Hollywood High: Movie Stereotypes Missing in Online High Schools

Movies showcasing the lives of high school students are a popular genre in television and films. Featuring beautiful and perfectly dressed students, Hollywood’s depiction is entertaining, but not the most realistic demonstration of what high school is really like for students. For students enrolled in online high schools, these portrayals of students are even more of a stretch. Not every student fits into the stereotypes broadcast on your screen. Here are few more high school myths perpetuated by the film industry.

• Each person fits into a specific niche group. In most high school movies, every person on screen falls into a designated label: jock, nerd, popular, band geek and others. In real life, people aren’t one dimensional. Just because you enjoy playing sports doesn’t mean you aren’t equally as talented on the debate team. Or while you may enjoy the marching band, you may be equally talented with a paintbrush in your hand. In real life, people’s interests and who they associate with are much more fluid than the rigid social lines depicted on television.
• Teachers are out to get you. Matilda had Ms. Trunchbull, Harry Potter had Professor Snape and Ferris Bueller had Principal Rooney. Each of these educators spent every moment on screen ensuring that they made life miserable for their students. In real life, teachers are not out to get you, nor are they secretly plotting ways to make you fail. Teachers, academic advisors and professors are in their positions to offer you assistance and guidance so you can succeed and complete your education goals.
• School work isn’t important. Watch any movie about high school and you’ll notice they spend very little time in class. When studying is involved, students rarely put in their best effort and the ones who do are teased. As an example, consider the paper writing scene in The Breakfast Club. Contrary to what films convey, the most important part of high school is the actual learning. You don’t earn a diploma by cheering at football games or participating in food fights in the cafeteria. You earn it because of your conscientiousness, the assignments you complete and how much knowledge you retain.

Hollywood movies may be known for building elaborate sets and creating impressive explosions, but their depiction of what high school and, in turn, high schoolers are really like is far from accurate. The students found in high schools all over the world and those in online high schools are vastly different than the way they’re portrayed on screen. And if you want to earn your high school diploma completely out of the limelight, consider online high schools as your best bet. Learning independently, you can play whatever character suits your fancy – as long as your final scene ends with graduation!