High school is commonly known as the time when teenagers hang out, go to parties and discover their identities. Middle school students often look forward to high school as the most free and defining years of their education. Is this simply a misguided portrayal by social media and television, or is this the true nature of high school?
Throughout 2020, as COVID-19 took schools from in-person to online, streaming services for movies and shows surged in popularity. Netflix, one of the most popular ones in the U.S., saw a growth of nearly 200% in subscriptions from last year. This meant that many teenagers, now quarantined at home, had abundant time to relax and watch popular high school movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Dazed and Confused.
However, for many, high school differs greatly from what they have been told it is supposed to be; many aspects feel over or under-emphasized in shows and movies. “I think for me, high school is definitely not entirely what I expected from watching movies and TV shows,” Richard Montgomery High School freshman Praneel Suvarna said. “I feel like, in movies and TV shows, there’s a much bigger emphasis on freshmen having to be careful not to get trampled, but in reality everyone’s here for the same basic purpose. I also think you don’t see a lot of the studying aspect in movies and TV shows and that’s where it kind of differs from reality.”
In popular coming of age movies such as Mean Girls and High School Musical, there are many defining aspects that make them so notable. Whether there is singing and dancing, or a drama-filled comedy, the actual educational aspect of high school is often dimmed, since it does not add to the entertainment. This can cause freshmen and sophomores to misconstrue the expectations of high school. Increasing amounts of school work are an unpleasant surprise, especially after participating in online school for over a year.
Furthermore, in older high school films, scenes of upperclassmen picking on underclassmen are very common. Luckily, this is no longer as prominent in modern-day schools. Especially in MCPS, a strong community of students has diminished the cases of freshmen being picked on by older students, a clearly positive change from the movies.
The question remains: is the reality of high school better or worse than the expectations that freshmen and sophomores had coming in? Richard Montgomery sophomore Kai Willaims favors the expectations rather than the reality. “High school expectations are better because school work and classes seem much easier,” he said.
On the other hand, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School freshman Naaman Rutab does not share this sentiment. “For me, I believe that high school is better than the expectations,” he said. As a rising freshman, high school originally seemed quite nerve-wracking, and I just felt so much pressure from what was expected of me. But after actually going to high school, I learned to take one step at a time, make friends, create relationships with my teachers and relax mentally.”Although adjusting to high school is difficult, Rutab insists that having good relationships with friends and teachers, as well as taking things slowly, can truly change one’s high school experience.
Freshmen and sophomores have diverse opinions about the expectations and realities of high school. Whether it be schoolwork, bullying, or overall pressure, there are always ways to improve high school experiences. So, as everyone adapts to physically being in school after over a year of online education, hopefully the reality of high school can exceed the expectations of underclassmen entering the building for the first time in their lives.
Written by Sami Saeed of Richard Montgomery High School
Photo courtesy of May Pham of Walter Johnson High School