Did you enjoy high school?

[pgwenthold]

In another thread in this section

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=55171

we have been discussing the socialization benefits that schooling provides. However, many of the comments that have been brought forward have attested to bad experiences of school. So I thought I'd poll it out. For starters, let's stick to high school. We can try junior high and before at some other time.

Feel free to submit your comments about your experiences.

[Roboramma]

I voted yes, but this only applies to Grade 12, when I chose not to be a slacker anymore. The rest was okay.
The nice thing about high school was being around lots of people my own age. While I haven't kept in touch with any of them, it was relatively easy to make friends in that environment, and quite a few were cool people. Plus when I started paying attention in class I realised that we were learning some cool things.

[wunky]

No.
I almost did not graduate- starting seriously slacking off.
I was glad to leave the place.
My dad still lives in the same house, so I get to drive by it from time to time. Still do not like the place

[Nyarlathotep]

I absolutely hated high school. Mostly because of the people in it. I graduated in 1985 and I still hate those people enough that I wouldn't piss on their heads if their hair was on fire.

[Piggy]

Hated it. Hated all school.

I went to work when I was 14 and enjoyed that. Stayed in school, too, but didn't see any connection between my lessons and what was important to know.

I didn't believe in God and Jesus, listened to punk and smoked unfiltered Camels when everyone else was listening to Hank Williams Junior and dipping snuff, so I never fit in socially.

I preferred hanging out with the working-class kids, but many of them disliked and suspected anyone who made good grades and took advanced courses. I had some college-bound friends, but most of the well-to-do kids considered me lower-class and snubbed me (just as I considered them snobs and snubbed them, to be fair). The advanced kids were such geeks that I couldn't stand their company.

All of which is perfectly natural, but school forced us to be cheek-and-jowl with each other, which wasn't. What I enjoyed was working and hanging out with a very eclectic group of friends who enjoyed fishing, drinking and smoking out on the backroads, camping, and driving into the big city for punk shows and late night movies.

School was hell.

[Kiless]

I absolutely hated high school. Mostly because of the people in it. I graduated in 1985 and I still hate those people enough that I wouldn't piss on their heads if their hair was on fire.

Not that dissimilar to my experiences.

I think it was a factor in my choice to become a teacher. I thought 'there has to be a better way of doing this, what could it involve....'

(probably my becoming a concert pianist instead, but ah well.... :D)

[Nyarlathotep]

Not that dissimilar to my experiences.

I think it was a factor in my choice to become a teacher. I thought 'there has to be a better way of doing this, what could it involve....'

(probably my becoming a concert pianist instead, but ah well.... :D)

Actually it wasn't the teachers that I hated as much as my fellow students. My teachers I was pretty indifferent towards.

Though I have always thought I should have become a History Teacher myself. I'd have a captive audience to listen to me talk about my favorite subject.:p

[ImaginalDisc]

"High school is prison for the crime of puberty." -David Brin.

[Marquis de Carabas]

Loved it. It was Hell, but it was a particularly fun kind of Hell.

[Chaos]

I voted "OK", because in high school, most of the jackasses that had made the previous years like hell for me had either gone away, or grown up to the point of becoming marginally bearable.

Unfortunately, at that point I had lost my enthusiasm for school and only really cared about a few subjects that I liked - Latin, Ethics, Mathematics (at least while we did stochastics and linear algebra), Computer Science (at least the part where we worked on our own, doing projects), some isolated parts of History and English (A Midsummer Night´s Dream... at the same time as we were doing a modern version of it in the school´s amateur drama group I was part of). This was, however, only part of the curriculum. German, Social Studies, Music, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Sports just plain sucked. Which, of course, was reflected in my grades.

Nyarlathotep, I can understand how you feel. Many of those guys I´ve been to school with before high school are that type. As we say here in Germany, put them all into a bag, then starting kicking it - you´ll never hit the wrong one. :D

[Nyarlathotep]

As we say here in Germany, put them all into a bag, then starting kicking it - you´ll never hit the wrong one. :D

I LIKE that saying. I'm gonna have to steal it.

[Piscivore]

No, it was awful, and I'd do it again.

Because most of the reason it was awful was because of my own dumb-assery. I wasn't "there" for most of it. I usually had my head in a crappy sci-fi or fantasy novel, and if I didn't I was daydreaming about being in a crappy sci-fi or fantasy novel, and by the time I got to the point I was able to I began ditching regularly to go home and play games on my C-64. I was never interested in learning about programming or anything, I just wanted the escape, little realising that the reason I didn't like my "real life" was because I wasn't doing anything with it.

[Serenity]

I think it was a factor in my choice to become a teacher. I thought 'there has to be a better way of doing this, what could it involve....'
That's refreshing to here. That's often my way of looking at things. The line, "there's got to be a better way", runs through my head more often than I care to count. We need more teachers like you to counter the apathy.

Grade School was a positive experience for me. It was a small school and class that became like a 2<SUP>nd</SUP> family. I felt most of the teachers were there for me... coaching me to succeed. The principal routinely came in to the class to chat with the class as a group and individually. I truly was inspired to excel. Junior High (grades 7&8) were like a bad nightmare. It was a place devoid of caring where everyone just went through the motions to get through the day. High School was better. Still too many kids falling through the cracks and not enough individual attention. I enjoyed it overall, but it could've been so much better.

[pgwenthold]

I preferred hanging out with the working-class kids, but many of them disliked and suspected anyone who made good grades and took advanced courses.


This was the problem at my school. For some reason, success in any venture (grades, activities, sports) was considered bad. I always tell my wife, the one thing my class excelled at was underachieving.



I had some college-bound friends, but most of the well-to-do kids considered me lower-class and snubbed me (just as I considered them snobs and snubbed them, to be fair). The advanced kids were such geeks that I couldn't stand their company.

What's wrong with geeks?

Odd that you comment that the "well-to-do" kids were snubbing you, but then, you admit you snubbed the advanced kids.

You played your part in the system.

[Piscivore]

This was the problem at my school. For some reason, success in any venture (grades, activities, sports) was considered bad.

My daughter just had an episode of this. She had to get new friends.

[Piggy]

What's wrong with geeks?

Odd that you comment that the "well-to-do" kids were snubbing you, but then, you admit you snubbed the advanced kids.

You played your part in the system.
Yes, I did. I got my back up and snubbed the preppies, too, some of whom might have made good friends.

What was wrong w/ the geeks was just a matter of fit. I didn't give a rap about what they were into -- their music, their games, their comix, their TV shows, their clubs. Didn't interest me. And my interests were equally lame and boring to them.

[TragicMonkey]

Yes and no. I enjoyed the classes, which were more interesting and more challenging than all my previous classes, and I got to pick more interesting subjects. Finally we were reading on the adult level in English classes, and history wasn't so whitewashed, and new subjects like art history were options. And advanced placement classes! And with college looming up, there was something interesting to think about and brochures to look through and research to be done.

The bad part was that while we were supposed to be accelerating toward adulthood, not everyone was ready to go. A large portion of the student body simply wasn't ready to mature and act like adults, and they persisted in behaving like rotten children. I was never really bothered by bullies, although I did get my share of being teased because of doing well in my classes, but it was disruptive and irritating to have that sort of thing going on even if one wasn't involved directly. Students interrupting class, goofing off, etc. And I have to say that such behavior seemed to vary by location. I attended ninth and twelfth grades in Virginia, and tenth and eleventh in Tennessee. In Virginia, the immature would disrupt class and bully other students they disliked. In Tennessee, the immature simply cut class. If they didn't like someone, they didn't bother them, they just ignored them. As a result I preferred Tennessee, because at least there the bad element only damaged itself.

[Pauliesonne]

No.

Infact, I had to spend my last remaining year being home-schooled and after that it took ALOT of tears to forget that place. But, eventually I found confidence in myself again.

The worst time in my life was in that place.

[Dogdoctor]

I enjoyed my time both in school and cutting school although I enjoyed cutting school a lot more. I felt trapped in school since we had so little choices and many of my classes were boring but my senior year I had more choices and so it was a lot better (and I actually went to school). I had different groups of friends, the kids from my neighborhood, the smart kids who I was in classes with, the bums I cut out of school with, and the assorted kids that I smoked cigarettes with behind the gym at lunch break. I knew most of the kids in the school since I had been at the same school since kindergarten with most of them. And while I was a minority race there mostly that was not an issue though I did get in a couple of fights because of that.

[Soapy Sam]

Detested it. My father once told me school days were the best days of my life. I nearly killed myself that night. I couldn't believe life got worse after you left school. Fortunately I was right.

Happiest day of my life was the day I left high school.

[Disco]

I enjoyed my HS years, but not because I "fit in" with a particular crowd. I attended public school in very conservative Idaho, & enjoyed being the only outspoken liberal female in the 1,000+ student population. I also participated in a lot of clubs: Youth in Government (which I organized for my school), Math Club (yeah, I was a geek, too), Drama Club (my Dad nicked me Sarah Bernheart), and the newspaper staff (for my political fix). I also had a part time job then--man, when did I find the time?

The only down side: I intimidated so many of the guys in my school, I had to find my dates from the other high schools in town.

MHB

[BlackCat]

Meh. High school was blah. The kids weren't bad, not like they had been in elementary school and such, but I didn't fit in anywhere. I was smart, but I wasn't into extracurricular activities, so the smart kids excluded me, I wasn't into drugs or other bad things, so those people excluded me. Pretty much everyone excluded me, even the Christians with whom I supposedly shared my faith with. There were some nice aquaintances in my classes, but they never really paid much attention to me outside of class. I guess I would have to say that I was better friends with my teachers than my classmates. At least the teachers respected my intelligence.

That pretty much sums it up. Meh.

BlackCat

[jj]

High School sucked. Of course, it was in a heavily class-concious area, and my dad worked in the mill. Then again, I hated being adolescent, had no money for lunch (I will give a couple of people credit for making sure that I didn't starve), no money to do ANYTHING social (other than hang out), and wore the cheapest polyester we could find because it lasted like iron and it was cheap.

Being poor sucks, too, come to think of it. But being poor and having it thrown in your face everyday doesn't improve the experience.

[kittynh]

I was so glad to get to COLLEGE and the real world.

It was heaven.

My high school was so big, you couldn't get on a team or join anything as it was too full!

You just survived. You wouldn't have any classes with your friends, as it was TOO BIG. Your teachers would have you once and then you were gone.

College, it was so wonderful! I should have just skipped high school.

Oh, and the way they would treat you in high school, like you were just waiting to do something WRONG. IT was like a giant jail.

College, you screw up, hey, too bad for you! But at least you were once again a human being.

[Forty-Two]

High school for me was much better than middle school, but it was still pretty awkward. Between eighth and ninth grade I started keeping a journal and figuring out who I was and who I wanted to be -- the typical "finding yourself" stuff for teenagers. Unfortunately, as I started growing into the person I wanted to be, I realized that I didn't like the friends I was currently with, and that led to some pretty bitter fights and social battles. I came out better for it, and though I never really fell in with a clique, there weren't many people with whom I didn't get along. I was an outsider, though -- People liked me enough to talk with me, but never enough to hang out with outside of school.

Contributing to my social awkwardness was a friendship I had with a young, idealistic English teacher. She was new to the world of teaching apethetic teenagers, and had unreasonably high expectations, which meant that she was an extremely tough grader. Most students hated her, since they'd been receiving A's in other classes for the same level of work that she'd mark with a C. I've always been strong academically, though, and I was just yearning for the challenges she provided. She taught me how to write well, and it set me up very well for college.

Because she was so young (I married a man who is older than she is), I was so, well, intelligent, and our personalities really worked well together, we struck up a friendship outside the classroom. That hurt me in the eyes of my peers, because I went from being just the teacher's favorite to being an extreme teacher's pet. I lost touch with her after I went to college; I wonder how long she lasted at that school.

[Metullus]

The only good thing about high school for me was that I only had to put up with it for three years. Teachers and I seldom meshed.

I did get to know the office staff quite well and I had my own desk in detention.

[Forty-Two]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I hear teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.

...Oh, I guess I really am a teacher's pet. :(

[Piggy]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I hear teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.
We do! Teaching is a difficult job, even at the college level where discipline is not such a concern -- my hat's off to high school teachers, and I bow to those willing to teach middle school -- and it's frustrating not knowing if you ever made a difference. Your students are the measure of your success, but they go on and you never know.

Or almost never.

I remember one student, Mr. Green, who struggled through my class. But he took advantage of every conference, and my policy of allowing students to submit a draft of any paper and take comments. By the end of the course, he had come so far that his late-term grades pulled his poor early grades up to a B! (I weighed later grades more heavily.)

The following year, he showed up at my office one day. In his hand was his first paper from his sophomore-level English class. He had earned an A. He was psyched! I will never forget that moment. I can picture his face right now.

Thank you, Mr. Green. You mean more to me than you will ever know.

[Metullus]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I hear teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.
Not all teachers do:

Two years ago I had occasion to visit my high school during a school event. I saw my AP English teacher and approached him with my hand out to shake his.

I was only able to say "Hello, Mr. S, I'm..." before he interrupted me.

"I remember you, Mr. B. I consider you to be my one failure as a teacher."

And he turned and walked away. I felt really special.

I suspect that I was in many ways a less than ideal student.

[Forty-Two]

That's just one of those situations where you realize it's the other person's problem.

Sorry he was such a jerk to you.

[Metullus]

That's just one of those situations where you realize it's the other person's problem.

Sorry he was such a jerk to you.
Actually, I think that I was, indeed, the problem. Don't regret it, though. At least, not entirely.

[RSLancastr]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I here teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.

...Oh, I guess I really am a teacher's pet. :(Make sure that when you write to her, you spell "hear" correctly! :D

[RSLancastr]

Not all teachers do:One teacher who really inspired me was Mr. Jones, my Algebra and Geometry teacher in high school.

About ten years after graduating, I saw him at the wedding reception of one of my other teachers.

When I told him that he had made a positive difference in my life, he sadly said "Thanks for saying so, but for every student who I helped to love algebra, there was at least one more who I helped to hate it."

He then went on to talk about another ex-student who had approached him recently in a restaurant and told him how much he (the student) hated math because of Mr. Jones.

Mrs. Jones was there when we had this conversation, and I could see how much the whole thing pained her, and how grateful she was that I had said something positive to him.

[Piggy]

When I told him that he had made a positive difference in my life, he sadly said "Thanks for saying so, but for every student who I helped to love algebra, there was at least one more who I helped to hate it."

He then went on to talk about another ex-student who had approached him recently in a restaurant and told him how much he (the student) hated math because of Mr. Jones.

Mrs. Jones was there when we had this conversation, and I could see how much the whole thing pained her, and how grateful she was that I had said something positive to him.
This is one reason why teaching is so hard, especially mid-hi. It pains me now (literally) when I think of how I treated some of my high school teachers. They deserved better.

Truth be told, I taught college partly because I was a coward, because I knew I couldn't handle a high school classroom.

[Forty-Two]

Make sure that when you write to her, you spell "hear" correctly! :D
Don't worry; I take more care in writing emails than I do when posting.

(Deer Jen, thnx 4 teeching me 2 right gud.)

[Kevin_Lowe]

I didn't hate high school as much as primary school. My high school was slightly better about corralling their thugs, and some of the material was challenging enough to keep my brain occupied.

Otherwise it the same routine of authoritarianism, brainwashing, mindless worship of sport, dishonesty, bullying, bored children turning on each other and time wasted on useless subject matter. It was a better class of jail.

It takes real effort to make children hate learning, but the teaching system does so.

I don't think I could teach at a school, morally speaking, while they resemble the schools of today.

[Achán hiNidráne]

Vietnam vets have a saying: "I know I'm going to heaven because I've done my time in Hell." That phrase describes my high school experience.

I was dead bottom on the social pecking order; the one everyone looked for when they wanted someone to pick on or beat up. It didn't matter what clique they belong to, they all did it; Jocks, preppies, metal heads, the "special ed" kids, and even the girls got their licks in.

Most of my daily abuse was psychological. There was innuendo that I slept with my sister or my dog. My locker was frequent vandalized. I had my books stolen from my book bag, only to be found later torn to shreds. One of frequent tormentors told me that I "couldn't get a $2 whore to f--- you if you paid her $2 million."

About once or twice a week, it would get physical,. My peers always made sure to make it look like a accident. One would "trip," fall into me, and either shove me against a wall or punch me. Book dumpings were also common and students would stomp on my fingers or kick my books around while I tried to pick up my things.

What was especially sickening is that the teachers would do nothing about it even if it was happening RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. When my parents came to the principal to voice their concerns about my treatment they were told "we're educators, not security guards." I don't know if they were afraid of a lawsuit if they intervened, but the pain of having the wind knocked out of by a fist to gut is nothing compared to the apathetic look from the teacher who watched it happen and did nothing to stop it or discipline the bully who threw the punch.

In those days, I had contemplated suicide more than a couple of times, and even seriously considered killing a few of my worst tormentors before doing myself in. I had trouble maintaining ties among the few friends I did have because I was always afraid they'd turn on me. All I could do was hope for graduation so I can get out of the hell that was Muskego High School.

Although that was 12 years ago, I still carry the scars around with me. I get very anxious paranoid in most social situations, and there are times I'd rather eat broken glass than to go out. It's also fueled my nonexistent self-esteem, not to mention my fear of sexual rejection and inability to talk to women. Worst of all, every few weeks I get to relive my high school experience in my nightmares. I usually wake up terrified; my heart is pounding, I'm sweating, and I'm too scared to move.

Every time I hear some moron tell me that bullying "builds character" or that high school is something we "get over" I want to ball up a fist and punch their teeth down their throat. They have no idea how it was for me.

[clarsct]

Vietnam vets have a saying: "I know I'm going to heaven because I've done my time in Hell." That phrase describes my high school experience.

I was dead bottom on the social pecking order; the one everyone looked for when they wanted someone to pick on or beat up. It didn't matter what clique they belong to, they all did it; Jocks, preppies, metal heads, the "special ed" kids, and even the girls got their licks in.

Most of my daily abuse was psychological. There was innuendo that I slept with my sister or my dog. My locker was frequent vandalized. I had my books stolen from my book bag, only to be found later torn to shreds. One of frequent tormentors told me that I "couldn't get a $2 whore to f--- you if you paid her $2 million."

About once or twice a week, it would get physical,. My peers always made sure to make it look like a accident. One would "trip," fall into me, and either shove me against a wall or punch me. Book dumpings were also common and students would stomp on my fingers or kick my books around while I tried to pick up my things.

What was especially sickening is that the teachers would do nothing about it even if it was happening RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. When my parents came to the principal to voice their concerns about my treatment they were told "we're educators, not security guards." I don't know if they were afraid of a lawsuit if they intervened, but the pain of having the wind knocked out of by a fist to gut is nothing compared to the apathetic look from the teacher who watched it happen and did nothing to stop it or discipline the bully who threw the punch.

In those days, I had contemplated suicide more than a couple of times, and even seriously considered killing a few of my worst tormentors before doing myself in. I had trouble maintaining ties among the few friends I did have because I was always afraid they'd turn on me. All I could do was hope for graduation so I can get out of the hell that was Muskego High School.

Although that was 12 years ago, I still carry the scars around with me. I get very anxious paranoid in most social situations, and there are times I'd rather eat broken glass than to go out. It's also fueled my nonexistent self-esteem, not to mention my fear of sexual rejection and inability to talk to women. Worst of all, every few weeks I get to relive my high school experience in my nightmares. I usually wake up terrified; my heart is pounding, I'm sweating, and I'm too scared to move.

Every time I hear some moron tell me that bullying "builds character" or that high school is something we "get over" I want to ball up a fist and punch their teeth down their throat. They have no idea how it was for me.

My wife had similar experiences. I sympathize.

Me?

I hated high school. I didn't even go to the reunion. f'kem.

College...now THAT was good times. I loved college. High school..no freedom, curfews, rules that made no sense, and people you wouldn't normally give the time of day to(teachers and students).

Nyah. Hated it, Loathed it. My best teachers were in grade school(as were my worst). It seems my high school teachers were the mediocre of the lot.

I wasn't an extremely popular kid, I'll admit it. I was the outsider. Everyone knew me and would talk to me, but not liked enough to really be 'included'. High school was a waste of my time.

[jj]

My locker was frequent vandalized.


Happened to me once. Did I mention I was a chemistry geek?



About once or twice a week, it would get physical,.


You mean like some rich kid wanted to have a "talk" with me because I must have cheated on that test, no kid like me could have gotten a better grade than him fairly?

Or the poor kid who wanted to have the same talk because I was "not staying in my place" (with him)?


Bullying doesn't build character. Fortunately I was a (*&(*& good long distance runner, I could float the classes without breaking a sweat, and a bunch of the good teachers did not support the crap at all. (Some did, though, because it was "wrong", or because "you must have cheated.)

And we have people like that here, too, don'tcha know?

[Aardvark]

I went to an Upper school in a less well off part of the city. We had a majority of kids for whom English was not their first language. There were a couple of minor stabbings, pupils using screwdrivers on Teachers. Bullying took place up to age 16. I reached my peak intellectually at the age of 14, and that is pretty good for a bloke. In had some terrific teachers and they helped me develop my rational reasoning skills. I enjoyed my time in the 6th form , 16-18 years old very much. I had some great friends. This was an old fashioned boys only school, our sister school was at the other side of the road and we only mingled on the transport. I would do it all again, but work even harder next time. I would probably even do A Level Physics. I did not do this option last time as the Physics master was a born again christian and took every opportunity to push god. I lost faith in the mans ability to be a decent teacher because of this and instead took Mathematics, a subject that I found more difficult. I would also have had more courage and asked more girls out on dates.

[malbui]

I had a contrasting time thanks to the system I was passing through. From age 11 I spent two dreadful years in a local comprehensive where discipline was limited to hoping the little thugs wouldn't burn the school down during term time. As the one prominently bright pupil in my year (this is a realistic assessment: I scored more than 15% more than any other pupil in every subject on both sets of year-end exams) I was tormented by my peers and largely ignored by the staff. Having my appendix blow halfway through the second year and therefore being absent for several weeks was a blessing as I could stay home and read instead of running the gauntlet of playground physical and verbal abuse every day.

Fortunately (for me, at least) I lived in an area where selective education at 13+ still existed and I transferred to the local grammar school where I was supremely happy. I had a string of excellent and committed teachers and was taught in an environment of ambitiously bright students who (in the main) respected discipline and wanted to learn. There were a few teenage bullies there, it has to be admitted, but in another stroke of good fortune I grew from being a skinny little runt to being 1m88 and 85kg and a few good shoeings out on the rugby pitch, where I knew what I was doing, kept things in order.

[Jorghnassen]

It was OK. Suffered a little bullying like "everyone else", being a smart kid and slightly smaller than average. But I had friends too. Had my share of good and bad teachers, never needed to study (it's quite simple, all I had to do was listen in class and write down the notes, and do the little work required, which took no time. When it got to repetitive, boring examples or extensive review, my imagination would keep me from getting bored, I did a lot of doodles around my notes and in my agenda). Of course, I wouldn't go back, kids these days... Then again, I wouldn't go back to my undegrad days either, though I had a great time, it's just not my place anymore.

[slingblade]

They were better for me than grammar school and junior high, especially my senior year when we moved to a new state and I suddenly found myself moderately "popular" for the first time. No one knew my geek-nerd-victim history, and so I had no bullies that year, got asked to dances, and had more than one friend. It was nice. And too brief.

(and I had a car. That was great!)

[Dark Jaguar]

Happened to me once. Did I mention I was a chemistry geek?

You mean like some rich kid wanted to have a "talk" with me because I must have cheated on that test, no kid like me could have gotten a better grade than him fairly?

Or the poor kid who wanted to have the same talk because I was "not staying in my place" (with him)?


Bullying doesn't build character. Fortunately I was a (*&(*& good long distance runner, I could float the classes without breaking a sweat, and a bunch of the good teachers did not support the crap at all. (Some did, though, because it was "wrong", or because "you must have cheated.)

And we have people like that here, too, don'tcha know?

I can say I never experienced that in ANY of the many schools I went to growing up (and since my familiy moved pretty much every single year, basically because the term of the lease was up, not to other states or anything, I went to a lot of schools). I've actually never experienced the "class system" as you seem to be describing. Very odd... I had thought that particular idiocy had fallen out of favor. Strange to think that such stereotypical stuck up rich people who think they are better because they live in a rich family actually still exist.

[T'ai Chi]

Yup, loved it!

I went to a small science and tech school, located near NIKE world headquarters. The school found interesting internships for us all over the area. I really learned to like math and science here, and we'd build trails in a nearby wetlands.

Also, everyone was popular because the school was so tiny. :)

Did I mention foosball for PE credit?

[coalesce]

HS of Art & Design, NYC, graduated 1983.

Loved it! Not enough to go back, but enough for me to appreciate that it was the best 4 years of school I ever had--far exceeding the next 4 years I would spend at the School of Visual Arts. The school was not zoned, meaning that anyone in NYC can attend, not just kids from the surrounding neighborhood. I made some lifelong friends and consider the education I received there the best I could imagine. I learned discipline and the value of deadlines there. I was never bullied nor teased about my weight (consistently 30-40lbs over) nor my clothes (a lot of second-hand). And I cannot forget Dr. Joel Arroghetti, who made sure I passed 10th grade Geometry whether I liked it or not. Without him, I'd still be there trying to figure it out.

Michael

[Alliebubs]

I loved high school! Well, not grade 9, because that's just an awkward time from everyone, but from grade 10 onward, it was a great experience. I met a lot of great friends, participated in student council and other extracurricular activities.

Most of the classes were challenging (except career planning; our counselor was a coke addict) and quite stimulating. I'll always be thankful to Mrs. York's history classes for really honing and helping me craft my critical thinking skills. :)

[Wowbagger]

Short Answer: NO!!!!!

Long Answer: Too painful to even think about.

I learned more stuff in just the past few months than I ever had in all of my schooling (with the possible exception of the ABC's, which today could be learned easily enough from TMBG songs, instead).

What was that quote Mark Twain once said? I'm too lazy to get the exact wording (maybe someone else will post it), but it was something along the lines of: I never let my schooling get in the way of my education.

[tygirwulf]

I hated high school. It's been 5 1/2 years since I left and took the GED and I still get angry when I think about it. I've always had a weak immune system so I was sick a lot of the time. A lot of the teachers and faculty acted like it was my fault. One teacher even told my class one day that I was absent because I was faking being sick. I was in the hospital for pneumonia at that time.

I'm also hearing-impaired, and a few teachers loved to have the class watch un-captioned videos and take notes, then quiz us or grade the amount of notes we'd taken. Of course this isn't going to work for me, and even after numerous conferences they didn't seem to understand why they should even bother making basic accomodations for me. The principal told me outright the school couldn't afford to buy a caption-enabled TV, and then the next week, the school received a delivery of 22 new VCRs. The teachers didn't want to bother writing down assignments either, so I would end up doing the wrong thing because I misunderstood what was being said. Some of them avoided me so I couldn't ask after class either. They went out of their way to be, well, rule 8s to me. It took a visit to my lawyer, whose wife happened to be the secretary of state, for them to do anything to help me.

I will say not all of my teachers were like this. A few weren't, and they made my day bearable.

The other problem I had was my school was a very small one. Few electives, no challenging classes, nothing for me to exercise my brain in. Everything to me was boredom and busywork. I think a lot of teachers resented that, too, that I could know answers to their questions without reading the textbook. I resented having to spend hours a day after school doing homework that taught me nothing, that was not even interesting. I remember coloring in maps in 11th grade and labelling state capitals. I was disgusted with this assignment. We had to color in every state in a different color too. Eventually I just gave up doing this stupid busywork. I spent my evenings online, often researching whatever struck my fancy or talking to people overseas. Or I'd go to the university and hang out with a group of acquaintances from Nigeria, Kenya and Bangladesh.

When I was in 10th grade the school finally decided to institute a "gifted" program. This was basically a monthly meeting with all the "gifted" kids from all grades to sit in a classroom and do activities like talking about nothing in particular or, you guessed it, coloring. I was the only high schooler in this group. At one meeting the teacher in charge let slip that we were supposed to be meeting weekly for the school to get funding from the state for it, but of course, we were only meeting monthly because they couldn't be bothered with us. When I stopped doing my homework and she told me I couldn't be in the program anymore unless I raised my grades, I just walked away from her.

At the end of my junior year, I told my mother I was not going to high school anymore. She made me take a GED practice test first, which I scored extremely well on, so she allowed me to withdraw. I think my high school was glad to see me go.

I also hated how the teachers would stand by as certain people were bullied and mistreated by other students. Often the teachers would always blame the victim for being troublemakers. I would try to be nice to them as best I knew how. The other students left me alone completely, except for the girl who was my next door neighbor. She was nice to me but we had nothing in common.

College is nice because I actually have to apply my mind from time to time. I loved my intro to philosophy class, because I had to really concentrate on what the professor was talking about.

[money]

Wow, some of you had horrible experiences. I never saw anything like that (daily harassment, physical abuse) going on in my high school, but then again I did go to a relatively small school. We only had 111 students in my graduating class.

I loved high school. Classes were a breeze until AP, then history, gov't and calc were challenging to varying degrees. I got along with the nerds because I was in every available AP class. I was mostly seen as a jock due to 3 years of varsity baseball and football. I got along with the mormons since my best friend was seminary president (my town was about a third mormon.) I got along with the stoners and the cowboys because of friendships from middle school days. I took four years of Spanish, so I even had friends amongst the mexicans (my town was also a third hispanic.)

I mostly looked at high school as the social event of the year. I'd do it almost the same, except I would have stuck with basketball and been a bit more ballsy with the ladies.

[jman19999]

In a word..........No!

We had a very good school district. But I never cared much for high school. To me, it was something that you were forced to sit through. I felt that many teachers were inept, because the system rewarded seniority. Many faculty were there for so long, it appeared to me that they were sick of teaching.

The 5 days a week sh*t burned out on me and I was often to tired to study at the end of the day. Teachers acted and reacted like their class was the most important and assignments were often little more than "busy work" crap. Due to a documented learning disbility, my grades were very poor in many areas and I just wanted to get out of there.

College was better because I was able to modify my schedule and classes to take more of what I was interested in. I was treated way better by professors and TA's in college than teachers in high school. My high-school teachers often played favorites and if they didn't like you, they were often rude or abrasive when you tried to ask questions or get extra help.

High school was not fun for me.

Jeff

[Avita]

Awful. Extremely boring, for one - I had some teachers who did their best to make things interesting, but for me, it didn't quite make up for the roteness (and frequent uselessness) of the info we had to learn. Nobody ever did anything physical to me, but there was quite a lot of verbal/emotional bullying, to which I reacted by tuning the world out and fetishizing the things that made me different from my classmates, because I never wanted to be like them. I've spent all the years since then learning how to come out of that shell and stop compulsively doing certain things. I remember how one fellow student called me "witch" with such fear and loathing in his voice that I knew that he believed what he was saying.

At the time I was attending high school, I was also depressed, and while HS was not the only reason behind it, I only started recovering once I got into college. I used to hit myself as my own form of self-harm - if I'd known about cutting at the time, I'd probably have done that too. While I tried to conceal this behavior somewhat, there were plenty of times that I hit myself in class or in hallways, and must have been noticed. Nobody, and I mean nobody, including the teachers, ever said anything, although they commented plenty on my other weird behaviors. The apathy behind that, I find quite frightening.

[Godmode]

I enjoyed the social aspects of school, but the actual school part was very boring for me. Part of that may have to do with the fact I moved around alot and often found myself either repeating things I'd already learned, or skipping some things altogether. (Like through some freak timing/location problem, I totally missed out on sexual education...luckily my parents weren't shy about answering questions)

[Hindmost]

I am probably in the middle of the bell curve. I enjoyed some parts of high school and didn't enjoy others. I was--and still am a geek--so the social aspects of school were generally outside my prospects. I carried my sliderule around with pride however...and my golf clubs...a truly geeky sport back in my high school days.

After teaching for a few years now, I am convinced that small high schools are better for students than large high schools. Student interactions and the school atmosphere seem more hassle-free with less students.

glenn

[Nyarlathotep]

Wow, some of you had horrible experiences. I never saw anything like that (daily harassment, physical abuse) going on in my high school, but then again I did go to a relatively small school. We only had 111 students in my graduating class.



Nah, I don't think the size of the school has anything to do with it. I had a terrible time with the peckerheads i was forced to endure on a regular basis and my school was only slightly larger than yours (120 students).

[pgwenthold]

And my school was even smaller (75). I thought the smaller classes would be an even bigger problem, because there are fewer people with whom you might be able to find a place. It's easier to find people with common interests at a larger school. At a large school, your group of 6 is 1% of the class. At my school, finding 6 friends means having it is almost 10% of the class.

The only activities that were popular enough to be in common with any significant number of students were drinking (80% of the class) and sports (about a third, which were about 50/50 drinkers). If you integrated over all the high school classes, you could get a critical mass in drama (again, 1/3 athletes, mostly non-drinkers). Then there was also the town you were from (our school was made up of about 4 small towns).

So if you were a non-drinking athlete that hung out with the drama folks, you didn't have a lot of others around that were much like you.

[Hindmost]

Although there can always be excetions, recent research indicates that smaller schools tend to be better for students. I realize this isn't always the case. The cutoff seems to be 1000 students or so. Here are a couple of links that provide some information. We also had a seminar in our school about school size and social problems. The speaker--whose name eludes me unfortunately--indicated that smaller schools tend to have less issues with drug abuse.

Larger schools now are trying to break their schools into smaller groups within the same building. Many of those programs are in the pilot stage, so data is obviously still coming in.

glenn


http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2003/section4/indicator30.asp

http://pixel.cs.vt.edu/edu/size.html

[sackett]

Owing to the small size of our community – a tiny village and an almost unpeopled rural area surrounding it – high school was for us essentially the final phase of a continuum that started in the first grade. You might almost say that high school, with its constant intense interactions, began when you were six.

Yes, I mean that: I attended high school with most of the same kids I met on the first day of first grade. Needless to say, the entire school was tiny, twelve grades in a single building, and high school was even tinier. My graduating class was one of the biggest in years, sixteen or seventeen as I recall. (The class before ours consisted of four girls; the only boy, Dang Blamey, dropped out in his senior year “b’cuz he weren’t gittin’ nowheres.” Well, he wasn’t.)

After twelve years of claustrophobic association, there wasn’t much left for us to learn about each other. Cliques could scarcely form; there wasn’t enough material. You couldn’t pick your friends; you couldn’t pick your enemies; you could scarcely say which was which. That could have gruelling consequences. If you didn’t get along with somebody – and clashes were inevitable, we were adolescents after all – you couldn’t avoid him in study hall or lunchroom or gym, and you couldn’t help but be in most of the same classes with him. Squabbles, even fights, settled nothing; you had to associate with everybody all the time.

Hell no I didn’t enjoy it, and I believe that the near-suffocation of that strange way of living harmed my education – and our school was not at all a bad one; Wyoming has always spent its money pretty freely on education, and even that little school set high standards.

Couple the airlessness of high school with geographic isolation, and you have all you need to raise generations of distorted kids. If we hadn’t had the immense and beautiful sanctuary of Wyoming, we might have turned seriously weird, and I mean textbook-case weird.

We don’t have class reunions. We have school reunions, when as many as twenty old crocks may show up, and discover that bygones ain’t bygones, not yet, by God.

[pgwenthold]

Although there can always be excetions, recent research indicates that smaller schools tend to be better for students. I realize this isn't always the case. The cutoff seems to be 1000 students or so. Here are a couple of links that provide some information. We also had a seminar in our school about school size and social problems. The speaker--whose name eludes me unfortunately--indicated that smaller schools tend to have less issues with drug abuse.

Larger schools now are trying to break their schools into smaller groups within the same building. Many of those programs are in the pilot stage, so data is obviously still coming in.

glenn


http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2003/section4/indicator30.asp

http://pixel.cs.vt.edu/edu/size.html

The point in the second link about extracurricular activities is most certainly legit. I could have never made the sports teams in a larger school, but was good enough to be a 4-sport letterman in my high school.

However, there is likely a flaw in the first link
Among regular high schools, a positive relationship exists between school size and the percentage of teachers who reported that apathy, tardiness, absenteeism, dropping out, and drug use are "serious" problems among students in their school. Teachers in larger schools were generally more likely to report that these problems are serious than were their peers in relatively smaller schools.

This aspect is pretty much meaningless, as it is probably an example of a single-ended observation. Things like tardiness and absenteeism are more noticable than arriving at time and attending, and so they get noticed. The larger schools will have more instances of absenteeism and tardiness, but it's not clear that it will necessarily be more prevelent when size of the classes are taken into account. More importantly, the teachers' reporting that they are a problem provides little insight into the question, because it is subject to bias. Not saying it's not a problem, just that the teachers' impression of whether it is a problem or not is not very useful for comparison.

[epepke]

Horrible, horrible, horrible. Not only was I improperly socialized, some people did some horrible things to me that I was only to find out about 15 or more years later.

Learned some good stuff, though.

[Hindmost]

The point in the second link about extracurricular activities is most certainly legit. I could have never made the sports teams in a larger school, but was good enough to be a 4-sport letterman in my high school.

However, there is likely a flaw in the first link


This aspect is pretty much meaningless, as it is probably an example of a single-ended observation. Things like tardiness and absenteeism are more noticable than arriving at time and attending, and so they get noticed. The larger schools will have more instances of absenteeism and tardiness, but it's not clear that it will necessarily be more prevelent when size of the classes are taken into account. More importantly, the teachers' reporting that they are a problem provides little insight into the question, because it is subject to bias. Not saying it's not a problem, just that the teachers' impression of whether it is a problem or not is not very useful for comparison.

In some cases in my school, we don't have enough students to fill a roster. It can depend on the coach and if the students have a favorable opinion.

The above point in the second link deals with the perception by teachers...so I believe they were indicating a more negative attitude about students in the larger schools. I agree that correlation doesn't indicate causation.

glenn

[TriangleMan]

I disliked high school but my experience was no where near as bad as many who have posted. I found the classes inane and most of my classmates to be vain and uninterested in learning. Looking back my memories of the good times I had during that period actually had nothing to do with school itself but during the times when I wasn't in school. I left high school bitter and sarcastic, and it took me two years in university to enjoy learning again.

That said I was not bullied (although I was in middle school). The preppie kids were mostly honors students so getting good grades was not considered "uncool" so there was no problem there. Given what others have posted I should be grateful that high school was not as bad as it could have been.

[Piggy]

The preppie kids were mostly honors students so getting good grades was not considered "uncool" so there was no problem there.
That makes me chuckle, b/c at my school, the preppie kids were uncool.

[rjh01]

I hated school. I did not have many social skills. Result - no friends. I was bullied extensively. One kid even got expelled because of what he did to me. He was not the worst one.

In those days there were no lessons on how to cope with bullies. I did not even know the word existed.

The only bright spot was the fact that I discovered I had some brains and could use them. I also believed it would all end one day after I left school.

[TriangleMan]

That makes me chuckle, b/c at my school, the preppie kids were uncool.
Sadly at my school the preppies were the sports stars and other popular kids - who also happened to get good grades as well. Some of them went on to good things (engineers, teachers etc) and some didn't - sometimes high school popularity doesn't cut it in the real world.

My school has had reunions but I haven't gone to one and don't plan to. I've kept in touch with my friends from high school and could care less what happened to the rest of them.

[Dogdoctor]

I have been to several class reunions and intend to keep going. I have absolutely no bad feelings associated with high school even if it was somewhat boring. The preppies if there were any in my school were also mostly nerds (there weren't many who excelled in both sports and academics), so it depends on what side of the fence you were on as to whether they were "cool' or not. They thought they were "all that" but others thought they were just "stuck up dorks".

[Almo]

I like aspects of HS, and hated some. The popularity crap has got to go. I liked several of my classes, many of my teachers, and had some really good times with my friends. The whole dating game thing was evil. There's no place to get the rules of how to play, so you just stumble around wondering what the hell is going wrong.

[FramerDave]

High school itself wasn't too bad for me. Most of the problems I had during my high school years came from family problems. Alcoholic mother, adulterous father, divorce, moving, that sort of stuff. But I think by that point I had realized that it was just four years, I could tough it out, keep my head down and just get the he11 through it and move on to real life.

The part of school that was a true living hell was middle school. On top of family problems, add apathetic teachers, backwards bubba school administrators (almost got into serious trouble when I asked one not to call me "son") and just the general dickishness of adolescent kids. Not easy for a very smart (read geek) kid who was at that pudgy girlish-looking akward phase.

Hardest part was not having a peer group. Geeks were too geeky for me, not a jock, not a minority, not a prep...

I was always proud not to allow myself to be pigeonholed, but man did it make life hard sometimes.

As for those who consider high school the best years of their life? How sad to peak at 18 and know the rest of life was downhill.

[Mr. Skinny]

Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies ....

It was OK I guess. :cool:

[pgwenthold]

I think the poll is closed now, but I just wanted to thank everyone for voting and providing comments.

[Gravy]

How long do polls last, anyway?
This was a tough question for me. I was like two different people in HS. The first "me" excelled in classes in which I respected the teachers, was a multi-sport star, had a fantastic and varied group of friends, was even voted "prom king" (don't know if that was a lowlight or highlight). The other me hated many of the classes and thought the teachers were morons, hated the mind-sucking, inspiration-sapping institutional nature of it all, and basically only went to half of my classes my senior year, although I always went to sports practice. My grades then were As and Fs, and my behavior was basically ignored by everyone, including my parents, because I was breaking records in sports. So I resented everyone for THAT, also.

I ended up not graduating with my friends because I had one too many absences in the class that was my best subject. Ha!

I was "right" about much of what I disliked about school, but I was a typical stupid passive-aggressive teenager and didn't communicate my concerns to anyone. I wised up in college and did very well.

If I had to pick one word to summarize my feelings about HS it would be "uneasy."

[Pauliesonne]

I was harasses by other students for my " slight " weight problem and the teacher's helped in no way that any person could ever think was helpful.

[Mrs. Hmmphries]

Gah...I loathed high school.
I became bored long before I ever made it to high school, tho.
By the time I got to tenth grade, I pretty much just stopped going, for the most part. I just went in to take tests, more often than not.
I was picked on a bit, but I also had quite a few friends. Most of my friends were from different schools, tho. I was one of those early 90's angsty blue-haired people.

I barely graduated, even tho I managed to get out with a low B average. I tended to do well on tests, even if I hadn't showed up for class all semester. I just made sure I showed up often enough, and did the right projects to ensure a passing grade.

I really regret it now, of course, but I just couldn't be bothered at the time. Everybody seemed so small minded and classes were so slow...

[Piggy]

How come no one ever asks if high school enjoyed me?

[Roadtoad]

No. I did not enjoy high school.

[jj]

How come no one ever asks if high school enjoyed me?


Well, high school found me as unpleasant, for the most part, as I found it.

[Admiral]

It might not be fair for me to answer- I'm just finishing high school. My senior year classes ended Friday.

I mostly liked high school, some parts less than others. I was pretty miserable when it started, but by junior year I had found a group I was comfortable with.

I've only recently begun to realize that through a lot of high school, a lot of factors were wreaking havoc on my body and my mind. Hormones, cliques, family pressure, work, drinking, drugs, dating, driving... the same screwed up environment everyone has to face. It's a wonder that after four years of that, we managed to pull through at all.

So, yeah, I can't see myself looking back nostalgically. I love my family and I love my friends, but I'm damn sick of this place.

[pgwenthold]

How long do polls last, anyway?

I think when I started the thread, it asked how long I wanted it to run. I let it go for something like two weeks, hoping that most people would respond in that time.

It got almost 120 votes, so it did pretty well.

[RSLancastr]

The classes at my school were pretty much a joke.

Our district had the lowest budget of any district in the state of California. Budget isn't everything, but that will give you an idea of the place, anyway.

With few exceptions, the only enjoyment I got out of high school was in choir and drama.

And girls.

But then, most of the girls I dated were attracted to me because of what I did in choir and drama!

[Smart_Cookie]

I hated high school. The only good thing is it was so long ago, that I've forgotten most of the more painful memories.

Only had one real friend. She dropped out by grade 12, so that last year was the worst. My parents almost sent me to a private school that year, I was so down. I didn't really fit in anywhere, and didn't make friends easily. And boys, forget about it. I went to all those junior and senior high school dances - and never got asked to dance once. Never mind dating.

And on the academic front, I was bored. My parents didn't really encourage me to think of college or university. They were just happy to have me graduate and get a job so I could be self-supporting. So... I didn't really care about my grades. I skipped a lot of school, and did just the minimum necessary, and didn't take any "university entrance" courses. I got C's without even studying. I really really regret that now. I'd like to know what I could have done if I'd applied myself.

[Polaris]

Nope. Suckfest.

Started getting a little better around the junior year of high school and then in a flash it was over. I went to college after that. And I remembered all those morons who kept saying "enjoy these years now, they're the best you'll ever have". What sad lives they must have led, my life has only gotten better since I stopped being forced by law to go take up space in a room full of degenerates for budgetary reasons beyond my control.

I have, however, learned that high school never ends. Most people never get beyond the petty jealousies and back-biting, the co-dependency, the physical attraction to psychologically-damaging people (especially true for woman), the acceptance of "good enough", the emphasis on doing as little as possible for the teacher/boss rather than going the extra mile for yourself, etc...

[BPScooter]

I was always the "smart kid" and in a small school system, that is a label that lasts. I remember being able to read way better than the other kids way back in early grades, but not really knowing that it wasn't a common attribute. Of course parents make the difference, but in the school scene being smart does have its advantages, too. Good relations with teachers, for one. Later on it turned into scholarships to college, etc. I was lucky that although not a jock athlete, I wasn't totally unattractive as far as looks go. But I was shy and didn't ask enough girls out on dates, that was such a weird thing since most of the 'popular' girls were dating the older guys, and the really great girls my age or younger were so uptight about their status that they weren't really sure about me. I was also into music and magic and reading. Sounds like a teen movie, I guess it was.

[Harlequin]

Hmmm.

It seems to me that you're questioning whether people enjoyed school to raise some doubt about the value of the social aspects of it.

How about this for a question:
Do you think you would have been better off not going to high school?

There are certainly things about high school that I didn't like, or things that I wish had gone differently, but overall I think that I'm a better person for having gone.

[Hutch]

Just found this thread. For me, Junior High (grades 7-9 where I lived) was my version of mark sieferts' hell, so High School (grades 10-12) were much better.

Went to one of the largest schools in the State of Ohio (my Class of 1971 had 874 students) so we had all the advanced classes and activites you could want. I never really fit in a "niche", I played soccer but was a bench warmer, was part of the debate team but always at the "B" level, my grades were solidly 3.0 average but never a threat to the valecdatorians. You might say I coasted through, High School was the bridge between the inferno of Junior High and the freedom of College.

And there were some very good teachers...some lesser lights, of course, but Mr. Stitt (for some reason I remember his name alone) and some others did help me improve what thinking abilities I now possess. The AP courses that I took helped me get great grades in college the first two years with hardly any work.

And I discovered girls there--Ah, Nan, I wonder what you future was like...

So like my grades-a bit above average, but nothing that stood out.

[juryjone]

High school? Not that bad. My life sucked, hormones sucked, acne sucked, bullies sucked, being a "nice guy" (read: undateable) sucked - but high school just happened to be there at the time.

Teachers were just like everybody else - some good, some bad, most mediocre. It was possible to learn, but not if you just sat back in class and listened to the lectures and did the assignments geared to the LCD. If you applied yourself, there were ways to learn. However, during that time in your life very few people can have that kind of focus. Your body is telling you all kinds of crazy things. There's a tendency of people that age to think everything is "just the GREATEST" or "hell on earth". Truth is, it's neither.

Do things get better after high school? Sure, to a certain extent. Some people mature after high school; some do not. Some of those that don't will have power over you in your job. Seems to me that if you can learn how to deal with those personalities in high school, you'll be ahead of the game when it comes to "real life".

I don't mean to belittle those experiences that some of you had with bullies and apathetic teachers - even though my experiences were on a smaller scale, I was still prone to depression and suicidal thoughts. I can't imagine how bad I would feel if I had to live through what some of you had to deal with (and for those of you on the JREF boards who remember Foodbunny's story - yikes!).

All I'm trying to say is that it wouldn't matter what physical location you put dozens or hundreds of teenagers into, these problems will occur. It's not the school that does it, it's the time of life when you're growing into adults. That and being forced into proximity with everyone else that's going through the same thing.

[I less than three logic]

High school was a joke, and was a poor one at that. I think I can honestly say I didn’t learn anything in high school as a direct result of the school curriculum. That’s not to say I didn’t learn anything during the time I was in high school, but what I did accomplish to learn during that time, much of it wasted sitting in class, was done on my own or during conversations with some of my teachers outside of class.

The argument that school teaches social interaction skills is valid to some extent I think, but really, most of those skills are developed before ending elementary school. By the time people are in high school they should be there to actually think and learn. Instead, high school was an area to discuss, plan, and evaluate social events; gossip with friends; and impress others with displays of one’s stupidity. All of this was intermediately interrupted by the procedure of memorizing and regurgitating trivia that they called getting an education.

[pgwenthold]

Hmmm.

It seems to me that you're questioning whether people enjoyed school to raise some doubt about the value of the social aspects of it.



Not at all.

I am questioning whether people enjoyed school because in a separate thread there was an offhand comment that most people really liked high school, and the poster assumed that her experience of not liking high school was unusual. I thought it questionable, because I seem to know a lot of people who agree that high school sucked. Therefore, I started a poll to find out what people thought about high school.

[emperorchaos]

I didn't believe in God and Jesus, listened to punk and smoked unfiltered Camels when everyone else was listening to Hank Williams Junior and dipping snuff, so I never fit in socially.

This is similar to my school only I didn't smoke cigarettes. But the rednecks were there dipping and listening to country. How similar are states have remained!

Aside from the fact I was beat up for being an atheist, I still liked high school. I went to school with most of those kids my entire life. And I had a lot of fun learning little and joking a lot. I was voted "Wittiest" but I've lost that skill today, I think.

I'd have voted yes if the poll wasn't closed. I really wish I had more time to be on this forum.

[BPScooter]

Part of this discussion is whether "my' high school and "today's" high school and the "ideal" high school are in any way the same things.

I got to visit one of today's high schools recently when there was a bomb threat, and is as they say today "lockdown." Many parents came to get their kids, and those that had to stay were under extra supervision. As it turns out, no bombs went off. Perhaps it was a prank, a nifty way to giggle while sending an e-mail or something. But it sure did make a whole lot of people forget about teaching or learning for that morning.

Back in "my" high school days, that didn't happen. In the "ideal" high school, I suppose that wouldn't happen unless it was a planned drill or an educational exercise. But I do think it is unfortunate when students have to have a bar-coded ID card and walk through a metal detector when they are going to the school that they are told they must attend, because it's good for them and they will learn things. This can't help the adolescent mind get any wiser, unless the actual teaching and learning occurs.