| High school is not a dream. It isn’t what is presented on the 2000’s dramas or on High School Musical. High school is a place where some people peak at 17 by being mean or conceited and wrapped up in the social standards that their fellow classmates expect of them. High school is hard, and I’m not talking about academics. It’s walking into school not knowing if you’re gonna text your mom to leave early because you feel yourself starting to cry. For me high school is a place I’m itching to get out of, it’s a place that I don’t feel like I belong and that I never will. People think of high schoolers and think about how strong they are because they have been battling the social strain of covid for the last 3 years. But no one ever thinks to touch on the effects of the kids. The behavior of kids has grown negatively after covid. We are struggling, we are tired, we are drained and then people wonder why we fall behind. Mental health in high school has come to an extreme low. There is bullying, now aggressively in person, and behind screens. There is loneliness and isolation because now people tend to use others like they are disposable. There is name calling, victim blaming, slut shaming, shit talking, etc. But all for what? High Schoolers are mean, they unite for basketball and football games in the student section, they pretend to be friends for gossip or for a group to go to homecoming with, and then they go back to their ego driven decisions. It’s hard, life is hard, but in high school you are stuck in a town where everybody knows everybody else’s business and they spread it like the flu. Lies, rumors, and pre existing opinions on people will not change no matter how hard you fight for people to know and understand the real you. People don’t care anymore. High school is not the teenage dream. |
