How "Bad Boys" Are Cultivated

Vocational school students,as the training objects of secondary vocational education,mostly suffer the "stigma" of the disgraced group,and are regarded as the "losers" of compulsory education,or even "bad boys".Such social construction of secondary vocational school students by the outside world may be the result of observation and analysis of the daily life and study of secondary vocational school students,and may also further shape their values,identity and behavior patterns.The purpose of this research is to explore the actual life of "bad kids" and the process of generating their identity from the perspective of secondary vocational school students’ identity construction,and to explore the institutional and cultural factors that shape and influence their "bad kids" identity labels.And their subjective experience and active coping under this life experience.This study was conducted with qualitative research methods.The research data comes from a field survey conducted by the author in a secondary vocational school in Shanghai from September 2021 to January 2022 and the follow-up online interaction between the author and the students of the school.X School is a national public secondary school that has been established for more than 30 years.The author took advantage of the opportunity of serving as an intern teacher of the student department of the school to observe and record the speeches and behaviors of the vocational school students,and conducted in-depth interviews with 17 students,4 vocational school teachers and administrators to gain an in-depth understanding of the vocational school students.Behavioral characteristics,action motivation,psychological state and life experience,as well as their understanding of the influence of factors such as school,family and peers,and obtained 120,000 words of interview records and field notes.The survey found that the study and life of the interviewed vocational school students were significantly different from those of ordinary high school students.They exhibit behavioral characteristics of violating school rules and regulations,refusing to learn,and indulging in "fun" behavior,as well as an emotional attitude that resists authority.This reality is basically consistent with the society’s stereotype of them as "poor children" or "bad children".Vocational school students’ actions are deeply restricted by their structural environment.Institutional factors such as the enrollment system and school education management system,as well as family education methods,family background,peer culture and other factors shape the identity of secondary vocational school students to varying degrees,and are important factors for the formation of "bad boys".In the production and practice of the "bad boy" identity label,on the one hand,they show the constraints and expectations of social factors and encounter an identity crisis.Boycott,find identity in group activities.The generation and practice process of the "bad boy" identity label for students in secondary vocational schools shows that the so-called "bad boy" is not born,nor is it caused by their individual habits or choices alone.While selective elite education creates elites,it places these "bad boys" at the bottom of the social class structure,and fails to provide them with necessary resources and opportunities for their development as students and individuals.