What Are Middle Schoolers Afraid Of?

I admit it has been 30 years since I was in middle school so when this subject flashed through my head (and believe me, a lot of stuff flashes through my head) I tried to remember some things I was afraid of going into the middle school years.

I was afraid of getting physically beaten up. At least I had older brothers but they were not around in middle school and my mouth had a habit of writing checks my body could not cash. I remember being in several fights in middle school...some even with girls. I am not certain I "won" any of those. I think I had something written on my forehead that said bully me. I know some kids deal with bullies today. At least bullying has been brought out into the light and schools no longer tolerate that activity as much. In my day they said "if I didn't see him do it, it did not happen". I learned that on the occasion you cannot out-physical a bully, you can generally out-think them...strategy, logic, planning...all worked to my advantage. I am a better problem solver today for having to out-think those bullies.

I had a realistic fear that I would never have a girlfriend. I was not good with the ladies (thus the fights) and I felt kind of left out of the girlfriend/boyfriend mix. In fact most of the girlfriends I had were younger sisters of my brother's girlfriends. I know some kids today struggle with thoughts just like this. I want to tell you...don't worry about the bf/gf thing so much. I was a shy guy, I was a nerd and I believe I turned out ok. I have never been a ladies man but I watched how the "ladies man" type guys turned out and you are not missing much.

I had an all consuming fear of failure. I failed 6th grade math. I should have failed a couple of other subjects along the way. One year I did not make a baseball team. I did not make the cut on the junior high basketball team. I really thought of myself as an utter failure many times. People wonder where I get my competitive drive...it is literally because I so greatly feared failure that I try so hard to succeed. There were few things I could find that I do well. Strangely that has not changed in my life. What has changed is my focus. I spend more time and effort focused on those things I do well in and less on those that dub me a failure. Oh I occasionally dabble in those things I am not that good at hoping I might somehow have gotten better but no.

So I have listed three from my days as a junior high schooler/middle schooler (and if you have not heard, I went from junior high to high school to middle school and then back to high school and did not fail a grade...you figure that one out.) The fear of physical beat-downs, the fear of loneliness, and the fear of failure. What about you? What are you (or were you) afraid as as a middle schooler?