22 Shocking Truths and Myths About High School Movies Revealed by Americans
Prom is way less of a big deal in real life. Kids look forward to it and get dressed up, a few might do the limo thing. But it’s not the end-all be-all of the high school student’s year. And really no one cares who wins prom queen.
I went to high school (obviously) and teach at a high school, all in the United States. I went to a suburban school in California and teach at a small town school also in California. Here are my observations.
Things foreigners often think are fake that are real:
-sports are connected to school. There are people who wear uniforms on game days, there are rallies, and there are school rivalries. They aren’t usually as serious as depicted on shows, but they are real.
-cheerleaders do exist. They wear uniforms on game days as well (not everyday.)
-yellow school buses exist (where I teach they bring students in who live in the country. Kids who live in town walk, drive, or get dropped off.) (Red and other color plastic cups also exist, as a side note.)
-some kids really do have cars at that age. Most probably can at least drive.
-“student government” or “student body president” is often a real thing, but it has little power. Basically just a student committee to rubber-stamp whatever the administration is going to do anyway.
Things foreigners often think are common that are fake or exaggerated:
-being a cheerleader or an athlete are not nearly as exclusive as depicted, nor do they automatically equate to popularity.
-cliques are far more fluid than depicted. Rarely do they automatically center around one activity (like football or band or chess club.) It’s not at all uncommon for people to do a lot of different activities that blend stereotypes (like a football player who is a chess club officer and in student government.)
-bullying is rarely anything like it’s depicted. It’s rarely done in front of everyone with bystanders not caring. It’s more common to be done in secret, and to focus on emotional rather than physical bullying (although physical bullying does happen.) I think movies and shows are trying to capture what it *feels* like (that no one is there to help you) and missing what it actually looks like in reality.
-everything is way more boring and less dramatic than depicted. Fiction requires conflict and so tv shows and movies create it even where it probably wouldn’t actually happen.
Speaking just for my school, not even close. Bullying is never as obvious as it is in movies (nobody dumps their tray on anyone or purposefully trips the new kid, actually most people are pretty friendly), most of the teachers and the principal are well- liked, there aren’t well- defined cliques (nerdy group, jocks, cheerleaders, etc.) but there are large friend groups that intertwine and overlap and there is definitely drama. They do get active shooter drills and the amount of drugs/ smoking/ vaping right, though. Also, crazy, entitled parents.
The lockers are huge on tv and they’re all at eye level.
I remember getting to high school and being disappointed we had these cubby-sized lockers stacked on top of each other, and they were in the most inconvenient places around the school.
So there was no leisurely chatting with your best pal whose locker was right next to yours. And not nearly enough space to decorate your locker with photos and mirrors like a bedroom.
We didn’t have the paddling or any of that (and it was decades later) but the vibe of Dazed & Confused was pretty true of my experience – cliques were not really that well-defined, ‘nerds’ and ‘stoners’ and ‘jocks’ all crossing over and mixing together in various ways.
Not very true. Life is more boring day in and day out. Poeple are also definetely more serious about school if you live in a well populated area
We had 2:30 in between class periods. We did not have time to lean against the lockers and talk. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows, sometimes the wind blows; we had to go to school then too. In the winter it was very cold, in the summer it was unbearably hot. I bet they’ve fixed that because the expensive electronics would cook themselves. A school didn’t need anything like that when they built the building. Usually there was some construction crew outside banging and hammering on something. There was no restaurant that we all hung out in. We did mob a pizza place a few times after the dances. They got mad because their employees were too busy, they didn’t make enough money off of us and because the old people buying expensive food couldn’t get through us. We caused numerous major traffic jams because we kept crossing the street. The cops showed up to direct traffic. The pizza place complained. The police went to the school and they told our parents that we had to stop. They let kept the rec center open later for us instead. They actually did put on a really good after party for the middle school dances after that. They just herded us all into there and told us we’d need to go home if we left or we’d get into trouble.
