Are kids in American High Schools REALLY this horrible?

[BOFster]

I'm watching The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, yes.... It's not just in this film though, it's in pretty much ALL of them that feature schools and teenagers.

Is it just for the purposes of drama, like that strange habit of putting the phone down without saying goodbye?

I saw Mean Girls for the first time recently and wondered the same. I would hate to be an American teen.

And why are there no British High School movies? Are all the shiny Academy blazers putting the producers off?

I know- I can hardly think of any! Maybe The History Boys? And, umm, Goodbye Mr Chips .

St Trinians. Very true to life.

Oh and Gregory's Girl.

To Sir With Love...there really isn't anything much is there? Is Harry Potter more or less realistic than St Trinians?

We haven't got past either filmed during or set in the early 1980s so far. There has to be something we've missed.

Don't know about RL, but I love the film Heathers which takes the trend to extremes!

Maybe Grange Hill and Marmalade Atkins used up all the school-related inspiration of a generation of UK screenwriters?

No idea, but I was a summer camp counsellor in the states, with 13-15 yr olds, and they were LOVELY. So I doubt it.

My uk high school was incredibly bitchy!

No more modern but of course there is Lindsey Anderson's 'If . . .'

French - post 1980s, though primary rather than secondary: 'Etre et Avoir'

Ooh I have asked the thing about putting the phone down without saying goodbye a lot on MN things americans do threads.

Happens in all the series.

I have never hung up without a bye bye now even in major flouncy argumentative phone conversations.

Actually, I was 19 and just out of school when Heathers came out, I went to see it three times at the cinema in love with JD's approach to school bullies

It's near the end of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower now- it's a beautiful film. But the portrayal of school life is savage. Can you imagine knowingly putting your kids through that? There are probably prisons which are more civilised.

Just saw this on Twitter...

I wonder the same about some of the British tv I have seen and some of the books. There seems to be terrible bullying in the schools. Is that true?

I suppose there must be, to a point. Does it really seem institutionalised though? I'd love to hear more about your impressions from films etc if you are not based in Britain- the Hollywood stuff is obviously quite mainstream everywhere, but I'm curious how accurate it is.

I have heard it said that Middle Schools are particularly bad (ages 10-14) because that's when girls tend to be at their bitchiest. By 14-18 most of the worst has settled down which is high school era.

Totally assumptions here based on facebook friends who live in the US but I think in the US there is a lot less pressure for the school to be dealing with bullying issues and more expectation that parents will either sort issues out between themselves, or the kids have to toughen up and deal with it because the onus is more on an individual to survive and be strong.

Of course I am sure it is hammed up for the drama in films - it would be totally mundane if normal school life was shown, surely. But I think some of it could be cultural.

BTW current (ish) UK school drama - Teachers, Waterloo Road. Waterloo Road being the most dramatic school I have ever heard of while there are familiar elements, it doesn't resemble any real school year.

I always used to bemoan the lack of lockers at dd1's secondary school. After remembering a few American high school movies, I wonder if it wasn't simply a flashpoint removed...