I also grew up in the third world and can attest to what you are saying. Kids who do well in school have status. They are generally not cool but they have statu

I also grew up in the third world and can attest to what you are saying. Kids who do well in school have status. They are generally not cool but they have status--no one persecutes them. It therefore surprises me to read an article like this one: http://www.law.wisc.edu/blogs/wisblawg/2009/10/judge_olly_neal_shares_how_a_s.html http://www.law.wisc.edu/blogs/wisblawg/2009/10/judge_olly_ne... Thank god I didn't go to high school in the states! If I had gone to high school in the states and grown up 'african american' (I'm african) then I'd probably have had to diminish myself to fit in and not truly pursue the things I was interested in. Now the kids who are good at sports, outgoing and confident (the cool kids) and who get the girls also have status, but if they are poor academically they also tend to have a chip on their shoulder. Here is one such kid blogging about it years later... http://ngethustar.blogspot.com/2006/06/mangu-high-school.html http://ngethustar.blogspot.com/2006/06/mangu-high-school.htm...