Was high school a horror house for you?

[LucyStoner]

I dropped out of high school and went to college. It was the best choice I made, I just wish I'd made it sooner and under better circumstances.

I thought you said recently here that you now regret going to college? I am curious what education you wish you had done. If I am confusing you with someone else, I am sorry.

[JessReplanted]

No, but I went to a private Catholic high school. It was very academic and pretty tame in all other respects.

 

I went to the public Jr. High though, and that place was scary.

 

This is a bit off topic, but: I'm 35 and I still have nightmares about forgetting my locker combination, finding classrooms, and getting all of my work completed. Isn't that crazy?! I think I was traumatized by the educational process. :svengo:

[Jean in Newcastle]

I couldn't answer with a simple yes or no.  

 

The one year I went to American public high school was a horror house for me.

The three years I went to an International boarding school overseas was not a horror house but was a good experience - for the school part.  (The boarding part was a horror house.)

[kiwik]

It was pretty bad. Like many waited patiently through 8 years of primary for the opportunity to learn stuff I high school. Then it turned out to be much the same. I was so disappointed!

 

I left at 15. In NZ in the early eighties it was unusual to complete all 5 years of high school. You sat your university entrance exam in the fourth year and only kids who were young or needed to sit scholarship exams stayed for the last year. About 40 % would have left at 15.

 

I went back as an adult.

[lailasmum]

My secondary school was a complete waste of time. I was bullied, introverted and my academically minded self was bored. Much of the lesson time was lost due to kids being disruptive and the teachers had an air of being bored out of their minds. I got good grades because I have a good memory and can do exams easily but in practice I don't feel like I really had a worthwhile education. I really liked maths and science but didn't do well at higher levels because I obviously didn't understand something in maths at some point but there was no way to get help from the teaching staff to figure out where I had got confused and get help. My memories or secondary school are pretty much exclusively negative.

[Jane in NC]

Can any four year experience be reduced to a simple yes or no?  Is high school solely hellish or blissful for anyone?

 

For me, high school was a mostly positive experience.  Perhaps your poll could use the ubiquitous "other"--and then some.
 

[texasmama]

This is a bit off topic, but: I'm 35 and I still have nightmares about forgetting my locker combination, finding classrooms, and getting all of my work completed. Isn't that crazy?! I think I was traumatized by the educational process. :svengo:

I am 47 and still have these.  I'm always late to a test because I got lost and am trying to get to the office to ask someone for help finding my locker.  Ugh.

[KrissiK]

It was fine. I was an introvert, and pretty much ignored by the "cool kids", but I had a bestie and we made our own fun. Academically, it was a complete waste of time. I would have never thought about dropping out, but now that I look back, I feel bad that we had such terrible teachers (and it was a Christian School). Not all the teachers were bad, but quite a few were just horrible. Didn't learn a thing in any social studies/history class. In my jr. English class I learned about how my teacher met her fiancé on a trip to England and then her subsequent wedding plans. My class had only 68 kids in it and had a horrible reputation. Some of the boys were very disrespectful to the teachers. Most of the "cool kids" basically partied and drank every weekend. As I said, my best friend and I were ignored by them, so we weren't involved in that.

[Hunter's Moon]

I left Public School at the end of 10th (with the blessing of my parents) and homeschooled/self-educated for the last two years. Legally, we were considered homeschoolers, but my parents really didn't give any input in my classes.

 

I was sick of being the designated "good" student, always placed in the groups with the students who didn't care and expected to carry them. I actually had teachers tell me they chose me to "help" these students. Sorry, not my job.

[Mom22ns]

I didn't answer the poll. I didn't like high school, but it was not a house of horrors. I went to a reasonably good high school. It is now rated in the top 5 in my state. I had a decent group of friends. I was involved in sports and band. I had some wonderful teachers and some duds. I couldn't wait to leave and did dual enrollment my senior year. I never thought of dropping out. I did want to get out, but by finishing, not quitting. 

 

I needed an other on this poll. Not a house of horrors, but saying no sounds like I liked it and I didn't. It wasn't all bad. I'm glad my kids got got skip the experience, although I tried to get dd to go because I think she would have liked it.

[foxbridgeacademy]

No, High school was ... okay, I guess.  Middle School was beyond horrible, until 2nd semester 8th grade then this really nice girl moved to my school and took pity on me and I finally had a friend.  Seriously that bad, I was raised Pentecostal (long hair, long skirts, no make-up, naive) so was ostracized by the general student body.  The other Pentecostals knew I didn't actually believe the same as they did so they also tended to stay away from me.  Jenny, the girl who befriended me, was very outgoing and fun.  She made friends easily.  So by Freshman year I had a whole group of friends to hang out with.  My parents weren't happy about this or some of my other behaviors (mild rebellion, smart attitude) and pulled me out of school at 16 to HS me..... But, for the time I was there I was happy.  For teens I think having friends is very important, knowing that those friendships are not the it/all/everything in life is just as important.

[kiana]

I am 47 and still have these.  I'm always late to a test because I got lost and am trying to get to the office to ask someone for help finding my locker.  Ugh.

 

well

 

I dreamed that I showed up and they'd assigned me to teach Latin 101 at the university -- I had ONE YEAR of Latin in HS about 20 years ago.

[LucyStoner]

But at least you have that degree to dust off down the line if need be, right? I mean, the world is a pretty unstable place. I may not be using much of my education at the moment as a SAHM/homemaker/suburban housewife/label of your choice but I am mighty glad to be employable should the need arise, and employable at a decent rate of pay.

[Gentlemommy]

I was treading water in high school.

 

Academically, it was a waste of time. I was engaged in multiple extracurriculars, working multiple jobs, and seriously dating adults.

 

I wanted to skip high school and go to college early, but my parents (who both did just that :glare: ) told me to stay. They sited immaturity, but I think they really just didn't want their baby to grow up. FWIW, my older brothers were both out of the house by 17, in varying circumstances. We grow up fast in my family, and I think they just wanted to hold onto me.

 

My dad apologized to me the day on my graduation. He agreed that it had been a waste of time, and set me back academically. Sigh. At least I was still 17, so it wasn't too much time lost.

 

Socially, it was fine. I spent 90% of my time playing. Most of my classes were silly. I had class periods for choir, swim team, tutoring elementary kids. I had solid friendships that I brought with me. Most fell away as they left school or otherwise moved on. Eh. I broke even.

 

 

ETA: I went to a very large, high ranking public school in Los Angeles. The school was fine. I just didn't belong there.

 

This was me besides the ETA part. It was boring and I begged my parents to let me graduate a year early, so I could go work, in my profession as a dancer. They said no, so my senior year was spent taking 2 classes, dance (which was a waste of time, as we just sat and talked to our teacher, and some other class I can't even remember. I would leave at lunch and go work at my dance studio. I don't keep in touch with anyone from high school, I wasn't popular or picked on, I was just insanely bored.

[LucyStoner]

Katie, I'll message you the details :)

Oops, I responded to your post before you edited it away.

[calihil]

Ugh... I hated high school. I couldnt wait to graduate and move on with my life. I was always kind of shy in high school, didnt have many friends. There were a lot of cliques and, well, just never felt like I fit in much. Lunch times were the worst. The few friends I did have, I never seemed to have lunch period with them so the first days of the school year blocks (we had block scheduling) were incredibly stressful for me and did scar me. I still have anxiety in large crowd situations where I dont know anyone. I was a good student, though, and never considered dropping out. It was just really lonely and depressing for me. College, however, was a blast and I was able to be myself and made a lot of friends.

[DawnM]

I enjoyed high school for the most part.  Any issues I had were due to my own insecurity and internal issues, but the school was great.

 

My best friends are still from my high school.  We are scattered around the world now (literally), but still get together when we can.

 

I went to boarding school overseas.

[Mommy22alyns]

High school, from 10th on, wasn't too bad.  I got there and realized quickly that nobody cared what you wore or what you looked like, so it was pretty freeing.  Middle school-9th grades were a lot rougher.  I was also in the Little Rock school district, which is pretty rough.

[duckens]

Academically:  For the most part, I had excellent teachers who were superior in their knowledge of their subject matter and their ability to challenge and teach students what they needed to know.  I really feel as if I received a private school education from the local public school system.

Socially:  I lived in a perfect storm of:

 

1) Intense bullying from select students; subtle bullying from a bigger group that was systematically approved and encouraged by what was considered acceptable class situations.

 

2) Depression, thoughts of suicide, and active self-harm (sometimes daily cutting), running away from school to sit in the woods and read my textbooks.

 

3) Parents that thought that #1 and #2 had nothing to do with them.  Parents who didn't care if I went to bed cold (not enough blankets in winter in a wood-burning house) and didn't care if I went without eating for 2 of the 3 daily meals.  Parents who told me that it was my fault when I was physically harmed (black eyes, broken tooth, etc).  Our relationship has never recovered, and I don't think it ever will.

 

I did graduate, but only because of a fluke.  I was so advanced early in high school that even though I missed the last 1.5 years of high school, I only had one required class to meet graduation requirements.  They gave me a textbook and let me read it at home. The school said I needed a school teacher to sign off as my "tutor," so my boss at the ice cream store (a former teacher) agreed to do so in exchange for working for free.  I worked every afternoon for free, so she got free labor and she didn't have to pay taxes for me or anything.  In exchange, I got NOTHING from her.  Yet another situation where my parents didn't care that their child was exploited.  (I kept my part of the bargain; my boss did not keep hers).

 

I took a test at the end of the year, got a D, or maybe an F, and graduated.

 

If I had it to do over, I would have gotten my GED and gotten the heck out of my school and home situation.  It surely couldn't have been any worse or more damaging than staying there.

[creekland]

Academically my high school was great and I was super well-prepared for college.

 

Socially I had a few good friends and really no enemies that I know of, but I never really liked high school and was glad to be finished with it.  I loved college - absolutely loved it.

 

Part of why I didn't care for high school was probably due to home issues (parents divorced when I was 11 and put my sister and I in the middle - quite a bit of stress) and the fact that I REALLY got into horseback riding/showing.  I would voluntarily get up before school to train the horse I had at home - even in the dead of winter (my dad set up lights), then shower and get to school.  After school two - three days per week I'd drive about 20 miles to a stable where I kept another horse and work with him + any others they let me work with.  I did winter track to stay in shape for riding and was on the yearbook club + NHS, but didn't do much else.

 

I'd have loved homeschooling and could have been super independent with it.

 

For my 10th grade year we went to FL and I ended up in a pricey private school (on scholarship).  That year ended up being quite a good year for learning about "people" and different aspects of life (socio-economic mostly).  It was also quite good academically - definitely on par with the top classes in my ps, but without the lower level classes or kids.