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HALLWAY
The High School Hallway: Myth vs. Reality BY KATE FITZGERALD AND MIMI DANZIS
ART BY OLIVIA ROMANO
P
icture this: You and your two best friends who have all the same classes as you, hanging out at your decorated locker for 20 minutes before your US history class. There is a big dance tonight, and your only worry in life is if you are going to have to dissect a frog in science class. While that may be what every little kid imagines high school to be, this is far from reality. Television shows and movies portray scenarios like this as a “real” high school experience. However, in reality, many spend the six minutes between classes sprinting up stairs with a 20 pound backpack on, school dance plans are made months in advance and animal dissections are uncommon if they even happen. Our whole childhood entertainment built up the high school experience and failed to mention the reality. Jessica Arnold, a senior at BethesdaChevy Chase High School, says that the shows she watched in her childhood definitely had an impact on her expectations of what high school would be like. The biggest difference she noticed was the amount of work. “We have a lot more school work than in those shows because they never actually do school-
work,” Arnold says. There are common themes that run throughout a variety of childhood shows. One thing Arnold notes is that “the main characters have one best friend and they don’t talk to anyone else. In real life, you have a lot of acquaintances or class friends that you’re friends with.” Overall, a central theme is that all of these Disney and Nickelodeon shows “are mainly about high schoolers but not really about their high school life. It’s more about their social life or other activities they are involved in.” Most kids come into high school and have many expectations, from never having homework to being the most popular kid in school. These expectations are often proven false very quickly upon entering high school. One of the main things these shows do not place emphasis on is the overall stress that exists. The excess stress that comes from school work, social life, college preparation, sports, extracurriculars, and life outside of school does not even begin to cover all of the things that cause high schoolers anxiety. High school is a period of constant change. Kids are learning what they
like and dislike and everyone hopefully matures a little bit along the way. Overall, it is a time when extreme personal growth occurs. In TV shows, everyone’s friends stay the same the entire time. While this may be true for some, in most cases people’s friends are fluid and change as you progress through school. You get close to some people and grow apart from others. As interests and values change, this is a very normal thing. High school is a time that prepares you for the real world. Not only does it teach you information that will get you into college, but also lessons that will help you to navigate the world beyond your hometown. These lessons are over simplified in the TV shows. In a 30 minute show, there is a conflict and a resolution by the time the credits roll. In reality, the lessons that are learned in high school take time and are often more complex. While childhood shows provide us with entertainment and a vague understanding of high school life, there is much more to it than portrayed. High school can only be fully understood through experience.
