Mean Girls (and Boys)

Research is a wonderful thing. It brought us a cure for polio and gave us the iPod. Sometimes, though, the results of research bring a resounding response of "Well, duh".

The National Longitudinal (as opposed to Latitudinal) Study of Adolescent Health reported this week that "Sick kids have fewer friends". Based on surveys of 2,060 kids, those with chronic health problems like obesity and asthma listed just as many friends as teens who were healthy while the healthy kids were less likely to say they were friends with one who was sick. The obese asthmatic kids "didn't realize that their overall social networks were weaker than those of other teens." In other words, fat asthmatic kids are not welcome at the "cool kids" table in the school cafeteria. Well, duh. Let's throw a few million more in grants at The National Longitudinal Study. Maybe they can "discover" that teens are cruel to others who are different.

Before we trash those "mean girls (and boys)", we should recognize that blatant cruelty may not be the only reason for teen, or even adult cliques. I once traveled to Liberal, Kansas with a Corporate Real Estate guy who suffered from every allergy known to man. We were side-by-side for the 18 hour trip which included two flights and a lengthy rental car ride. During that ordeal, Gerry blew his nose every thirty seconds. Our airplane arm rests overflowed with soggy tissues. The rental car console was festooned in white Kleenex. His Allegra was no match for our famous Lehigh Valley allergens not to mention the pollen-ridden plains of Texas, Oklahoma. and Kansas.

Now, I'm sure that Gerry thought of me as his "friend" and would have listed me as such on the National Longitudinal Study. But after eighteen hours of his honking and hacking, I locked my motel room door and refused to join him for dinner. Gerry, your "overall social network" just went down by one (very hungry but fed-up) member.