and pick up new goals and learning milestones. It also helps us reach the one we've been working towards this whole time.

So what do we do when we live in a “success-is-everything” society? Sometimes we need to take a step back and ask ourselves, “Am I actually failing, or am I just making a mistake?” Using this type of mindset helps us live a whole different lifestyle, giving us a new perspective in our day-to-day life.

So now, what's your definition of failure?

Are you Getting Enough Sleep? A Test

By Sawyer Layson

Are you getting enough sleep? Here’s how you can tell…

Do your eyes look “good”? If your eyes are: Red, puffy, have bags, or have dark circles under them, then you’re not getting enough sleep! (1 point)

Do you feel moody? If you talk back, you're stressed, or angry, It’s probably because you're not getting enough sleep. (1 point)

Do you chug caffeine? If you're chugging soda, coffee, or anything else caffeinated, it means you're tired. Caffeine acts like temporary sleep, keeping you up and active until it wears off, and it goes downhill from there. Soda and Coffee have a lot of caffeine. (1 point)

Are you craving junk food? After a sleepless night, you may be more likely to pick that cheeseburger and fries over a salad for lunch. A sleep-deprived brain is more likely to crave unhealthy food. It may be that judgment and decision-making aren’t as sharp when you’re tired, which makes it easier for other desires to take over. (1 point)

Are you sad or Depressed? Depression and sleep deprivation are actually closely related. Worse, they’re circular- depression can cause sleep deprivation and Vice-Versa. (1 point)

Does your focus feel dim? Can’t focus on your math homework? Or do you zone out in class? You’re sleep deprived. You can work on that homework in study hall tomorrow! Go to bed early tonight. (1 point)

Is the rim of your thumb white? Most people don’t know this, but if you look down at your thumb, you should see a white semicircle looking rim on the edge of your thumb. This is called a Lunala. Depending on how sleep you get will determine its size. The bigger it is, the less sleep you’re getting. The more sleep you get, the smaller it will be. (1 point)

SCORING

At the bottom of all the paragraphs above is a point. If this paragraph applies to you, then that counts as a point. The more points you have, the less sleep you get overall.

1-2 Points: High. You're doing great! Keep up your sleep schedule and you’ll be good to go every morning.

3-4 Points: Standard You should get a few more hours of sleep every night, but you won’t feel too tired on your normal sleep schedule. Go to bed about a half hour earlier than usual.

5-6 Points: Below average. Try to go to sleep on time. Don’t stay up playing video games! Just go to bed about two hours earlier than usual.

7+ Points: Low! Go to bed! You will fall asleep in class, in the car, and everywhere if this keeps up! You need to sleep ASAP!!! Go to bed about five hours earlier than you usually do.

Body DYsmorphia

By Evie Holloway

What is Body Dysmorphic Disorder? According to mayoclinic.org Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental health disorder involving obsessive focus on a perceived flaw in appearance. The flaw may be minor or imagined, but the person may spend hours a day trying to fix it. People with this disorder may frequently examine their appearance in a mirror, constantly compare their appearance with that of others, and avoid social situations or photos. Symptoms can range from being anti-social, to comparing yourself to others, from covering up imperfections with clothes and makeup. Body dysmorphia can cause severe mental illness and even thoughts of suicide, so it is important to seek help or tell a trusted adult who can help you work through this issue. It can’t be cured, but only helped, and it can even be lifelong. The social construct of beauty standards has worsened this condition for many people.

How does BDD affect your school performance? The fact that this disorder can affect school performance and is part of why it is important to discuss, so people can be more aware it is a real issue with real consequences. School for some students could be easy and not offer much of a challenge, but for students with BDD, it’s a different story. According to bdd.iocdf.org “Having BDD can hurt your school performance, affect your interactions with your classmates and teachers, and interfere with your ability to learn class material, or even your ability to attend school at all. The time-consuming thoughts about your appearance make it hard to focus on schoolwork, which can cause you to struggle academically.” This indicates that focusing in class or having normal social interactions for people with BDD, can be extremely difficult, due to a negative train of thought. Bdd.iocdf.org goes on to say “In the evenings, you stay up late consumed with BDD symptoms before going to bed. This leaves you feeling exhausted the next day from not getting enough sleep.” Meaning that not only do you have to worry about in-school struggles with BDD, but even just falling asleep at night, which could cause even worse school performance, due to not only overwhelming insecure thoughts but exhaustion. Not to mention getting ready in the morning, “Already exhausted, the prospect of everything you feel that you need to do before leaving the house in the morning becomes too much.” With thoughts like, “This outfit makes me look fat”, “I didn’t put on enough makeup”, “I look tired and my face is breaking out”, “I’m showing too much skin, I have to change.” With thoughts like this starting even before school, in school you get more thoughts like these causing lack of focus, and feelings of not wanting to take part in conversations with teachers and classmates, then later in the evening stay up with more insecure thoughts. Overall this causes worse school performance and worsening mental health.

How are schools reinforcing ideal beauty standards and worsening BDD? Whether it’s dress code, gym/health class, or just general visual cues school really isn’t helping students who have BDD, eating disorders, or even just a general lack of confidence in body image. “I was ashamed. I felt ashamed that people were talking about my clothing. I felt ashamed of my outfit choice. And most of all, I felt ashamed of my body.” says Pooja Patel of nationaleatingdisorders.org. This shows how it feels to be dress-coded and singled out for an article of clothing. It could be embarrassing, it could cause feelings of shame, and discourage you. For normal students, this could damage self-esteem, and for students with BDD, eating disorders, or lack of confidence in their body, this could worsen their mental state. Claudia Morris of nationaleatingdisorders.org. states, “the standardization of school P.E. means that more students are being told that they are unfit. This can impact their confidence and cause them to resort to dangerous eating and exercise habits.” Negative messages, especially when coming from presumably knowledgeable authority figures like teachers, can have drastic impacts on students. This can lead some to resort to dangerous habits like restricting eating or over-exercising to meet rigid standards. Instead of concentrating so much on calculations, teachers should discuss with students the many aspects of fitness. This includes moderate exercise, a balanced diet, and a positive self-image. It seems that some gym class students are dieting or starving themselves and working out to fit the standards. For people with BDD, this could cause worse thoughts of body image, worsen the state of mental health, and could result in self-harm.

Interview with LMS Counselors Mrs. Bares and Mrs. Sommerfeld

What do you know about body dysmorphia? It’s a diagnosable disorder that falls under obsessive-compulsive disorder. It’s about obsessing about just things on or just generally their body.

Do you think body dysmorphia is a problem with middle schoolers? In general yes, I think that’s when it starts to become an issue. And that’s when people start to recognize things about themselves and start to try and change things. According to an article, I read only 2% of teens are suffering from it, but not all seek mental help, so I think there probably are more. And now that social media comes into play we start to compare even more.

Do you think body dysmorphia is a problem at our school? It can become a problem because it can tie in with things like anxiety, and depression, I think again with social media it does become a bigger issue as well.

What resources does the school district have when it comes to people with body dysmorphia? Here at our school, we have three counselors, a school phycologist, and a school social worker. And within that team, we build relationships with students, when things like this start coming up. But, the thing about working in a school setting is that we have limitations for what we can and can’t do.

What are the challenges you face as a counselor to assist students who are struggling with body image? I think one of the biggest limitations, is the time that we can spend. The main goal of the school is to focus on academics. So we only get 15 minutes, so we have to build relationships with students within that period.

If a student was struggling with this disorder, what would you want them to know? I think it’s important to know they aren’t alone, that we all have things we may not like about ourselves, but we counselors are here to listen and create a non-judgmental environment, to express feelings.

Interview with LMS Principal O’Dea

What do you know about body dysmorphic disorder? When someone has a fixated belief that part(s) of their body isn’t what they want it to look like. I know usually what they see isn’t aligned with what other people see. And that can be pretty traumatic.

Do you think body dysmorphia is a problem at our school? I don’t know, I know that what middle school students feel about their bodies isn’t the most positive and that a lot of students are sadly suffering from eating disorders and general body image issues, which probably means that we might have a couple of students here who do have Body Dysmorphic disorder.

Do you think body dysmorphia is a problem with middle schoolers? I would say with eating disorders and just other self-esteem issues and self-presentation issues, would start to pop up in middle school, so definitely with some.

Knowing that gym and certain visual cues in class can be very triggering for students with body dysmorphia, what steps do you take to avoid this? I guess it’s just more about personal triggers rather than just general gym class and general cues, so it’s important to build relationships, and make students comfortable.

Do you feel our current curriculum is student-centric and sensitive, to not cause or worsen body dysmorphia? I’d say yes, I mean we don’t offer health here, so awareness isn’t super known, but generally, I’m not aware of any issues we have with our curriculum

What resources are available if you were to identify with Body Dysmorphic Disorder and need support? I think the first step is to talk to a counselor, and through that conversation, there could be more resources there, but again it’s all about accommodations and seeking the proper help, and there's not as much that we can do that we would like to.

Conclusion: BDD is a severe mental health disorder that should not be taken for ignored. Students who suffer from this will spend hours trying to find the right outfit, picking at their face, applying and reapplying makeup, and working out trying to get more fit. BDD can cause a lack of school performance due to negative thinking and exhaustion.

If you suffer from disordered eating, suicidal thoughts, or think you may have BDD, please tell a trusted parent/guardian/adult or speak to a school counselor. If you don’t have access to the following, please call or text the numbers below:

BDD HELPLINE: (800) 994-9662

SUICIDE PREVENTION HELPLINE: (800) 273-8255

DISORDERED EATING HELPLINE: (800) 931-2237

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