Was high school really this complicated? October 13, 2006 9:31 AM Subscribe
Was high school really this complicated? It's been so long I can't remember. Officially contains one of my favorite sentences of all time: "Fast-forward to grade 11."
I don't know what you want to discuss about the thread dgeiser13, but yes, high school was really that complicated back when I was there.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:39 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:39 AM on October 13, 2006
I cannot believe that people actually read the entire question
posted by matteo at 9:41 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by matteo at 9:41 AM on October 13, 2006
High school is as complicated as any other place where a large number of people interact with one another on a daily basis.
So, yeah, I guess. Unless you wereunpopulara lone wolf, like I was.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:42 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
So, yeah, I guess. Unless you were
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:42 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
It does seem a little soap-operatic.
posted by crunchland at 9:42 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by crunchland at 9:42 AM on October 13, 2006
Fast-forward to animated .gifs.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:44 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:44 AM on October 13, 2006
How did I know Bob's terminal heart illness was fake three sentences after I read about it?
My high school wasn't anywhere near this complicated...
posted by furiousthought at 9:45 AM on October 13, 2006
My high school wasn't anywhere near this complicated...
posted by furiousthought at 9:45 AM on October 13, 2006
Contemporary high school makes the Byzantine Empire look like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.
posted by jamjam at 9:47 AM on October 13, 2006 [3 favorites]
posted by jamjam at 9:47 AM on October 13, 2006 [3 favorites]
By senior year, no one at my high school cared, but my middle school was this complicated. Fake suicide attempts, pleas for attention galore!
posted by muddgirl at 9:49 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by muddgirl at 9:49 AM on October 13, 2006
Not only did I share your sentiment, furiousthought, I'm wondering whether the whole darn question is a fabrication... perhaps keswick's sock puppet? A lonelygirl style prank? Does anyone smell fishiness besides me?
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:49 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:49 AM on October 13, 2006
Yes, high school was just as complicated as this, I remember it well and with the appropriate amount of incredulity and embarrassment.
It was really nice to read about someone's high school experience that actually involved friends. *sobs*
posted by hermitosis at 9:50 AM on October 13, 2006
It was really nice to read about someone's high school experience that actually involved friends. *sobs*
posted by hermitosis at 9:50 AM on October 13, 2006
Highschoolers are complicated. By design, often—it makes them feel adult, sophisticated, important. It's only later that they realize the foolishness of trying to make life a handful, and long for the sort of genuine simplicity that those teenage years could afford, if they'd known the value.
posted by cortex at 9:51 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by cortex at 9:51 AM on October 13, 2006
Gah!! Can we please get a "WARNING: Thread contains lethal doses of Drama" in the post?
No, seriously. It's going to take a week to cleanse my poor brain just from the first few paragraphs. It may take years for the subliminal effects of page-scrolling through the rest to wear off.
posted by loquacious at 9:53 AM on October 13, 2006
No, seriously. It's going to take a week to cleanse my poor brain just from the first few paragraphs. It may take years for the subliminal effects of page-scrolling through the rest to wear off.
posted by loquacious at 9:53 AM on October 13, 2006
My terminal heart disease is real.
Of course by "real," I mean "metaphorical," and by "terminal heart disease," I mean "I sure could go for a bacon and sausage breakfast sandwich."
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:54 AM on October 13, 2006 [2 favorites]
Of course by "real," I mean "metaphorical," and by "terminal heart disease," I mean "I sure could go for a bacon and sausage breakfast sandwich."
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:54 AM on October 13, 2006 [2 favorites]
Officially contains one of my favorite sentences of all time: "Fast-forward to grade 11."
I liked the use of 'incredibly skewered'.
posted by pieoverdone at 9:58 AM on October 13, 2006
I liked the use of 'incredibly skewered'.
posted by pieoverdone at 9:58 AM on October 13, 2006
I cannot believe that people actually read the entire question
I didn't. Here's the edit of what I read the first time:
Am I justified in my mistrust of this person who has lived a complete lie and now claims to be reformed, or should I bury the hatchet?...There is a guy whom we shall name Bob. In grade 10, I found out that Bob had a terminal heart illness....During this week, it came out that his heart condition is all but made up. ...Bob is going to elaborate lengths to try and win his friends back...My BF is more or less his only friend in his previous circle, and I am, by extension, a friend. I can't stand being around him. I've talked to my BF about this, because Bob is after all his best friend and I don't want to lie about it....I don't really know what's right and what's wrong anymore, and as this is a sore point between my BF and I, I would like to know that when we do have disagreements over Bob, I can honestly say I'm justified.
I tried reading it again to pick up more details, but gave up.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:59 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
I didn't. Here's the edit of what I read the first time:
Am I justified in my mistrust of this person who has lived a complete lie and now claims to be reformed, or should I bury the hatchet?...There is a guy whom we shall name Bob. In grade 10, I found out that Bob had a terminal heart illness....During this week, it came out that his heart condition is all but made up. ...Bob is going to elaborate lengths to try and win his friends back...My BF is more or less his only friend in his previous circle, and I am, by extension, a friend. I can't stand being around him. I've talked to my BF about this, because Bob is after all his best friend and I don't want to lie about it....I don't really know what's right and what's wrong anymore, and as this is a sore point between my BF and I, I would like to know that when we do have disagreements over Bob, I can honestly say I'm justified.
I tried reading it again to pick up more details, but gave up.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:59 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
There always seemed to be a girl locking herself in the bathroom, crying, at a party. Always.
Everytime it was, "She's really upset." Or, "we really need to talk."
Don't miss the drama one bit.
posted by chococat at 10:00 AM on October 13, 2006
Everytime it was, "She's really upset." Or, "we really need to talk."
Don't miss the drama one bit.
posted by chococat at 10:00 AM on October 13, 2006
I gave up halfway through. My Cole's notes version would be the phrase "tedious detail".
posted by GuyZero at 10:00 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by GuyZero at 10:00 AM on October 13, 2006
I also think it's shenanigans.
posted by pieoverdone at 10:01 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by pieoverdone at 10:01 AM on October 13, 2006
That'll never be me, that'll never be me. That'll never be, never be me. NO... NO, NEVER, NEVER, EVER. And don't you EVER THINK IT.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:02 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:02 AM on October 13, 2006
What does your memory have to do with anything? The question might have been incredibly convoluted and all too ridiculous, but you have to boil it down and take it at face value. I witnessed a lot of strange behaviour, so my recollection is relatively empathetic, although I chose to distance myself from these situations. That doesn't mean the experience cannot be different for other people, they may or may not have a more complete scope on reality that allows them to deal with this emotional material in a suitable manner. Who are you to judge?
It's been so long I can't remember
It must be of no concern to you then. Oh. Woops.
Officially contains one of my favorite sentences of all time: "Fast-forward to grade 11."
Ahh, I see what this is all about. Fantastic. Your snark is above and beyond, without equal. Bravo. Are you satisfied now?
posted by prostyle at 10:09 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
It's been so long I can't remember
It must be of no concern to you then. Oh. Woops.
Officially contains one of my favorite sentences of all time: "Fast-forward to grade 11."
Ahh, I see what this is all about. Fantastic. Your snark is above and beyond, without equal. Bravo. Are you satisfied now?
posted by prostyle at 10:09 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
Nice Say Anything call-out!
I read the whole question. I look back on high school drama with the jaded amusement of a 33-year-old, but it's real enough when you're the 16-year-old going through it. It might not last, but it hurts at the time. So I treated the question seriously.
And honestly, it's not that different from some of the questions early-20-somethings post about their (only slightly more mature version of) drama.
posted by joannemerriam at 10:09 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
I read the whole question. I look back on high school drama with the jaded amusement of a 33-year-old, but it's real enough when you're the 16-year-old going through it. It might not last, but it hurts at the time. So I treated the question seriously.
And honestly, it's not that different from some of the questions early-20-somethings post about their (only slightly more mature version of) drama.
posted by joannemerriam at 10:09 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
Yeah this reminds me of early high school. Only it was a real live girl unloading on me in a corner at the dance. Mine was the soft shoulder to cry on. I'd listen, nod at all the right times and wonder if/when we'd ever get to the sex part.
posted by hal9k at 10:13 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by hal9k at 10:13 AM on October 13, 2006
Gah!! Can we please get a "WARNING: Thread contains lethal doses of Drama" in the post?
There was. The question was prefaced with [HighSchoolDramaFilter].
posted by desuetude at 10:13 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
There was. The question was prefaced with [HighSchoolDramaFilter].
posted by desuetude at 10:13 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
No high school is/was that complicated.
In retrospect, that is. At the time, it may seem like it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:16 AM on October 13, 2006
In retrospect, that is. At the time, it may seem like it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:16 AM on October 13, 2006
So what is the purpose of this thread? To discuss the perceived complexity of high school, then and now? To mock those internet savvy high schoolers who utilize AskMeFi in a way that could be considered (from an older perspective) juvenile?
Leave the thread alone. This place is viewed as smug enough without a bunch of "old-timers" rattling on about how high school isn't that complicated after all. Not everyone here has the emotional maturity of a snarky, middle aged, internet geek.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 10:24 AM on October 13, 2006 [4 favorites]
Leave the thread alone. This place is viewed as smug enough without a bunch of "old-timers" rattling on about how high school isn't that complicated after all. Not everyone here has the emotional maturity of a snarky, middle aged, internet geek.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 10:24 AM on October 13, 2006 [4 favorites]
This totally read like the a storyline on a teen drama that Aaron Spelling [RIP] would have produced.
High school drama is real for the participants. The coming of age and relationships. For some we, it is replaced by college drama. Then office drama.
The posters situation is real, but I think posting it in front of snarky older people is the best venue to address the question. Yes, high school drama is nothing compared to grown up drama.
posted by birdherder at 10:24 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
High school drama is real for the participants. The coming of age and relationships. For some we, it is replaced by college drama. Then office drama.
The posters situation is real, but I think posting it in front of snarky older people is the best venue to address the question. Yes, high school drama is nothing compared to grown up drama.
posted by birdherder at 10:24 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
I'd rather see anon qestions with more information than less.
And to answer your chatfilter/psuedo callout: for some people, yes. But a lot of them get over it once the real world infringes. What, exactly, is your point?
posted by oneirodynia at 10:27 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
And to answer your chatfilter/psuedo callout: for some people, yes. But a lot of them get over it once the real world infringes. What, exactly, is your point?
posted by oneirodynia at 10:27 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
When I was in high school, when I was really worried about something, I didn't just fool around. I even had to go to the bathroom when I was worried about something. Only, I didn't go. I was too worried to go. I didn't want to interrupt my worrying to go.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:31 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:31 AM on October 13, 2006
So what is the purpose of this thread? To discuss the perceived complexity of high school, then and now?
It seemed that way until you came along with your nose out of joint, yeah. (Hint: No one's done any calling out yet. This is where off-topic discussions coming out of AskMe threads are supposed to go.)
posted by mendel at 10:33 AM on October 13, 2006
It seemed that way until you came along with your nose out of joint, yeah. (Hint: No one's done any calling out yet. This is where off-topic discussions coming out of AskMe threads are supposed to go.)
posted by mendel at 10:33 AM on October 13, 2006
Prostyle, who says that i am judging? I graduated 22 years ago from a very small rural high school in northwest Ohio, 120 kids in my graduating class. I read that post with my jaw hanging open. I asked about the post because I don't remember nearly that level of complication during my high school tenure.
For me high school was: sleeping in to the last possible second; sitting in class waiting for lunch because I had to skip breakfast; taking notes, doing homework and taking tests; liking girls but not doing anything about it; finally getting up the guts to call one at home and spending 10 minutes on the phone barely able to talk. Rinse, repeat for 4 years, finally culminating in one kiss my senior year from a girl who was a friend.
I just wondered if the high school experience was like that for others. It seems like a whole needless level of maturity and wordly concerns. I didn't know if that was indicative of today's adolescents compared to 20 years ago. Was my high school backwards compared to others?
My comment RE: "Fast-forward to grade 11." was genuine. I love that sentence. I wasn't trying to be snarky. When I read that sentence I smiled, I cringed, I, I got sad, and I sat there and though about my own high school experience for like 30 minutes. It hits me really hard how short life is, how people don't realize the level of(un)importance of things at the time that thing is occuring and I'm not just talking in High School. Are there things I'm worrying about right this very instant that are the equivalent of High School Drama?
posted by dgeiser13 at 10:34 AM on October 13, 2006
For me high school was: sleeping in to the last possible second; sitting in class waiting for lunch because I had to skip breakfast; taking notes, doing homework and taking tests; liking girls but not doing anything about it; finally getting up the guts to call one at home and spending 10 minutes on the phone barely able to talk. Rinse, repeat for 4 years, finally culminating in one kiss my senior year from a girl who was a friend.
I just wondered if the high school experience was like that for others. It seems like a whole needless level of maturity and wordly concerns. I didn't know if that was indicative of today's adolescents compared to 20 years ago. Was my high school backwards compared to others?
My comment RE: "Fast-forward to grade 11." was genuine. I love that sentence. I wasn't trying to be snarky. When I read that sentence I smiled, I cringed, I, I got sad, and I sat there and though about my own high school experience for like 30 minutes. It hits me really hard how short life is, how people don't realize the level of(un)importance of things at the time that thing is occuring and I'm not just talking in High School. Are there things I'm worrying about right this very instant that are the equivalent of High School Drama?
posted by dgeiser13 at 10:34 AM on October 13, 2006
did not read.
but really, what is the point of this thread?
you forgot that people in high school have extremly boring and unsubstantial lives, so they make shit up for drama?
posted by naxosaxur at 10:37 AM on October 13, 2006
but really, what is the point of this thread?
you forgot that people in high school have extremly boring and unsubstantial lives, so they make shit up for drama?
posted by naxosaxur at 10:37 AM on October 13, 2006
That post was one of the funniest things I've ever read on the net. And really it just confirms what I've been saying since the 80's: the whole 'teenager' thing doesn't work. Too much free time, the devil, and idle hands and all that. These young adults should be tossed in the coal mines and forced to work for bread.
posted by nixerman at 10:54 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by nixerman at 10:54 AM on October 13, 2006
Did you people not see Brick? This is the product of a fairly straightforward secondary school. In the abstract, I feel it may be problematic that I am too ADD to get even 20% of the way through that question, mainly because it suggests I will answer any future offsprings' high school drama by cutting them off and saying "Yuh, doesn't actually matter. Move on."
posted by yerfatma at 11:08 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by yerfatma at 11:08 AM on October 13, 2006
All the talk in the question about blogging and texting and MSNing made me feel really old.
**Goes off to listen to scratchy Cure LPs**
posted by Otis at 11:16 AM on October 13, 2006
**Goes off to listen to scratchy Cure LPs**
posted by Otis at 11:16 AM on October 13, 2006
I just wondered if the high school experience was like that for others. It seems like a whole needless level of maturity and wordly concerns. I didn't know if that was indicative of today's adolescents compared to 20 years ago. Was my high school backwards compared to others?
Maybe. I graduated 15 years ago from a large suburban high school. There was always some kind of situation going on that was VERY SERIOUS to those involved/who cared.
Were these situations really dire? Probably not. But hey, parents VERY IMPORTANT "bad day at work" dramas aren't very interesting to the teenagers, either.
posted by desuetude at 11:20 AM on October 13, 2006
Maybe. I graduated 15 years ago from a large suburban high school. There was always some kind of situation going on that was VERY SERIOUS to those involved/who cared.
Were these situations really dire? Probably not. But hey, parents VERY IMPORTANT "bad day at work" dramas aren't very interesting to the teenagers, either.
posted by desuetude at 11:20 AM on October 13, 2006
Matt, Jessamyn, can we please hire ThePinkSuperhero to edit all the relationship drama posts?
posted by Quietgal at 11:36 AM on October 13, 2006
posted by Quietgal at 11:36 AM on October 13, 2006
I guess there was one good thing about a social pariah in school.
posted by deborah at 11:44 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by deborah at 11:44 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
::polishes resume to highlight relationship drama post editing skills:
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:54 AM on October 13, 2006 [3 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:54 AM on October 13, 2006 [3 favorites]
My high school might have been this complicated, but I was far too stoned to notice.
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:37 PM on October 13, 2006
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:37 PM on October 13, 2006
I wanted to post a link to the vine - Sars is well equipped to deal with Drama. I think I will.
You did well, TPS.
posted by goo at 12:37 PM on October 13, 2006
You did well, TPS.
posted by goo at 12:37 PM on October 13, 2006
My high school experience pretty much went like this:
Two girls talking on the phone
Me: I have a crush on a boy.
Friend: Oh my gosh, who!
Me: I'm not going to tell you.
Friend: OK, what page of the yearbook is he on.
Me: 53
Friend: Is it Dave?
Me: No.
Friend: Is it Briand?
Me: No
Friend: Is it Jim?
Me: No
Friend: Is it Nick?
Me: Oh my gawd, I can't believe you know!!!!
And then we'd write plays about the guys we had crushes on living in a fantasy world where we talked to them and they talked to us and magical things happened. And if any of the boys any of us ever liked actually talked to us, we'd freak out and run away or say something incredibly stupid.
Then we all went to college, and half of us became lesbians. Than we all finished college, and half of the lesbians started dating men again.
But there was a lot of more serious drama that did swirl around the more socially "advanced" circles in my high school:
* The girl who drank vodka out of a water bottle in AP Physics class.
* The boy whose parents kicked him out -- supposedly for making pancakes -- and lived on the couch at another kid's home.
* The boy who wasn't allowed to graduate because he was caught with a BB gun in the trunk of his car on campus.
* The girl who was raped and constructed an elaborate fantasy world in which she had a baby (non-existant).
And there were lots of breakups and kids making out in the hall and girls crying in the bathroom, and shocking overheard conversations about sex and drugs that my friends and I considered comlpetely beyond our own realm.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 12:49 PM on October 13, 2006 [4 favorites]
Two girls talking on the phone
Me: I have a crush on a boy.
Friend: Oh my gosh, who!
Me: I'm not going to tell you.
Friend: OK, what page of the yearbook is he on.
Me: 53
Friend: Is it Dave?
Me: No.
Friend: Is it Briand?
Me: No
Friend: Is it Jim?
Me: No
Friend: Is it Nick?
Me: Oh my gawd, I can't believe you know!!!!
And then we'd write plays about the guys we had crushes on living in a fantasy world where we talked to them and they talked to us and magical things happened. And if any of the boys any of us ever liked actually talked to us, we'd freak out and run away or say something incredibly stupid.
Then we all went to college, and half of us became lesbians. Than we all finished college, and half of the lesbians started dating men again.
But there was a lot of more serious drama that did swirl around the more socially "advanced" circles in my high school:
* The girl who drank vodka out of a water bottle in AP Physics class.
* The boy whose parents kicked him out -- supposedly for making pancakes -- and lived on the couch at another kid's home.
* The boy who wasn't allowed to graduate because he was caught with a BB gun in the trunk of his car on campus.
* The girl who was raped and constructed an elaborate fantasy world in which she had a baby (non-existant).
And there were lots of breakups and kids making out in the hall and girls crying in the bathroom, and shocking overheard conversations about sex and drugs that my friends and I considered comlpetely beyond our own realm.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 12:49 PM on October 13, 2006 [4 favorites]
i'd say just about any phase of one's life is going to be complicated with people like bob around ... it seems to be their reason for living, to make life complicated for other people ...
it has nothing to do with high school ... it's bob
posted by pyramid termite at 12:54 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
it has nothing to do with high school ... it's bob
posted by pyramid termite at 12:54 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
Haven't any of you people seen Veronica Mars?! High school is complicated these days!
posted by mr_roboto at 1:00 PM on October 13, 2006 [2 favorites]
posted by mr_roboto at 1:00 PM on October 13, 2006 [2 favorites]
Isn't the reason for Bebo / Xanga / LiveJournal / MySpace / YouTube to exist so that crap like this is safely quarantined?
posted by meehawl at 1:17 PM on October 13, 2006
posted by meehawl at 1:17 PM on October 13, 2006
No, high school isn't that complicated, although it might have appeared to be at the time.
Oh to go back to such fake drama.
posted by justgary at 1:38 PM on October 13, 2006
Oh to go back to such fake drama.
posted by justgary at 1:38 PM on October 13, 2006
No, high school was exactly that complicated.
But, oh to go back to the fake drama!
posted by goo at 1:41 PM on October 13, 2006
But, oh to go back to the fake drama!
posted by goo at 1:41 PM on October 13, 2006
Didn't Jon Lovitz once play a character who pretended to have a terminal disease?
High school is Seinfeld.
posted by JekPorkins at 1:48 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
High school is Seinfeld.
posted by JekPorkins at 1:48 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
As someone who graduated from high school almost 30 years ago and has two sons who graduated from high school in the last five years it seems to me that the general level of complication among the early teens to early twenties age group has increased geometrically. I don't remember worrying about much other than girls, cars, alcohol and getting out on my own when I was that age. There were some kids with problems but few, if any, were taking anything for depression or ADD or seeing a therapist. I don't know if that is because today’s complexity is manufactured, because things were simpler then or because our expectations were lower. By lower expectation I mean we didn't expect constant entertainment or feel deprived because we didn't have every toy, etc. that was the latest thing. I don’t think we even had a concept of angst.
posted by Carbolic at 2:12 PM on October 13, 2006
posted by Carbolic at 2:12 PM on October 13, 2006
I don’t think we even had a concept of angst.
30 years ago? I take it you weren't really into the punk rock scene that was taking place at the time. Or Lou Reed. Some of the bands that formed in 1976: The Clash, Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Adverts, Generation X, The Slits, X-Ray Spex, The Damned (or an iteration of it), and many others. By the time you were out of high school, The Misfits, The Exploited, GBH, Black Flag and Crass had formed.
You may not have had a concept of angst (which is lucky for you). But your high school generation practically invented it.
posted by JekPorkins at 3:25 PM on October 13, 2006
30 years ago? I take it you weren't really into the punk rock scene that was taking place at the time. Or Lou Reed. Some of the bands that formed in 1976: The Clash, Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Adverts, Generation X, The Slits, X-Ray Spex, The Damned (or an iteration of it), and many others. By the time you were out of high school, The Misfits, The Exploited, GBH, Black Flag and Crass had formed.
You may not have had a concept of angst (which is lucky for you). But your high school generation practically invented it.
posted by JekPorkins at 3:25 PM on October 13, 2006
I graduated 22 years ago from a very small rural high school in northwest Ohio, 120 kids in my graduating class.
Good grief - there were about 22 kids in my graduating class and it was the biggest school (and the only high school) in the district (FNQ, Australia) with about 330 kids over 5 grades.
If 120 graduates is a tiny school, what's normal?
posted by b33j at 3:37 PM on October 13, 2006
Good grief - there were about 22 kids in my graduating class and it was the biggest school (and the only high school) in the district (FNQ, Australia) with about 330 kids over 5 grades.
If 120 graduates is a tiny school, what's normal?
posted by b33j at 3:37 PM on October 13, 2006
I take angst to mean "anxiety" or "anguish." We might have invented getting drunk, screaming for the hell of it and putting on a fuck the system I ain't participating attitude but I don't remember being anxious or in misery and don't associate punk rock with either. The Clash didn't seem anxious to me.
posted by Carbolic at 3:41 PM on October 13, 2006
posted by Carbolic at 3:41 PM on October 13, 2006
If 120 graduates is a tiny school, what's normal?
There were about 300 in my graduating class. Typical public high school in midsize city.
posted by cortex at 3:47 PM on October 13, 2006
There were about 300 in my graduating class. Typical public high school in midsize city.
posted by cortex at 3:47 PM on October 13, 2006
It's getting to the point where we're going to need somewhere besides meTa to talk about how ridiculous askMe questions are. Call it pissOnMe or something.
b33j: "If 120 graduates is a tiny school, what's normal?"
Well, my school in Colorado was small (100 people in my graduating class, or thereabouts), but I know some of the "normal-sized" American high schools seem to be about 2,000- 3,000 per graduating class. I always thought that was insane, too.
posted by koeselitz at 3:49 PM on October 13, 2006
b33j: "If 120 graduates is a tiny school, what's normal?"
Well, my school in Colorado was small (100 people in my graduating class, or thereabouts), but I know some of the "normal-sized" American high schools seem to be about 2,000- 3,000 per graduating class. I always thought that was insane, too.
posted by koeselitz at 3:49 PM on October 13, 2006
The Clash didn't seem anxious to me.
"The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Engines stop running and the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
London is drowning-and I live by the river"
Anyway, I think Joy Division might have had a little angst. The Exploited and The Misfits, too.
posted by JekPorkins at 3:52 PM on October 13, 2006
"The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Engines stop running and the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
London is drowning-and I live by the river"
Anyway, I think Joy Division might have had a little angst. The Exploited and The Misfits, too.
posted by JekPorkins at 3:52 PM on October 13, 2006
If 120 graduates is a tiny school, what's normal?
My class was about 250. Typical suburban public high school in large metro area.
Here is a table of average number of students per high school in 2000 by US state. The average is 752 students. Hawaii and Florida break the 1,400 mark and North Dakota comes in last with an average of 215.
posted by mullacc at 3:56 PM on October 13, 2006
My class was about 250. Typical suburban public high school in large metro area.
Here is a table of average number of students per high school in 2000 by US state. The average is 752 students. Hawaii and Florida break the 1,400 mark and North Dakota comes in last with an average of 215.
posted by mullacc at 3:56 PM on October 13, 2006
I went to a slightly bigger high school in northwest ohio, we had about 200 that graduated (and a handful that didn't). I always thought that was average until I went to college and had a roommate whose high school class was 1200.
posted by echo0720 at 4:12 PM on October 13, 2006
posted by echo0720 at 4:12 PM on October 13, 2006
As a teen currently in highschoool (and hopefully not caught up in enough drama currently to be all OH EM GEE my boyfriend of a month is gonna break up with me) yes and no. No its not complicated for everybody. There are kids who still live in a "sex/boys/girls/kissing? hhmmm thats supposed to be fun right?" type world and kids who have plenty of very real life problems.
I dont think youth change very much, its just what adults see and what the media reports. Weren't hippies supposed to live lifes of nothing but pot smoking and wanton sex?
posted by Suparnova at 4:15 PM on October 13, 2006 [2 favorites]
I dont think youth change very much, its just what adults see and what the media reports. Weren't hippies supposed to live lifes of nothing but pot smoking and wanton sex?
posted by Suparnova at 4:15 PM on October 13, 2006 [2 favorites]
I graduated in 1991 from a Canadian school with a graduating class of about 300, and here are some of the things that happened in grade twelve alone: one of my classmates (he was in my law class) shot his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend and then himself; another of my classmates died in a drunk driving accident; one of my close friends was in hospital on a suicide watch after taking a bottle of pills and lying down in the middle of a frozen lake with just indoors clothes on; another of my close friends got an abortion in secret and was kicked out by her Catholic parents (who relented after a few days).
At a neighbouring school, there was a race riot, and we were very smug at my school about our lack of racism, which in retrospect is hilarious because we were overwhelmingly white and the non-white students were from the same socioeconomic background as the white students (as opposed to the other school where the children of black landowners who'd had their land forcibly taken away without compensation by the city, the generation before, were being bussed in to an area even more affluent than the school I went to). Notably, it was the white students who were convinced there was no racism at our school.
Most of the drama I remember was of the "oh my God he didn't!?!!!" and "she like totally looks like a skank in that skirt!!!" variety, but there were real problems, too. Teenagers don't have a teflon forcefield surrounding them, insulating them from the rest of the world, and they contain in their numbers the same range of personalities as adults do. I don't see why this is a surprise to anybody.
posted by joannemerriam at 4:26 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
At a neighbouring school, there was a race riot, and we were very smug at my school about our lack of racism, which in retrospect is hilarious because we were overwhelmingly white and the non-white students were from the same socioeconomic background as the white students (as opposed to the other school where the children of black landowners who'd had their land forcibly taken away without compensation by the city, the generation before, were being bussed in to an area even more affluent than the school I went to). Notably, it was the white students who were convinced there was no racism at our school.
Most of the drama I remember was of the "oh my God he didn't!?!!!" and "she like totally looks like a skank in that skirt!!!" variety, but there were real problems, too. Teenagers don't have a teflon forcefield surrounding them, insulating them from the rest of the world, and they contain in their numbers the same range of personalities as adults do. I don't see why this is a surprise to anybody.
posted by joannemerriam at 4:26 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
Call it pissOnMe or something.
The site gets quite enough traffic now, thank you. And we would not survive the arguments about the new ads.
posted by yerfatma at 4:45 PM on October 13, 2006
The site gets quite enough traffic now, thank you. And we would not survive the arguments about the new ads.
posted by yerfatma at 4:45 PM on October 13, 2006
Two things I think people are conflagrating:
1) People are conflagrating "number of students in a school" and "number of students in a graduating class".
2) People are conflagrating "was high school this difficult for everyone" and "was high school this difficult for anyone".
I graduated high school 14 years ago. It was exactly this complicated for some students. It was even more complicated for a few students. It was far less complicated for the majority of students.
posted by Bugbread at 6:31 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
1) People are conflagrating "number of students in a school" and "number of students in a graduating class".
2) People are conflagrating "was high school this difficult for everyone" and "was high school this difficult for anyone".
I graduated high school 14 years ago. It was exactly this complicated for some students. It was even more complicated for a few students. It was far less complicated for the majority of students.
posted by Bugbread at 6:31 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
'conflagrating'?
Is that intentional? Either way, it's pretty funny.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 7:54 PM on October 13, 2006
Is that intentional? Either way, it's pretty funny.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 7:54 PM on October 13, 2006
A Thousand Baited Hooks writes "'conflagrating'?
"Is that intentional? Either way, it's pretty funny."
Whoops! No, unfortunately, that wasn't intentional. This appears to be one of those "I've gotten this term wrong for all these years, and never knew till now" things. So feel free to pretend that I said "conflate" instead.
posted by Bugbread at 9:21 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
"Is that intentional? Either way, it's pretty funny."
Whoops! No, unfortunately, that wasn't intentional. This appears to be one of those "I've gotten this term wrong for all these years, and never knew till now" things. So feel free to pretend that I said "conflate" instead.
posted by Bugbread at 9:21 PM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]
Sometimes I think MeTa approaches highschool drama, only with bigger words.
I left HS in part becasue I couldn't stand some aspects of my peers, and in part becasue I wasn't learning what I thought was importaint, last 2 years I spent homeschooling myself.
posted by edgeways at 10:46 PM on October 13, 2006
I left HS in part becasue I couldn't stand some aspects of my peers, and in part becasue I wasn't learning what I thought was importaint, last 2 years I spent homeschooling myself.
posted by edgeways at 10:46 PM on October 13, 2006
Don't miss the drama one bit.
I kind of secretly do. Everything was so important back then, be it a friend getting an abortion, someone getting kicked out of home or some guy maybe possibly liking me. Maybe it's just that it was the last time I was allowed to be interested in other guys (met my partner first year at Uni, darn it), but some days I kind of pine for school days when like was hyper-real.
None of which meant I was able to read through the entire question linked here. Apparently I'm not pining that much, sympathetic as I am to the problem.
posted by shelleycat at 11:12 PM on October 13, 2006
I kind of secretly do. Everything was so important back then, be it a friend getting an abortion, someone getting kicked out of home or some guy maybe possibly liking me. Maybe it's just that it was the last time I was allowed to be interested in other guys (met my partner first year at Uni, darn it), but some days I kind of pine for school days when like was hyper-real.
None of which meant I was able to read through the entire question linked here. Apparently I'm not pining that much, sympathetic as I am to the problem.
posted by shelleycat at 11:12 PM on October 13, 2006
like? life was hyper-real. although liking guys felt that way sometimes too.
posted by shelleycat at 11:13 PM on October 13, 2006
posted by shelleycat at 11:13 PM on October 13, 2006
1) People are conflagrating "number of students in a school" and "number of students in a graduating class".
Well, I intentionally provide a link to number of students in the school rather than in a graduating class. It was easier to find. I figure the average mefi is smart enough to know the difference and adjust mentally.
posted by mullacc at 11:32 PM on October 13, 2006
Well, I intentionally provide a link to number of students in the school rather than in a graduating class. It was easier to find. I figure the average mefi is smart enough to know the difference and adjust mentally.
posted by mullacc at 11:32 PM on October 13, 2006
Mullacc, you weren't one of the conflating/flagrating folks.
posted by Bugbread at 3:08 AM on October 14, 2006
posted by Bugbread at 3:08 AM on October 14, 2006
Talk about a flagrant error. You should be burning with shame!
posted by languagehat at 6:10 AM on October 14, 2006
posted by languagehat at 6:10 AM on October 14, 2006
Heh. I went to two high schools (one was a magnet that didn't have all the classes I wanted), one with a graduating class of 110, the other with a graduating class of 550.
At both schools, there was totally drama like this. The magnet school (Community High, or "Commie") encouraged the creative and the affluent, which led to a lot of drugs and high school lesbianism. The bigger school (Huron) had all this drama in spades, but was huge enough that a lot of it was just kinda sidelong crap. Like, no one I knew knew the kid who got shot my junior year personally.
At the time, I kinda resented having the dual-enrollment keep me from getting involved in social circles to the point where I'd be a party to all the "cool" and "interesting" stuff going on, but now I realize that I had enough angst on my own. It vaguely disturbs me that I'm friends with about one person from my entire time in high school, but hey, I never made all that many friends in college either, where this sort of drama seems to continue.
posted by klangklangston at 7:08 AM on October 14, 2006
At both schools, there was totally drama like this. The magnet school (Community High, or "Commie") encouraged the creative and the affluent, which led to a lot of drugs and high school lesbianism. The bigger school (Huron) had all this drama in spades, but was huge enough that a lot of it was just kinda sidelong crap. Like, no one I knew knew the kid who got shot my junior year personally.
At the time, I kinda resented having the dual-enrollment keep me from getting involved in social circles to the point where I'd be a party to all the "cool" and "interesting" stuff going on, but now I realize that I had enough angst on my own. It vaguely disturbs me that I'm friends with about one person from my entire time in high school, but hey, I never made all that many friends in college either, where this sort of drama seems to continue.
posted by klangklangston at 7:08 AM on October 14, 2006
"Talk about a flagrant error. You should be burning with shame!"
This confession may or may not come as a surprise. I dread making this kind of error. There's hardly anything I get embarrassed about and in general I care less about others' opinions of me than most people I've known. But certain kinds of strike deep. I guess it's my intellectual pride: I deeply fear making a fool of myself in any intellectual way. Misunderstanding the meaning of a word is certainly an example.
Anyway, what's interesting is that I think so highly of bugbread and feel certain that he's so oft demonstrated both his intellectual acumen and his high level of knowledge that his mistake is entirely humorous to me and I think less of him for it not even the tiniest bit. And I take that as a more general lesson to be forgiving of everyone who makes silly mistakes like this.
I'm sure some people will think I'm inappropriately making a big deal about this but it's just that I was really struck by my own awareness of how much I fear such mistakes and how little I cared that bugbread, who I greatly like and respect, committed one.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:41 AM on October 14, 2006
This confession may or may not come as a surprise. I dread making this kind of error. There's hardly anything I get embarrassed about and in general I care less about others' opinions of me than most people I've known. But certain kinds of strike deep. I guess it's my intellectual pride: I deeply fear making a fool of myself in any intellectual way. Misunderstanding the meaning of a word is certainly an example.
Anyway, what's interesting is that I think so highly of bugbread and feel certain that he's so oft demonstrated both his intellectual acumen and his high level of knowledge that his mistake is entirely humorous to me and I think less of him for it not even the tiniest bit. And I take that as a more general lesson to be forgiving of everyone who makes silly mistakes like this.
I'm sure some people will think I'm inappropriately making a big deal about this but it's just that I was really struck by my own awareness of how much I fear such mistakes and how little I cared that bugbread, who I greatly like and respect, committed one.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:41 AM on October 14, 2006
On the topic of high school size: I grew up in a small town of 12,000 people, a combination farming community and a college town (the university has an enrollment of about 4,000). (That combination of cultures in a town that small, and being in the Bible-belt, made it sort of interesting.) There was only one junior-high and one high-school. There were four elementary schools. As an aside, what sucked about that arrangement is the combination of the schools being small enough with the fact that we all knew each other our entire lives: it made for an early ossified social structure and a sort of social fatigue.
Anyway, my school was apparently sized right at the median for today's schools in that(this) state: New Mexico, with about 650. My graduating class had about 150 students.
Right now the largest high school in New Mexico is the very overcrowded Cibola High School here in Albuquerque, serving the fast-growing west mesa area. I think it has about 5,000 students total for four grades. Interestingly, way back forty years ago when my parents graduated from high school here in Albuquerque, both of their schools were pretty large, I think both had almost 2,000 students. I could be wrong, but I do know both schools were a lot bigger than mine.
It's my strong impression that large high schools have social structures and student experiences much different than smaller schools. When I was in high school both of my parents thought my awareness of popularity was exaggerated relative to their own experiences. Both of them were pretty popular from what I can tell from their stories and friends, but their schools were large enough such that there was less a sense of school-wide popularity than there was separate domains of popularity. And not in the stereotypical jock/bandnerd/geek/whatever divisions, either. A stereotype that was also very true in my school but not as true in theirs nor as true in larger schools from what I can tell from others' experiences.
In any case, there certainly was a lot of drama. Listening to other peoples' experiences in high school, this is almost universally true. The exception seems to be a certain personality type, my friends who were studious but quiet with very limited social lives. Their high school experiences were uneventful. I'd guess that this contingent is pretty strongly represented here on MetaFilter: those people either have the sorts of high-drama experiences later in college, or not at all. From their perspective, the high school experiences of the rest of us seem outsized and extreme.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:43 AM on October 14, 2006
Anyway, my school was apparently sized right at the median for today's schools in that(this) state: New Mexico, with about 650. My graduating class had about 150 students.
Right now the largest high school in New Mexico is the very overcrowded Cibola High School here in Albuquerque, serving the fast-growing west mesa area. I think it has about 5,000 students total for four grades. Interestingly, way back forty years ago when my parents graduated from high school here in Albuquerque, both of their schools were pretty large, I think both had almost 2,000 students. I could be wrong, but I do know both schools were a lot bigger than mine.
It's my strong impression that large high schools have social structures and student experiences much different than smaller schools. When I was in high school both of my parents thought my awareness of popularity was exaggerated relative to their own experiences. Both of them were pretty popular from what I can tell from their stories and friends, but their schools were large enough such that there was less a sense of school-wide popularity than there was separate domains of popularity. And not in the stereotypical jock/bandnerd/geek/whatever divisions, either. A stereotype that was also very true in my school but not as true in theirs nor as true in larger schools from what I can tell from others' experiences.
In any case, there certainly was a lot of drama. Listening to other peoples' experiences in high school, this is almost universally true. The exception seems to be a certain personality type, my friends who were studious but quiet with very limited social lives. Their high school experiences were uneventful. I'd guess that this contingent is pretty strongly represented here on MetaFilter: those people either have the sorts of high-drama experiences later in college, or not at all. From their perspective, the high school experiences of the rest of us seem outsized and extreme.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:43 AM on October 14, 2006
Established, then: graduating class size does not correlate to comment length.
I kid because I love!
This confession may or may not come as a surprise. I dread making this kind of error.
Doesn't surprise. I wouldn't go nearly as far as dread, myself, but I've always been self-conscious about such goofs, and when I was younger I was probably a real pain now and then toward others about such errors—whether I was being genuinely smartassy, or merely graceless in an attempt to offer usage advice, I would correct people and would so hamhandedly.
In my defense, I did almost everything in the social sphere hamhandedly up until about 25. Now it's down to maybe 40%.
But it's odd; like you said, EB, I noticed that the "conflagration" error was bugbread and thought, "huh", and that was that; no dark thoughts or condemnations, just, huh, one of those things. In casual conversation, instead of on MeFi, I might have explained the distinction, but gently and with a shrug. I've gotten past any notion that smart people can't have vocab miswirings, and I've gotten mostly past the notion that people worth knowing would be malicious about my verbal faux pas.
posted by cortex at 8:45 AM on October 14, 2006
I kid because I love!
This confession may or may not come as a surprise. I dread making this kind of error.
Doesn't surprise. I wouldn't go nearly as far as dread, myself, but I've always been self-conscious about such goofs, and when I was younger I was probably a real pain now and then toward others about such errors—whether I was being genuinely smartassy, or merely graceless in an attempt to offer usage advice, I would correct people and would so hamhandedly.
In my defense, I did almost everything in the social sphere hamhandedly up until about 25. Now it's down to maybe 40%.
But it's odd; like you said, EB, I noticed that the "conflagration" error was bugbread and thought, "huh", and that was that; no dark thoughts or condemnations, just, huh, one of those things. In casual conversation, instead of on MeFi, I might have explained the distinction, but gently and with a shrug. I've gotten past any notion that smart people can't have vocab miswirings, and I've gotten mostly past the notion that people worth knowing would be malicious about my verbal faux pas.
posted by cortex at 8:45 AM on October 14, 2006
I dread making this kind of error.
Me too (needless to say).
I think so highly of bugbread and feel certain that he's so oft demonstrated both his intellectual acumen and his high level of knowledge that his mistake is entirely humorous to me
Me too, and I hope it was clear to everyone (especially bugbread) that my "flagrant/burning" comment was purely for the sake of the pun and had no intellectual content whatever!
posted by languagehat at 10:24 AM on October 14, 2006
Me too (needless to say).
I think so highly of bugbread and feel certain that he's so oft demonstrated both his intellectual acumen and his high level of knowledge that his mistake is entirely humorous to me
Me too, and I hope it was clear to everyone (especially bugbread) that my "flagrant/burning" comment was purely for the sake of the pun and had no intellectual content whatever!
posted by languagehat at 10:24 AM on October 14, 2006
I hope it was clear to everyone (especially bugbread) that my...comment...had no intellectual content whatever!
Always and forever implicit.
ICE BURN!
posted by cortex at 10:38 AM on October 14, 2006
Always and forever implicit.
ICE BURN!
posted by cortex at 10:38 AM on October 14, 2006
LH, no worries, I took it exactly the way you intended: as a pun, not a...er...burn.
posted by Bugbread at 10:48 AM on October 14, 2006
posted by Bugbread at 10:48 AM on October 14, 2006
I still owe a guy I work with a paycheck for misusing apoplectic.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:09 AM on October 14, 2006
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:09 AM on October 14, 2006
I think I beat everyone. When I graduate next year, my class will have about 1200 people in it. We hold graduation at Reunion Arena in Dallas and fill it up. At a school this big, of course, the drama tends to be less obvious to the school at large. But my friends and I are nerds, so our dramas are mostly related to how pissed Person X is because they didn't get asked to go to the movies with everyone, or how unfair Person Y's parents are by not letting them drive after they got a ticket. Or whatever. No drugs, deaths, or pregnancies so far. Thank god.
posted by MadamM at 2:50 PM on October 14, 2006
posted by MadamM at 2:50 PM on October 14, 2006
That's a really damn big school.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 3:23 PM on October 14, 2006
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 3:23 PM on October 14, 2006
"Four years you think for sure
That’s all you've got to endure
All the total dicks
All the stuck up chicks
So superficial, so immature
Then when you graduate
You take a look around and you say HEY WAIT
This is the same as where I just came from
I thought it was over
Aw that’s just great
The whole damn world is just as obsessed
With who‘s the best dressed and who‘s having sex,
Who‘s got the money, who gets the honeys,
Who‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a mess
And you still don’t have the right look
And you don’t have the right friends
Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends
High school never ends
Check out the popular kids
You’ll never guess what Jessica did
How did Mary Kate lose all that weight
And Katie had a baby so I guess Tom’s straight
And the only thing that matters
Is climbing up that social ladder
Still care about your hair and the car you drive
Doesn’t matter if you’re sixteen or thirty-five..."
--Bowling for Soup
posted by GaelFC at 5:19 PM on October 14, 2006 [1 favorite]
That’s all you've got to endure
All the total dicks
All the stuck up chicks
So superficial, so immature
Then when you graduate
You take a look around and you say HEY WAIT
This is the same as where I just came from
I thought it was over
Aw that’s just great
The whole damn world is just as obsessed
With who‘s the best dressed and who‘s having sex,
Who‘s got the money, who gets the honeys,
Who‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a mess
And you still don’t have the right look
And you don’t have the right friends
Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends
High school never ends
Check out the popular kids
You’ll never guess what Jessica did
How did Mary Kate lose all that weight
And Katie had a baby so I guess Tom’s straight
And the only thing that matters
Is climbing up that social ladder
Still care about your hair and the car you drive
Doesn’t matter if you’re sixteen or thirty-five..."
--Bowling for Soup
posted by GaelFC at 5:19 PM on October 14, 2006 [1 favorite]
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posted by chiababe at 9:31 AM on October 13, 2006