poop story/analysis

My school crew, my kids and I were on our way home from the camping site yesterday. we used the bus to get back home as the principal of the school could not afford a private jet or a nice limousine which I deserve and was expecting. Anywho, we got on the bus and I was forced by my dear student to sit somewhere in the middle of the bus. The story does not end there. About half way into the destination, I started hearing words like "poop", "crap", "diarrhea" flowing in the air from the back. As a big fan of poop I am, I started paying attention to the stories kids were sharing with one another.

J: So what! one day, I came home and I saw my sister eating her poop!
E: That's nothing. My brother once made a steak out of poop! and he gave it to my mom and my mom ate it!
Everyone : EWWWWWW
J: no, that's nothing. I once saw my sister playing with poop!
E: And so what? I once peed and pooped in my pants!
J: Well, Me too!
Everyone : Me too, me too!

This conversation I overhead made me raise several questions.
1. Was this story telling a competition?
2. If this was a competition, was it a competition over who can tell the dirtiest story?
3. If this was a competition over who can tell the dirtiest story regarding feces, why did they select this particular subject matter? Because it's provocative?
4. If this was a competition, were they aware of the fact that it was?
5. Why did they constantly mention their family members, or themselves as the protagonists in their poop stories? To earn more credibility? to make the story seem more realistic? their passive aggresion towards certain family members (remind you that when sharing the story, none of the kids mentioned their father)
6. Did telling this story somehow raise their self-esteem?


Another interesting fact about this storyteling was that the kids who were the most aggressive when sharing this story were the students who I found most shy and reserved in class and in basic social settings. Are these two factors somehow correlated?

Why did these particular kids take such a long time/put so much effort in sharing these ridiculous stories? is it somehow related to their lack of self-esteem and unacceptance they feel in the world and in their family situation?

And what about older kids/adults? they may not create some unrealistic poop stories but they may spread false rumours and gossip in an unrealistic manner. They may even compete over who can spread the most provocative rumour. Can this behavior somehow be related to the poop story I overheard from my students?


I wonder.