A long-lasting theme in high school has always been the discourse between different grade levels. In movies like “High School Musical 3,” there is a common theme of high school seniors picking on freshmen for being immature. Through extensive testing (a single google form) and a healthy amount of eavesdropping, this common ideal will be put to the test.

For this research to make sense, there must first be a baseline for maturity.

“Maturity is knowing when to speak and when to hold back. It is also knowing how to act in certain situations that may be more difficult. It is being a good person who thinks before they make choices,” said senior Mya Duffy (‘22).

A few students felt there was an extra component to maturity, respect.

Junior Ava Deljou (‘23) defines maturity as “being overall respectful and wise with your choices no matter the situation. Being grown according to your age level.”

This year, Chamblee has witnessed firecrackers and devious licks. Most students who answered the survey found the devious licks funnier at other schools than Chamblee. According to one freshman, the immaturity lies with the upperclassmen boys.

“Devious lick was [an act of immaturity]. I have seen numerous upperclassmen, specifically upperclassmen boys, who use transition time to go skip class in the restroom. When I went to use the same restroom, a couple mirrors, toilet papers, and soap dispensers were missing since I’d last been there,” said freshman Huy Nguyen (‘25).

Others think that it was mostly freshman boys.

“When 9th and 10th graders were doing those devious licks, that, in my opinion, was so immature because they weren’t being mindful of the people who would have to clean up the mess they made. I don’t think janitors get paid enough money nor do they deserve to have to clean up after the shenanigans that those kids pulled,” said Kristina Perez (‘22).

However, when it comes to seniors, most are just ready to get out and it shows.

“Seniors [are the most mature] because they’ve already done all their stupid stuff and actually have to think about life,” said sophomore Myles Thomas (‘24).

When students were asked to choose the most mature grade outside of their own, the upperclassmen received the most praise.

“Outside of the seniors, I think that the juniors are the most mature. I think this because it sure as heck isn’t the freshman or sophomores that are the most mature. Aside from us seniors, I think that they cause the least problems for the admin and like us, they just want to get through this year because junior year is a very important year,” said Perez.

Although upperclassmen got praised for being mostly mature, they also got their fair share of push back after multiple seniors were caught not wearing their masks correctly.

“[Seniors can be immature] with masks and not really treating others with respect,” said senior Cameron McKinley (‘22).

Usually, students think freshmen are the most immature because they’ve never been to high school but thanks to COVID-19, many sophomores haven’t been in a school environment since 8th grade. The juniors only got to experience the first half of their freshman year as well, so the answers were very divided.

“I think COVID has impacted sophomores’ maturity sense in many ways. Speaking from someone who did online class last year, I can say that it was a mess. You [could] pretty much get away with anything online, whether it was cheating or behavior. I think that mentality still exists in most sophomores’ minds. Juniors and seniors are different, as they’ve already got the high school experience and learned the disciplines. And for freshmen, since it’s their first year I think most are just staying quiet,” said Nguyen.

However, in a twisted turn of events, there was a bit of praise for the freshmen.

“Freshmen [are probably more mature] in terms of responsibility, but I guess juniors in terms of [mature] behavior,” said McKinley.

Some students feel that there is a common theme of disrespect and entitlement from the underclassman.

“Not so much the seniors and juniors but the sophomores and freshmen just act like they are the top of the school. They don’t respect people and think that they can get away with anything. They are so annoying, not even gonna lie,” said senior Natalie Brown (‘22).

An argument could be made that there is immaturity through all grade levels when it comes to a lack of respect among peers and during extracurricular activities.

“9th graders walk slowly and stop in the hallways all the time. It seems immature, like bruh we got places to be, let’s go. Also, sometimes underclassmen are not respectful to leadership and vets during marching band,” said junior Gabi Barrios (‘23).

With all the positives and negatives for each grade level, it’s time for the final answer of which grade is the most mature. The original survey was used to determine the average maturity of each grade level. Survey takers were asked how much they agreed with the statements on a scale of one to five. The most mature answer for each question would be one. There were six statements. This means the ideal score for maturity was six. The Blue & Gold added up every students answers and found the average per grade level.

The test revealed that seniors came in first place with a score of 11.82, the second place class was juniors with the final score 13.92, sophomores came in 3rd place with a score of 14.82, and last but not least are the freshman with a score of 15.29.