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The High School Reality

The book icon denotes material you will find in the book. Some shorter quotes are not marked.

New: Click here for The Unwritten Rules of High School along with a tribute to the author’s friend.

Everyone experiences high school differently. Some love it, some hate it, and some are just doing time. Here are some examples of how rules, restrictions and realities play out in high schools around the country. Take a good look and see if you recognize your own high school experience here.

New: Don’t go around telling everyone that you know everything. Try to be yourself and not give out to much information.
—Jennifer, 17

By the time I get to school, the first bell’s ringing. I’m already late and I haven’t even been to my locker. With just five minutes between the bells, I can never get to class on time. So I rush through the door and my teacher sends me to the office because I’m late. By the end of first block, I’m almost asleep because I’ve been in the same chair for 100 minutes and my teacher just puts notes on the board and doesn’t explain what anything’s about. Sometimes she reads the notes but never gives us something creative or hands-on assignments. It seems like school is where we come to copy notes and get lectured. I can’t use the restroom at all and get gum stuck to my leg because our campus is filthy. It’s like the principal wants us to suffer. I can never talk to her about the problems at school because I’ve never even met her. You see her in the beginning of 9th grade and then she vanishes. Everyone is so noisy. By the end of the day, I’m wired.
–Clara, 15

Upon graduating high school, I had many friends state that they would never, ever set foot in another high school classroom as long as they lived. And they haven’t. They were finally free. Finally safe.
—Mike Selby

Lunch—that’s a joke. School food is terrible and we are rushed to eat and rushed to class.*

School=Prison
Home=Hell
—Written on wall in a high school bathroom

My first year in high school’s been a lot different than I expected. I like the overall excitement. Since I’ve started high school, I’m always busy! I like the open campus lunch. I think it would get a little boring staying at school every day and it’s nice to go out and eat good food. I also like block scheduling because I only have three classes a day. The tutorial gives me time to catch up if I ever forgot to finish work or anything happens to it. I also like the extra privileges, although they come with responsibility. But that’s a good thing. Overall, I’m having a really great time.
—Mickie, 14

Teachers don’t care about us. Monitors are all old and grouchy and yell about everything. Cafeteria workers don’t have a heart and they’re cheap with food. People are judged by what they look like when you don’t even know them.*

Honestly, I feel very safe at my school. I mean we have had our share of fights and whatnot but maybe I don’t feel like I’m in danger because I don’t hang out with those crowds. I’m happy here for the most part. I play sports, I’m in clubs, have a great group of friends and get decent grades. I’m expected to do well in school and I want to do well. I am provided with what I need and am pretty happy.*

High school has been a good and bad experience. I enjoyed spending time with friends, meeting new people, being involved in a plethora of extracurricular activities, being Senior Class President, creating memories, dances, being irresponsible one last time and learning about what life is really about. I hated the whole being-judged-by-the-exterior scenario, people talking behind your back, people thinking they are better than you, the high school social ladder (popular, losers, etc.), having to care about what other people think of you, the glorification of some sports while others are totally disregarded, and the teachers who don’t have the heart to teach.
—High school senior

It’s easier to go outside and smoke than to go use a computer for class.*

The worst advice I got about high school was that it would be the hardest, most awkward four years of my life. It really hasn’t been bad. Plus all the teachers told us we had to spend like eight hours a night on homework—so not true. Just use common sense.
—Allie, 16

Change the inside colors of the school. They’re too dark and dreary. Provide a happier physical environment. This place looks—and feels—like a jail. No wonder kids are aggressive.*

Our lockers are nowhere near our classes.*

Open another bathroom. Students miss a lot of class traveling and waiting in line for the bathroom.*

Oppressive rules and dictatorship attitudes of most adult figures in the building and too many strict rules make it so there’s no real place to turn for help. Definitely do not make new rules or regulations because they don’t really help and actually just make people’s lives more messed up and miserable. They should try to reform people, not institute harsher punishments.*

The high school I attend has a lot of rules I disagree with. One of them is our dress code. Three and a half months ago, I gave birth to my baby girl. Coming back to school my senior year with a baby to take care of, was—and is—the hardest thing so far I ever had to do. I am responsible for another human being’s life. Everything she does, eats, says, and wears is all my responsibility. I have to be there for her at all times, no matter what the school says or wants me to do. So when I wake up in the morning, the last thing on my mind is what I should and shouldn’t wear to school. I can’t believe the expectations schools have on children or adults.
—Amber, 18

*indicates material that was submitted anonymously

Tips and facts about the realities of high school.

Resources to help you deal with the realities of high school.

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