#39, Popularity

Popularity: the quality or state of being commonly liked or approved

The comic above is from a series with the theme, "What we should have been taught in our senior year at high school".  The author asserts that the school system has ingrained in students the idea that one's ability to play sports is linked to their popularity.  When I was in high school, this idea held true.  The football (American football that is) team was at the top of the pecking order followed by the soccer and basketball jocks.  The artists, musicians, geeks, and nerds were afterthoughts.

Fortunately, this rigid, antiquated social system undergoes a magical transformation.

His second assertion is about how the definition of popularity changes as one gets older.  What is his message about popularity after high school?  Do you believe his lesson is true for you, now?  What defines popularity in elementary school?

Optional: Why does the gym teacher run away in tears in the last panel?

-Brenden Lee Teacher

Don't touch the chinchilla.