Transition from Elem to Middle School

[bluebonnetrn, BSN, RN]

I currently work in an elementary school with kids ages 3 years to 5th grade. I have an interview for a middle school in the same neighborhood.

I am looking forward to dealing with a new age group and the new sets of issues that come with that. But please spell out some details for me. What struck you as unexpected in the middle school environment? Which do you like better and why? What specific challenges do middle school students present?

Thank you!

[OldDude]

The kids are too little to be big and too big to be little...and you see that confusion manifesting itself frequently. Best of luck to you!! Keep us posted.

[LikeTheDeadSea, MSN, RN]

How easily kiddos can be convinced to do Youtube challenges always surprises me.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I work in an urban middle and high school. Little surprises me, but the amount of Media I discovered the MS boys in perpendicular are watching this year did raise my eyebrows. The internet is daunting...

But for me, mental health is HUGE in middle school. It is the age group I have seen the most cutting, the most manifestations of mental health diagnoses. And puberty hormones are super fun.

Yet I LOVE middle schools students. The amount of growth that can happen from 7th to 8th grade can be substantial and awesome to watch.

[grammy1]

I'm amazed at the differences in maturity levels of the students. Some are still acting like little kids and some are having sex.

The amount of cutting and mental health issues has shocked me. I agree with OP about the YouTube challenges, the salt/ice challenge and the eraser burns, cinnamon challenge, geez kids, think about the consequences!

On the good side, they can call home themselves for parent pickup or for a parent to bring meds. You don't have to call for every little scratch or scrape.

I love watching them mature, the difference between the time they come to you and when they leave is huge.

[Cas1in72]

The kids are too little to be big and too big to be little...and you see that confusion manifesting itself frequently. Best of luck to you!! Keep us posted.

I was at the Elementary the 1st year of school nursing and now am completing my 2nd year at the middle school. I am in a rural school with 740 6,th 7th and 8th graders. Middle School is a challenge!

OldDude said it perfectly!!! I am surprised by what I hear and see on a daily basis.

Some of the surprises for me: drugs, suicidal thoughts and attempts, violence toward other students, self harm, the pressure to have sex or be sexually active. NOT BEING HONEST. Its hard to keep an open mind when you see a FF with a new story and have to assess if it is true or not. This is what I struggle with the most. The littles are not as good at telling stories.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I was at the Elementary the 1st year of school nursing and now am completing my 2nd year at the middle school. I am in a rural school with 740 6,th 7th and 8th graders. Middle School is a challenge!

OldDude said it perfectly!!! I am surprised by what I hear and see on a daily basis.

Some of the surprises for me: drugs, suicidal thoughts and attempts, violence toward other students, self harm, the pressure to have sex or be sexually active. NOT BEING HONEST. Its hard to keep an open mind when you see a FF with a new story and have to assess if it is true or not. This is what I struggle with the most. The littles are not as good at telling stories.

Neither are the HS students! But MS students are sneaky and for some it is the age they test limits the most, even more than the HS kids I've worked with.

And yes, I should say maturity level varies a LOT. I have some kids that are very innocent and I've had 8th grade girls taking pregnancy tests. It is all over the map.

[Amethya]

As OD said, they are at a confusing time, as such, they tend to act out more than usual due to puberty and just mental changes. As well mental health is a big thing as another poster said, which if you have a counselor, make friends with her, because you will be working with her a lot.

We have a counselor here, but she comes every once a week. Most of the time, I'm the one the kids come to talk to about their issues and lives and I listen. Sometimes that's all they need, is an open ear and an open heart.

Work with kindness but also know when to say no and to give tough love.

I wish you luck!

[pedi_nurse]

I've only spent one morning at an elementary school, so I don't have much comparison to make, but I LOVE middle school. A lot of the kids are young enough where they kinda want to please people, but they are all old enough to actual talk to. We have a ton of emotional intelligence/hormones/mental health issues that pop up. I have to do some one on one, basic puberty conversations as it arises, a few personal hygiene conversations, SO much more opportunity to really do patient education with kids. You still get plenty of ridiculous visits - three day old scratches, stomach hurting because they ate hot chips and skittles for breakfast, more accidental pencil stabbings than you'd expect, etc., - but I like that at this age you can be a bit more blunt with them about not needing a bandaid or ice for something!

[halohg, RN]

They start to understand a sense of humor, however they can be very dramatic and middle school girls can be just cruel, bullying is brutal, they can act much more independently, and they are always hungry! Rare bathroom accidents, vomit makes it into the bowl or garbage, and lice not as much of an issue. But bigger kids typically more serious injuries.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

They start to understand a sense of humor, however they can be very dramatic and middle school girls can be just cruel, bullying is brutal,

This is the scariest part of going from K-8. The girls are sooo much meaner, and it appears that a lot of their moms were the original mean girls and they encourage it. Unfortunately, this is a lesson my 11 year old learned yesterday. I basically summed it up with stay away from 5-8th grade girls, it isn't worth it.