High school

I have a few dominant memories of high school, most of them pretty good. Ours was a three-year high school, and 10th grade wasn’t much fun for me, until midway through the year, my acne cleared up after I was allowed to see a dermatologist. But I ran varsity cross-country and track, which gave me a safe and healthy outlet for my energies, and by the end of the year, I had a girlfriend. I had many friendships in high school, a few of which have been renewed on FB.

I honestly don’t know how I was perceived by my peers in high school, but I don’t recall being bullied. There were over 500 students just in my graduating class alone, so I didn’t know most of the kids I attended school with every day. I had a couple of accomplishments that I was proud of, neither of them academic. I doubt most of my classmates would have predicted that I’d end up in academia. My daughter’s high school was very different from mine, but I believe she had a healthy experience there as well. I suspect that a lot of peoples’ reaction to high school is affected by their home life; kids spend most of their high school time at home, not in the classroom.

I know of one high school classmate who suffered from repeated bullying, although I didn't know about it at the time. In a high school as large as ours, I’m sure there were others. He survived and seems to be doing well overall. Not all of my classmates did.

Here’s a think piece about high school in America and how it’s portrayed in film. I don’t watch many movies, and haven’t seen any of the ones mentioned here. From what I can tell, though, most or all of the films mentioned are not documentaries.

https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/perhaps-high-school-is-not-always?r=u0rd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web