Ugh. High School. Post #1

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Introduction

On TV high school is perceived in many different ways. Most of the ideas are conjured by professionals who haven't stepped foot in one in years. Decades even. Times change. Rules evolve. New ways emerge. High school is no longer what it used to be.

First in this series is a basic rambling of everything that I want to get out. The stories I want to tell. The ideas that I need to share. I'll make it bulleted, because well, that makes it sound like I've got my crap together.

•What Happens Behind Closed Doors
As much as I hate to admit it, there are certain 'things' that happen in high school. Drugs. Sex. Drinking. Cheating. Lying. As much as we hate to come to terms with reality, it happens. I've seen kids that I've been with since elementary school completely change. Honestly, high school has made me scared to have children. I've seen kids who had everything going for them throw it all away. I always had this idea of how I would raise my kids and up into high school, I felt that I would be able to raise a kid who wouldn't turn into the drinking, partying, sex demons that we think attend this wretched place (okay, slight exaggeration). But this is impossible unless you like home school your child for all of eternity. We all want to believe that these bad things don't happen.

But they do.

•People Come, People Go
There were a lot of things that I walked blindly around. I thought that by not acknowledging a circumstance, it wouldn't be there. As foolish and naive as that sounds, it worked for a good portion of my high school career. One of these situations was friendships. You don't know how many countless times I was told I'd lose friends the year before my freshmen year. As people slowly started to distance themselves from me and as others started to just plain treat me badly, I turned away. I pretended like it wasn't there until ultimately when I came to terms with the circumstances and tried to mend these relationships, it was beyond fixing. I'm still struggling to re-sew these friendships back together, which then leads me to another thing. If you've been friends with this person since second grade, don't give up on them. On yourself. On your friendship. Maybe give yourselves a break, draw away and be partners with new people. Go shopping with a new girl. Hang out with somebody else, but still make that effort to stay with that person because if you don't it could be a regret. Now don't get me wrong. If this person is hurting you so bad that you just can't take it, truly drop them for a while. But ask yourself, imagine no longer being friends with them. Does it hurt? Do you get that gut wrench in your stomach? Then work to keep them. It'll pay off, take it from me.

•We Can Be A Little Snappy
This one goes out to siblings, parents, and all the adults we come across. Things are harder for us than they have been for the past decade and a half of our lives. There's pressure that we can't explain. Our minds at times aren't rational like adults are. We have homework. Friendship issues. Nagging parents. Teachers who are pushing us harder than any teacher we've ever had. We can be short on you, on our brothers, sisters, parents, even friends. You've got to understand how hard our life is at times. The situations we're facing may seem small to you, but they're big to us. And since we're claiming that you should walk a mile in our shoes, then we should do the same for you as well. But at Least give us the benefit of the doubt. Being a teenager is hard, we're treated like kids but expected to act like adults. A contradiction that is inarguably unfair.

The second post will be coming soon.

Have a fabulous day.


Want to continue with the series?
Ugh. High School. Post #2
Ugh. High School. Post #3
Ugh. High School. Post #4