High school is a four-year time period that involves maturing, learning, and finding yourself. In my opinion, though, the four years need to be three years. Ninth grade should be put into middle school. Current freshmen aren’t mature enough for a high school setting.

When you have ninth graders in high school there are a lot of differences that can cause problems. The biggest difference is maturity levels. As ninth graders, students are more likely to goof off rather than take things seriously.

Another aspect of high school that freshmen aren’t ready for is responsibility. They don’t understand what their priorities are or how to accomplish them. “During NEST ninth graders and tenth graders just hang out, whereas eleventh and twelfth graders utilize what NEST offers,” commented Mrs. McClarin.

Ninth graders don’t have the behavior needed for high school. High school is a serious type of setting and many ninth graders don’t have the serious demeanor that is called for. “They don’t know how to act,” said Enrique Osborne (’13). There are ways that one should carry oneself. The ninth graders don’t show them. They play in the halls, stop when people are trying to move to another class and disrupt classes. “I feel there is a limit to a lot of things and how far people should go and most of them just go too far,” added Jasmine Jones (’15).

There is another aspect of high school that many ninth graders are just thrown into and not ready for. That is dating. When ninth graders enter high school they are able to date people who range from the ages of 13 to 19 in some cases. “It’s a little inappropriate,” said Samantha Baker (’12). Ninth graders aren’t on the same level as the older students in high school, so how can they be in the same state, emotionally, to date? “I don’t know if ninth graders are mature enough to be in relationships,” commented McClarin. “As a parent I would be concerned. What is the commonality? Ninth graders think about less mature, cutesy things, whereas seniors have more mature thoughts,” added McClarin.

Ninth graders aren’t ready for all that high school has to offer. They need the extra year of middle school to prepare themselves, so that when they do enter high school they can matriculate easier and have another year of maturity under their belts.