I watch movies like I eat chocolate, very frequently. Out of all the movies I have watched I have seen my fair share of movies about high school. My favorite being The Breakfast Club because a group of unlikely teens become friends. One from each social group bridge the gap in Saturday detention. While this movie is a classic and I love it, it is really not how high school is. The best comparison is the typical popular group on the top and just about all the other students are fragmented into their own social groups. Nothing unites them and makes them work together.
It seems that the popular students run the school. The social atmosphere, as well as most of the elections that take place in school, revolve around them. They set the fashion standards and the best music taste. Most students spend so much time trying to be apart of this group, but ultimately fail and are signed to their social status.
The nerdy/smart students just kind of exist. If they have class with a popular student, they are often taken advantage of and used for homework answers. This manipulation usually takes form in the popular student being nice to the nerdy student in class, but icing them completely otherwise. The nerdy students are filled with resentment. They work so hard and most of the time receive very little recognition. They spend their time counting down the days till they can escape to college to have a fresh start and not be such a social outsider.
The athletes are treated like GOD at school. Well really only the basketball team, soccer team, football team, and lacrosse team. No matter how badly the teams lose they are still put on a pedestal. The other teams like cross country, softball, and swimming with their amazing records often get no glory in their wins. This most likely relates to the fact that the nerdy students run and swim, while the popular students play basketball, football, lacrosse, and soccer. Most often the athletic director is also swayed to these teams and ignores the others like everyone else.
The music/art students are often looked down upon. They are often thought of as weird and too flamboyant. This is such a shame because some of these students are incredibly talented at singing, drawing, playing and instrument, or acting. They are most self confident group and often try not to think about what anyone else thinks about them.
Ultimately, it all goes back to the popular students. If you aren't part of this group the next four years of your life is about to be spent trying to blend in. I always hoped this would change within my own class but sadly it still exists and we are about to graduate. There is no fairy tale ending, or should I say Breakfast Club ending. The sad truth of it all is that popularity means everything in high school. The ugly and shameful truth of it all is that we have perpetuated a stereotypical high school situation all of our lives. We have let the popular students run the school.
To the nerdy students out there just like me, you have such a bright future. Do not let anyone else stop you. Just keep your head up and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
