In her recently-published book The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, reporter/author Alexandra Robbins confirms what most people reading this already know: the traits that often ostracize students in high school–including (but not limited to) hyper-esoteric interests and the inability or unwillingness to conform–actually make them into functional adults.
What makes this interesting (and newsworthy) is Robbins' approach: not only did she research high school students for material, but also the adults tasked with wrangling them, with fascinating results:
…Robbins found a professional loophole to the theory that what makes us weird will help us in adult life–teachers. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, Robbins discovered that some teachers face pressure to conform and fit into a rigid 'hierarchy' much as their students do. "They were saying that the teachers' lounge is just as scary a place as the cafeteria, socially. If you get back into that setting, something about school can cause you to regress and care about popularity that way."
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth is out now via Hyperion Books.
[Source: Yahoo]
A. Darryl Moton is a high school debate coach, preschool bus driver, strip-club DJ, karaoke host, Black Iowan, occasional writer, and numerous other things that would make you doubt his sanity.