Yes, High School Is the Way TV Portrays It

Image courtesy of Buzzfeed

By MAYA BOKHARI ‘20

I used to find comfort in watching the overdramatized cliques, unreasonable teachers, and endless free time depicted in teen dramas because I laughed at their stupidity and inaccuracy. With one more semester left in high school, I think I finally see what Hollywood producers were describing all along. Although we like to think we are immune to stereotypes, judgement, and bullying here at Milton, we are not. We, prep school kids, are just skilled at hiding such behavior. Every so often, somebody will slip up and forget to mask it – that’s when all hell breaks loose. Until then, we all live in willful ignorance as we choose not to acknowledge the stone walls between tables in the lunchroom, the hierarchy among the Stu hangouts, and, worst of all, the willingness to abandon each other when the going gets tough. 

Oddly enough, my realization that all these terrible movies are accurate came as a proof by contradiction. I am, admittedly, a Hallmark Movie Channel fanatic. Something about the utopian ways of figuring out small town romances is strangely appealing. Unfortunately, I think the genuineness and contagious positivity in Hallmark movies are more unrealistic than the villainous ways of our teenage drama queens. So, between the two, a high school bully seems far more realistic than any heroic hometown handyman. 

Don’t get me wrong – I have loved my Milton experience. But, the more I begin to step away, the more I see how much bullying goes disguised and unnoticed. I think our definition of “friend” is the source of many of our problems – not just in Milton, but through all social media influences. We have so many methods of quantifying popularity and followings that we continue to lose sight of what it would mean the moment we all turned off our phones. Many of us desire to be known, but we forget our desire to make meaningful connections. 

We desire to never walk through the Stu alone, but we never acknowledge the superficial nature of those Student Center walks. We all have moments of solitude – however brief they may be. But in those moments of solitude, do we feel isolated and forgotten? A friend shouldn’t be somebody with whom you deem acceptable to be seen. A friend should be somebody who will stand up for you.

Now, I ask you this: how many friends do you have? Do you consider yourself popular? Either way, consider this: after graduation, to how many people do you truly believe you can turn? I bet that number aligns very little to the number of friends you claim, but it does align more with classic television portrayals. Like Miley, Lilly, and Oliver, of all those friends we often claim, maybe only a few are always there.

I wish the Milton Community, as a whole, provided more genuine support. The resemblances between Milton and teenage television drama are too prevalent in the form of superficial relationships, bystanding in the face of bullying –implicitly, electronically, and overtly– and competition for social standing. The more we allow these threats to continue, the more Milton will preserve and increase its likeness to the horrifying high school experience Hollywood directors prey on. Sure, we celebrate our community’s successes, but we rarely follow up, and we rarely support those who lack success. Sure, we promote activism, but we rarely stand up in the interest of the silent or absent. And sure, we strive to break down social barriers, yet we rarely create opportunities to do so. Milton has given us each a unique and powerful voice. Let’s strive to use it.