How bad was high school for you?

Question

I’m British so I want to know how bad American high schools really are. We always see in the movies how the cheerleader and the jocks are mean to the geeks and want to know how true this is. If so why does no one take a stand? Tell me your high school experiences.

Answer 1

High school was so bad for me, I bailed out a full year early!

To me high school was an obstacle standing between me and a real education. My grades were poor, my attitude even worse.

I took my last high school classes in night school and took college classes during the day. The college classes I took also counted toward my high school credits.

Once in a college setting, my grades went from a C- to a solid B+. I never looked back.

I went to high school in Bellevue, WA, an affluent suburb of Seattle. Schools there are still pretty good because of the large population of well educated, academically oriented and affluent families. Even so, many families in Bellevue, nearby Redmond (Microsoft City), and Kirkland send their children to private schools.

Like some of the younger folks who have answered here, I too was SICK of the social scene in high school. I had my friends who went to different schools and they too were not into what I called the Mickey Mouse and Bull Sheet of high school. And YES the jocks were the school hereos back when I was in school. The "rah-rah" mentality was so shallow and stupid. The assemblies were so mindless I opted out of most of them and spent the time reading quietly in the library.....or I just skipped out.

Answer 2

Oh, c'mon you know movies aren't real. Most Brits are the world's worst to complain about everything Americans supposedly assume about Britain from a few stupid films and now you're thinking the ones about the U.S. are somehow factual? A movie is just that. . .a FICTIONAL depiction of something. In many cases it's based on the fantasies of young white men. They are designed to make money and most real life is just too boring for them so they add a little drama.

I would agree with many that the high school years were not a particularly happy time of my life but I wouldn't say there was anything about the school that made it all that bad. I certainly didn't see many people being mean to each other because of what clique they were in. Maybe a few fights over love interests and so forth but these things happen everywhere I would think. Americans are NOTHING like these movies. Most Americans are just average people like anywhere else but that doesn't sell newspapers or excite moviegoers.

Answer 3

It was pretty bad. There were the golden boys, the golden elite, the perfect jocks who everybody deferred to, and everybody else got treated like sheet. At least among the guys people would bully each other horribly--not physically so much as name calling, "fag". You'd get called "fag" for a couple of weeks in gym and then be so thankful when that tag would pass to some other poor pathetic undeserving victim. High school sucks aas. The authorities let the travesty go on, making kids miserable. I can honestly say I hated every minute of high school, I hated almost all my class mates, and with one or two exceptions I hated all my teachers and coaches for allowing the psychological brutality against me and others to fester. It was a horrible experience from start to finish.

Answer 4

In High School l was a geek that was fear by the teachers for some odd reason they fear, I might end up murdering someone In school. Of course they sent me In a isolated class room where I didn't learn much about anything I wasn't educated any better, except that I was problem I didn't very well fit In considering my record of violent tendencies being how I was child with a bad mental heath history they had too do it.

Answer 5

I think the media/cinema portrayal treats high school like anything else--it takes what is true, and exaggerates it.

I went to five different high schools. Four of them traditional, one of them alternative. I had both excellent and terrible experiences. Girls, especially supreficial girls, can be extremely catty to other girls. Boys either wanted to date me, or ignored me--as is probably the case overall.

I found that cliques formed around groups were especially prone to bullying. Such as you mentioned--cheerleaders and jocks, as well as other groups--like drill teams and the drama clubs. It seems that when teenagers find themselves in a position where they have strength in numbers--it's better not to oppose your group and follow your own internal ethics or integrity and become an outcast.

Fortunately, though, the general mass of kids at the highschools I attended, far outnumbered the few who engaged in these type of behaviors, and when those in certain cliques were alone, they tended to be as average in their socialization as everyone else.

I don't believe that high school cliques are any different than the ones you see in the adult world--just more prone to act immaturely, as they are immature. For instance, take politics in the U.S. (I can't speak very well about other countries, so I'll make my analogy here.) If a politician breaks ranks with their party, they're often villified for it. The same as in high school. (Probably why mainstream America has very little patience with our government representatives these days.)

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

That isn't true at all. Public schools in most places are poor. My school is dirt poor but we just spent 4 million dollars on a new track and field. Go figure. There are always assssholes where every you go. Everyone knows that they are worthless. I like get ting crap from people and I don't like seeing people hand out trouble. You should stop if you see it. People like nice people who put their *** on the line for others.

Answer 7

I don't know about other people, but I loved high school. I never had a problem with anyone and had a 4.0 GPA. It was a lot of fun, especially when I was a senior.

Answer 8

You know, I'm an American teen and I though high school would be terrible, thanks to the media's portrayal of it.
It's not even close in most cases to how high school is in reality. . .
You have your cliques and groups, but most people at this point don't pay attention to them as much as they would have in middle school. Now MIDDLE SCHOOL was a hell-hole!

Answer 9

There was a little of this 40 years ago. I don't know if there is much today, but drugs are bad, and the other activities that follow.

Answer 10

My high school experience was great. I had no trouble. I was kind of a loner in one way. I had my set of friends and status didn't matter to me at all. . . We were cool that way.