High School Stereotypes

As a young child, all you know about high school is how it is portrayed in the media. However, the media’s portrayal only displays the glamorous aspects of high school. Movies such as Easy A and Mean Girls and television shows such as The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Awkward all portray high school in a negative viewpoint. However, high school can be a great experience. It is what you make of it that will make high school the best or worst years of your life.
School spirit is a unifying cause among high school students As portrayed in the media, all students and faculty unite in order to support their school. Whether it is at a football game or a basketball game, a student cheering section is always present. Student cheering sections are a huge determining factor in a team’s performance. The purpose of them is to draw a crowd in order to motivate the players through chants and gestures. All of which is done to energize the players to pull off a win for the school. School spirit is the only aspect of high
school that is accurately portrayed in movies and on television programs.
In the media, students are shown out attending parties every weekend and enjoying the social life that is thought to be associated with high school.
However, for the average student that social life does not exist. The average high school student spends a great deal of time doing homework and stressing over grades. All of which is in preparation for the scariest part of high school, graduation. In the media, characters party throughout their four years of high school, do not do any homework and yet, are accepted into one of the top ranked colleges in the country. This is not realistic. The competition for entrance into college is more competitive than ever before. Skating by during high school is now a thing of the past. The high school experience the average person experiences is all about real life circumstances in preparation for the future in contrast to the medias portrayal which consists of actors following a script in order to earn a
paycheck.
Movies and television shows have perpetuated the negative idea that high school is split up into different cliques. There are the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, the thespians and countless others. In reality, yes, there are a variety of separate cliques. However, these stereotypical cliques are not as separated as one may think. Everyone in high school seems to coexist. There are no bullies that torment the underclassman, or that steal the lunch money from fellow classmates. We live in an ever changing world. I am able to walk the halls of my high school without being able to differentiate between cliques. This proves that the media can leave a lasting impression.
In my two and a half years of high school I have come to realize how many aspects portrayed in the media are drastically different than real life. High school will either be the best or worst four years of an individual’s life. This year I was determined to make it the best year of my high school experience since it will most likely be my last. So far, my new mindset has dramatically impacted this year and it has turned out to be amazing. Everything depends on what an individual decides to make of it.