High school has become more than a period of schooling for society; it’s a culture.
“High school is something all little girls think about,” senior Miranda Hoemke said. “Younger kids think that high school is gonna be so fun, and you’ll get to do whatever you want but it is not really like that.”
Movies like “High School Musical” and “Mean Girls” have shaped the perception of what many young people think high school years should be like.
“I honestly believed that high school would have been more glamourous,” senior Jasmine White-Stevens said.
But what happens in Hollywood’s world of make-believe is often far from reality?
“In the movies all these wonderful amazing things happen to the people,” Hoemke said. “Nothing is realistic at all.”
Many girls say “Mean Girls” is like real life as high school girls can be viciously mean, and social situations can get sticky. However, some seniors have found that by the end of their high school time, true friends prevail.
“I would like to think I know who my true friends are [by the end of my senior year],” White-Stevens said.
What many may not know is that the comedy “Mean Girls” is based off of real testimonies by high school and middle school students in the book “Queen Bees and Wannabes”. This may be why it is so relatable and timeless in comparison to daily life.
“Some people can be very clique-ish,” White-Stevens said. “Kids are mean. It’s hard to tell who your friend is sometimes. People can really tear you down.
Despite this, many high school students enjoy the four years between middle school and adulthood.
“So many great and funny things have happened to me,” White-Stevens said. “Lovejoy reminds me most of the comedy ‘Never Been Kissed’.”
While there may be some elements of “Mean Girls”, most students say that high school is more like a comedy movie.
“The most embarrassing thing that has happened to me in high school was accidentally walking into the men’s bathroom,” White-Stevens said. “It was on accident because they switch which sides the bathrooms are on in one hall.”
Regardless of whether it’s a drama, a comedy or a teen romance, high school movies usually get some things right.
“High school is like the movies,” White-Stevens said. “I mean in the movies they may be more in your face about the ‘status quo’ and stuff, but in real life it really is still there in real life and you have to live up to it.”
