“The Frederick High School Community creates and embodies a spirit of integrity, collaboration, and acceptance. Our relationships foster a commitment to high expectations, rigor, and achievement in all pursuits. Building on a foundation of trust, honor, and compassion, we learn, lead, and succeed.”

This is the mission statement of Frederick High School, at least according to the website. It makes Frederick High School sound like a pretty great place. And it is, for the most part.

However, Frederick High is falling short of this mission on the field, on the stage, and in the classrooms that make students want to be part of the school community. For the most part, the athletics, clubs, and cocuricular activities at Frederick are too cliquey, too exclusive, and too unwelcoming to newer and younger members.

This may seem absurd from the outside looking in. During open house and back to school night, the commons and halls are full of smiling students handing out candy and asking incoming freshmen to join different clubs such as Cross Country, Cheer, Art Club, Journalism etc.

These students are just wanting to get the incoming freshman to join different clubs and classes, but it can be a bit overwhelming at times. It’s not like these students are lying or deceiving students to what Frederick and its community is like. Frederick students are encouraging and want more people involved… in theory. In practice, however, upperclassmen freeze out underclassmen or cut them down with petty insults, all while sponsors and coaches stand unaware or apathetic to the toxic dynamic happening in their programs. It’s not just active bullying either, as offhanded remarks and microaggressions far outnumber instances of intentional malace.

Don’t believe me? Keep reading.

Our Teams Play a Game of Favorites

Frederick is also known for their amazing football team and the amazing crowd that always shows up for their big games such as the homecoming game. The Frederick football team is amazing with their strategy and teamwork. However, according to some football players who played this school year the coaches play a big game of favoritism with certain players and leaving the other players left out and not chosen to play often. This hurts the players self esteem and makes those players think that they aren’t good enough or aren’t trying hard enough. While football coaches may have their preference on certain players the question remains: is it what’s better for the team or is it blantend favoritism?

While some players might not feel that way, one sophomore boy that participated in football this year states “ It’s not just the students that are picky, it’s the coaches as well. There’s a lot of favoritism in football and if you’re not the coach’s favorite, who knows if they will put you in.”

Favoritism in sports isn’t super unique to Frederick however this kind of favoritism in Frederick football affects football players physically and mentally. When players feel this way in a sport it can affect the team’s ability to work and cooperate with each other. Even though coaches may argue or beg to differ that those players are chosen or placed in more because they are more skilled or more prepared for that game many players say they aren’t that good or shouldn’t be placed in that game. Those players who claim they are excluded on purpose hurts their motivation for football and their own potential and could possibly not try hard enough or may even quit football for these reasons.

Favoritism in sports can lead to missed opportunities that would benefit the player and development they could get or gain from football. This can make the team perform badly and make cooperation feel impossible to gain with the mixed opinions about each other because of favoritism. Coaches should strive to equally put players in games and not because of who they like more and make a welcoming environment especially for those classmen who are transitioning from middle school to high school so they know it’s not okay to be treated differently because of the coach.

Theater “Open Arms” Often Feel Closed Off

One girl freshman who participated in theater states that Frederick theater is not very welcoming and has its favoritism “ theater has favoritism, I started to notice when the same people started to get lead roles all the time. People in theater get to pick and choose who they like out of freshmen, if you’re not a part of what they are looking for you’re left out. It’s the worst feeling ever.”

People in theater state that they have certain favorites and that the upper class men favorite other people in theater. They also feel that if you have someone that doesn’t Like you in the theater they will make sure others don’t like you by spreading rumors or talking bad about you with others. Some people have even decided to quit theater because they didn’t feel welcomed and didn’t want to stay somewhere that made them feel that way.

One sophomore girl who participated in theater states “ I felt this toxic environment when I joined theater. ButI slowly started to see the cliques people formed and the favoritism with the upperclassmen. I also heard everyone always talking bad about each other and its overall rude. No matter how many times the teachers state not to talk bad about others it never gets across and it ends up happening anyways.”

While theater is supposed to be this place where new ideas and creativity is expressed and where new people are supposed to be welcomed and new talents are welcomed it doesn’t seem that way with how people are stating theater is really like. Frederick is well known for putting on award-winning shows every year but it seems that the performance doesn’t last for too long off stage.

More Than Just Classes Matter

One of the biggest questions high school students ask is why clubs and sports exist in high schools. Clubs are meant to serve as a way to reinforce the lessons that are learned in the classrooms during the day and offer students the opportunity to apply what they have learned out into the real world.

The national center for education statistics states “ These activities offer opportunities for students to learn the values of teamwork, individual and group responsibility, physical strength and endurance, competition, diversity, and a sense of culture and community.”

Clubs are important to the brain because it also allows critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, leadership and collaboration skills with others. Also clubs offer students the opportunity to express what they are passionate about and offer opportunities to students who may not have many opportunities outside of school or who may not have the money either.

At Frederick high school they pride themselves on not only providing themselves with the opportunity to students to engage and explore their different interests but also making it acceptable to all students who attend here. But some activities haven’t been following that process.

If you want to read about all the clubs and sports Frederick offers here go to: Frederick clubs and sports 

Not everyone fits the style, but at school, students feel they have to in order to belong. In schools around the world they offer certain activities to showcase students interests such as clubs, sports, and student organizations. Clubs and sports are very important to the school and their community, they allow students to show their pride for their school and also to represent their school in competitions and elsewhere.

Clubs and sports also provide students with the opportunity to socialize with their peers and eventually make new relationships with those peers.

However these clubs tend to fall short on their promise and with what they guarantee the club or sport will be like. Even though these clubs are perceived as fun and inclusive, the reality is that many are not like that at all.

Whether it is because of gender, ability to perform, or cultural background, these factors can make many students at Frederick High School feel left out or discriminated against in certain clubs or sports. This kind of behavior not only makes students feel excluded, but also makes them feel like they don’t belong anywhere. This is especially apparent if it’s a club or sport they are really passionate about.

What We Need to Do to Crack the Cliques

These views from students who have participated in these clubs can cause conflict with those clubs or others who are in those clubs. It’s not just theater and football students complain or state about its many clubs, especially sports. These kinds of conflicts beg the question on how teachers and students here at Frederick high school can help make clubs and sports more welcoming, especially to make it better for the future freshmen coming in the 25-26 school year.

For clubs/sports instead of just choosing a team or certain people they like based on favoritism they can have open auditions or tryouts for newcomers or people they don’t know so it gives a chance to participate and also making sure they are promoting it rather than just sharing the information within those people in the club/sport. Those in charge of the clubs should use objective measures rather than subjective bases like personal relationships.

They could also shift leadership positions around and the responsibility around to give everyone a fair chance. Favoritism could make those roles impossible for someone to get or if the person in charge doesn’t like someone they can purposely disclude them from the group since they might not want them there. Rotating roles around regularly so different people have a chance to make the club better and participate. It helps make a sense of belonging and shared leadership.

Promoting what the club/sport is really like helps encourage a growth mindset and a focus on effort. Favoritism can make the activity seem unwelcome and unfair but pushing values such as effort, improvement and teamwork over just the talent. This can make students feel welcomed and not discouraged because they don’t have the talent for that activity. This can be done through constructive feedback and it also highlights effort and makes students feel seen.

Make different types of involvement: some students might not be the best at those activities but they still might want to help in some ways so making different types of involvement would help increase the inclusiveness of the activity and help those students still pursue what they love even if they can’t do the main thing. This can be planning events, creating ads or helping out during the activity.

If a student feels something bad is happening or favoritism is taking place, clubs can have an anonymous feedback system so students can voice their concerns without getting backlash for saying anything. This can also make the person in charge aware of the situation and hopefully put a stop to what is happening. It doesn’t just have to be about concerns, it can also be just ways to make the activity better or good ideas for the activity.

Have a diverse representation: some students may feel excluded or not encouraged to join a group because of their race or their culture so if the activity promotes diversity or makes it seem welcoming to others, different races are prone to join.

Lastly in classes or activities the leader could take the time to warn others about favoritism and exclusion so the members are aware of the situation and can strive to improve themselves and the club so more people can join because of the type of environment they give off.

Exclusion and favoritism has been going on in clubs/sports for a long time so let’s strive to exclude this kind of behavior at Frederick high school and strive to make clubs/sports better for everyone.