They wear the same things as the other students of SHS. They look just like them. They talk and walk just like them, too. But they are part of a whole other group.

“You can’t figure them out,” said senior Roberta Thompson.

SHS is home to a new group of individuals, and they’re called Generation Z. Most of the freshmen of SHS were born a year after 2000, the cut off for the “Millennials” generation. Because of the switch in generations, students say that there is a difference between freshmen and upperclassmen, but in the end they are all here to learn.

Freshman Kaelyn Hobbs, who is in a relationship with senior Tyler Cassaday, says she believes freshmen are much different than seniors, due to the difference in maturity.

“With the freshmen, I feel like they don’t really care,” said Hobbs. “Since they’re younger, they make bad choices. They’re really immature.”

Cassaday agrees with Hobbs, however, he believes that freshmen aren’t the only immature ones at SHS.

“Some of (the seniors) are more mature, but there’s a lot of (seniors) that are still acting a lot like kids instead of eighteen year olds and adults,” said Cassady.

Thompson says that not only is the maturity a big enough difference but the fact that freshmen belong to a different generation than everyone else in the school makes an impact on how they interact with the other grades. She says that because of the age gap, even the cartoons freshmen grew up with were different than Millennials’ cartoons.

Freshman Madelyn Knight says at first she was scared to go into high school due to the age gap between freshmen and seniors but found comfort in making friends and receiving help from them.

“Everyone’s here to learn and go to school and do their after-school activities,” said Knight. “If you need help, they’re all willing to help you.”

Although Thompson does see the freshmen as different, she says it’s “no big deal.” She says in the end, it doesn’t matter who gets to sit in the front or cheer at the games, SHS is equal.