High school definitely isn’t randomly breaking out into song and dance. Most students grow up watching TV shows and movies that portray high school this way such as High School Musical and Victorious. Going into high school expecting one thing and getting something totally different is not rare.
There are many differences between high school on the TV and in real life. The biggest difference is how much work and stress is put on a student. According to the American Psychological Association, high school students are far more stressed out than adults. High school on TV is not real life.
“[I thought high school would be] like High School Musical. Everything would be fun and everyone would be friends,” senior Reese McCord said. “It seemed like they had no classes at all. [I thought this because] high school in TV shows was portrayed like that.”
High school students on TV rarely have homework and have loads of free time. In reality, high school students always have some sort of homework. The average high school student spends two to three hours per night doing homework according to The Los Angeles Times. Students at NHS get released at 3:15 and if that student has work or practice they get home even later. The little free time they have will be spent completing homework.
“Classes in high school are harder and you have more work. Like you have to do your work more often than you get to hang out with your friends,” McCord said. “Sometimes [I wish high school was like how it was in TV] but at least I’m getting my education. I feel like [on TV the students] have more fun while they’re in school rather than learning all the time.”
Similar to McCord, senior Addy Pardew also thought high school would be more fun than it actually is. Pardew grew up watching a lot of That 70s Show, Freaks and Geeks and iCarly. These shows led her to have the expectation of high school to be more fun. Pardew thinks that the only partially realistic part of the TV show’s portrayal of high school is the drama.
“Just the way high school was portrayed in the shows it just seemed like all fun no seriousness. So that was kind of my expectation,” Pardew said. “I thought high school would be a lot more fun than it is. And that we would have a lot more time to do things that are fun.”
However, freshman Lakyn Koehn explained that the shows and movies she watched growing up, such as High School Musical and Bella and the Bulldogs, didn’t affect what she thought high school would be like.
“I was always taught that high school was really hard and I was expecting it to be difficult I guess that’s just how I grew up, [it was] how my parents taught me,” Koehn said.
Koehn does not wish high school to be like how it is on TV because of how dramatic it seems, while Pardew and McCord wouldn’t mind it being more fun and laid back.
“[High school in TV] just seems so much better and so much more fun and if they have a problem they can just get over it because it’s TV,” Pardew said.
