One of the common sights at the beginning of the school year is the seemingly mutual contempt upperclassmen have for underclassmen and vice-versa. It’s an accepted stereotype of high school but it doesn’t have to be that way.

It’s natural to feel superior to underclassmen, but it’s another thing to generalize an entire class of students as arrogant, annoying, and dumb. Yes, some freshmen are overconfident about their first year of high school and it can get irritating, but not all of them are like that.

Likewise, underclassmen should show the respect that the upperclassmen deserve, and not act like there isn’t a social hierarchy at school. When those underclassmen eventually become seniors, they’ll probably feel the same way about the new freshmen.

Although the idea seems foreign, seniors and upperclassmen should show respect to their juniors and vice-versa. Every person deserves a default amount of respect, no matter their class. There’s not really any justification in looking down on another person based on their social circumstances.

And if you think about it, the freshmen probably act up to the seniors because the seniors don’t really show them respect to begin with. And that starts this cycle of ridiculing that’s very hard to end.

However, that cycle can end with a simple gesture of just understanding every perspective there is. Good relationships across school classes is possible. It’s just a matter of basic respect.