American High Schools

[pfx]

Okay, so it's not Trainz related in the least but I thought as there are a lot of people on this forum, due west of my current position, I may be able to get an answer to a question I always ask myself when I've seen a film or TV show with US high school life portrayed in it.

I must stress that this is not a thread designed to start a massive argument about what is best, what is fake, etc, etc. I'm asking purely in order to get a straight answer to a straight question and I'm most definitely not trying to cast aspersions. I apologise for appearing naive if I'm being obviously stupid.

For me, school for wasn't as great a trial as it seems in the States. I realise that the portrayal of high school life I see is dramatised but without exception, it always seems to be a case of a rigid caste system with a strict pecking order and the bullying is merciless. I don't think I have ever seen anything about US high schools which does anything to suggest otherwise so the question I have for US Trainzers, what is high school really like?

Thanks.

 

[UP4021]

Is that all you want to know about?

Also, might I ask what movies and/or TV shows you are watching that would provoke this question?

 

[PerRock]

For me High School didn't have that much of a class system or pecking order. However Middle School did. That being said I think that the high school experience varries a lot between where in the States you are and really which high school your in.

peter

 

[pfx]

Is that all you want to know about?

Also, might I ask what movies and/or TV shows you are watching that would provoke this question?

Basically everything I ever see. Perhaps a reality high school show would help but as there hasn't been one, not screened here anyway, I'm none the wiser.

Again, I reiterate the fact that I'm not being rude, merely curious as to why US high schools always seem to be shown in such a way in fictional entertainment. I'm trying to find out if there's an actual basis for this or not though I'm thinking probably the latter.

@Peter -Am I right in thinking you have elementary, middle and high? We only have primary then secondary. You move over when your 11/12 if I remember rightly (it was 26 years ago so sorry if I'm wrong there).

 

[sniper297]

Somewhere in America you'll probably find any type of high school depicted in films, but the US is a big country and there are a lot of differences. I went to an all boys vocational high school on the west side of Chicago, it was more like a 4 year prison sentence than an education because most of the student body were members of various street gangs (including me, you got a problem with that? :hehe: ). When my youngest started high school in 2004, it was a general high school that wasn't quite as bad as the one I went to, but you still had locked doors, metal detectors, Xray machines for bookbags, and armed security with dogs. In 2005 we moved to a small town (population 25,000) in central Wisconsin, so he started his sophomore year at that high school. No security, no metal detectors, none of the doors are ever locked, no bullet proof glass in the office, no barred windows, a LOT more like the typical high school you see on TV, and all the kids are nice and polite.

That's a difference of a mere 250 miles, and the US is something like 3000x1000 miles, so you'll see a lot of differences depending on where you go.

 

[K4driver]

Let's see...Highschool for me fit all the common Hollywood themes
The football players (American...English Soccer was ignored) were the most popular students, the Cheerleaders were Snobby and Rude, and everyone else was just "Others broken down into interests" Me meanwhile, I fit into no social groups...so it was a lonely time in highschool. The Sitting alone at lunch (which was quite an achivement for a school with as many kids as mine), and never really having anyone to talk to,except when they would Bully me for my Love of trains. Oh, and never having a girlfriend in my life really did wonders for my Highschool social life. Guess that's how I got into trainz, somewhere to escape to. This coming from a graduate of the class of 2010, in one of the worst schools in The State.

 

[UP4021]

Well then, I would have to say that High School has changed a bit.

You would be correct. Elementary, Middle, then High School.

My school experience has been pretty similar to Peter's. For me, Middle School was just short of terrible, as the kids/teens who are there are at a slightly awkward phase.

High School has been different. Now, at least for my school (which is a fairly young and rich community on the slightly rural side of the Chicago subarbs), there are more sports and clubs to be involved in. As a result, over half the school contains "jocks" (though I don't think that that would be the best way to describe the bowling team :hehe: ), and everyone essentially knows and are friends with everyone, especially after modern communication (ie facebook and texting). Those who don't participate are slightly ostracized, and there are still the popular kids, but...
nothing like K4driver says, or... at least not anymore. Perhaps still in smaller schools... maybe. I do know however that there are a lot of fights in schools in the area and ours among other things, but essentially the heiraichy is gone.

But, as Sniper pointed out, intercity schools can be rough for security reasons. One such (probably one of the worst) would be, as Sniper said: west side Chicago. I can't even imagine what that was/is like as compared to mine.

 

[lorenw]

I graduated from high school in 1976, but k4 described what my high school years were like exactly.

 

[Ronayne]

Not to take over this thread, but can any one suggest any schools that would be "ideal" for an Australian Exchange student (me)?

I intended on Chicago, but after reading about the whole metal detector, similarity to prison whatnot, I've decided against it (do we even have schools like that here in Australia?).

 

[pfx]

Thanks for the replies folks. Most interesting. I always wondered about the 'jock' thing. To me, a Jock is someone, like myself, from Scotland. Hehe. Do you have to be a jock to play sport? I played rugby, soccer and athletics but would never have considered myself a jock, just sporty.

I went to a rural academy (high school) in the 80s, with about 900 students and I can't imagine the whole metal detector thing from inner city Chicago. The hierarchy wasn't present to much extent though there was the 'popular' group and then everyone else.

It was the time when what we called casuals, kids who had wedge hair cuts, wore baggy jeans, Kappa tops and puffa jackets, called people like me jiggers. I was what I suppose is called a goth/rocker in other places.

 

[PerRock]

I spent two years in an intercity high school in Tulsa, OK. In those two years they only dragged out the metal detectors once. It seemed to be more paint then it was worth as you end up having alot of metal things on you when your at school (binder, pens, ruler, stapler, staple puller, pencil sharpener, mechanical pencils, etc, etc) That being said we did have armed gaurds wandering the hall ways, and police officers outside.

but to answer you question Ronayne, I would think that any smaller-town high school wouldn't have metal detectors as a normal thing to go thru. I think most schools may have dragged them out once or twice, but it isn't a regular thing.

My final two years of High School were in an Labratory School in a small(ish) university town. A Lab School is a school run by a University for training new teachers, and developing new curriculum. Which meant I had a very small class and there really wasn't enough of us to develop a class system, seeing as my graduating class was under 40 people.

peter

 

[aardvark1]

Not to take over this thread, but can any one suggest any schools that would be "ideal" for an Australian Exchange student (me)?

I intended on Chicago, but after reading about the whole metal detector, similarity to prison whatnot, I've decided against it (do we even have schools like that here in Australia?).

Ronayne,

Take a look here:

http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/sections/education/high-schools

There is no perfect place, but the link above may expand your search.

Have fun,

 

[crman123]

Your time in school is what you make of it, really. That said, some schools are better than others. I think once you get into college/university is when you really understand how different everyone's educational background is.

For myself, I agree with PerRock's assertion on Middle School. My experience was pretty awful during what we call the 7th and 8th grade (though I know it'll vary from city to city, state to state what is considered "middle school").

High school was awesome, at least for me because nobody at my highschool messed with the band kids. We were better than our miserable excuse for a football team and our cheerleader section which was pretty much a joke, too. Myself and my friends (all "band nerds" too) pretty much formed a group and took most of the same classes and such. Like I said, it was awesome! There was your fair share of stupidity, ignorance, and elitism that went on, but it wasn't from us. What's funny to me, personally, is my attitude on those years, *now* after I've gone through with getting my college degree. If anything, it demonstrates all of the naivete that is infectious in high school.

The long and short of what I'm saying is this: Don't believe the dramatic examples you see of American high school as the standard. It's far from it. Yes, there will be those just like you described, but there are also ones that aren't like that or it's not a big issue or problem.

PS: I've seen things online and on the television that could make me ask the same question about UK schools to you guys! haha!

 

[StorkNest]

For me, 8 years of Catholic Elementary followed by 4 years of Public High School (by choice).
Private High Schools look more uniform due in part to the uniforms worn and adherence to certain policies but at times can breed an arrogance in certain people, that was one reason why I did not go to one. I think they also tend more towards secretiveness and secret organizations.
Public, it depends on where it is.
Rural I am not too sure about though usually they tend to be more peaceful I believe but since a rural area could have a focus on specific culture types, a rural public school develops without intention a focus towards that type, someone could misperceive it as bias when it is simply what they know based on who lives there.
Now city depends on what area it is in and what that area is like. Some city Public schools are hell, others are decent and most fall somewhere in between.
You do have divisions of people into social groups based on interest. As to whether those groups are hostile towards one another, again depends on where the school is. There was not much hostility in my high school though now they overdo certain things (a whole different arguement than the subject).
Metal detectors are in schools in several cities due to a combination of global terrorism and the level of local violence/crime.

 

[robogo]

A teacher friend of mine recently returned from a one month trip to the Western US, he can't stop raving about the greatness of that country and how different it is from everything we always see on TV and the movies. (He only visited small towns, Portland being the biggest city.) He was specially surprised by the kindness of the people, the respect that the youngsters showed him (they called him sir, which he liked) and the transport system, notably the good roads and good driving behaviour.

 

[K4driver]

A teacher friend of mine recently returned from a one month trip to the Western US, he can't stop raving about the greatness of that country and how different it is from everything we always see on TV and the movies. (He only visited small towns, Portland being the biggest city.) He was specially surprised by the kindness of the people, the respect that the youngsters showed him (they called him sir, which he liked) and the transport system, notably the good roads and good driving behaviour.

Good driving? he should have come to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania:hehe: Where did he visit, I want to go there lol

 

[Sampug394]

Poking in from Colorado...


Right now I'm currently at what you'd call a 'second chance' school because my old school didn't seem to care about people who aren't doing well grade-wise - Apparently the norm, because staff members tend to only focus on the 'Good' Students.

My current school, though filled with the usual negative activity, (I have a feeling that I'm the only individual there that hasn't smoked a cigarette,) is still a pretty fun place. I'm in the 'ACE' program on the 2nd story, and there is almost never homework. (Awesome teachers too.) There's been several field-trip-esque events, and every so often we even have a 'Pancake Day'. Lots of fun, and a much smaller, more welcoming environment than a regular high school.


However, I did spend two fun, long years at my old school, and, even with my interest in Trains, I gained a lot of popularity - Partly because I could draw some awesome stuff.




I do miss my old school because of all the people I knew, but my new school is many times better - And yes, everybody there knows I draw trains too.