3 ms·

It gets better. For most people, not just LGBT teens. Highschool is a weird anomaly really, inside there's one set of rules for what's good, what's important,

It gets better. For most people, not just LGBT teens. Highschool is a weird anomaly really, inside there's one set of rules for what's good, what's important, and who's popular. But when you get outside you realize it was all crap. Being popular in high school earns you nothing in real life. Noone outside cares about what was important in high school. Instead, you realize that the ones that were smart, that got good grades, that worked hard at the actual schoolwork, that got bullied, they're the ones doing pretty well in life. It's kinda funny, because when you're inside, teachers and adults are saying this, but noone listens. I think that's the larger problem: why is highschool so incredibly disconnected from reality?

cletus 16y ago
High school is where a select few get to be popular just before they spend the rest of their lives pumping gas and waiting tablets for a living. Germany, as one example, actually separates out their high school system is split. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany > German secondary education includes four types of school. The Gymnasium is designed to prepare pupils for university education and finishes with the final examination Abitur, > after grade 12 or 13. The Realschule has a broader range of emphasis for intermediate pupils and finishes with the final examination Mittlere Reife, after grade 10; the Hauptschule > prepares pupils for vocational education and finishes with the final examination Hauptschulabschluss, after grade 9 or 10 and the Realschulabschluss after grade 10. There are two types > of grade 10: one is the higher level called type 10b and the lower level is called type 10a; only the higher level type 10b can lead to the Realschule and this finishes with the final > examination Mittlere Reife after grade 10b. This new path of achieving the Realschulabschluss at a vocationally-oriented secondary school was changed by the statutory school > regulations in 1981 - with a one-year qualifying period. During the one-year qualifying period of the change to the new regulations, pupils could continue with class 10 to fulfil the > statutory period of education. After 1982, the new path was compulsory, as explained above. Other than this, there is the Gesamtschule, which combines the approaches. There are also > Förderschulen/Sonderschulen. One in 21 pupils attends a Förderschule.[2][3] Nevertheless the Förderschulen/Sonderschulen can also lead, in special > circumstances, to a Hauptschulabschluss of both type 10a or type 10b, the latter of which is the Realschulabschluss. Perhaps the reason that high school is so disconnected to the rest of life is that everyone goes through the same system. After that, you go to college (or not). Whether or not you go, to what school you go and what you study is largely merit-based. The private education system is better in some ways but isn't merit-based. It's largely a function of the economic circumstances of the students' parents.
- eru 16y ago
  How funny that somebody would laud the German schooling system. They also have enough bullying --- though I do not know whether it's statistically less or more than in the US. And I only know about the Gymnasien first hand. The other types are just awful, from what I heard. In Germany people talk about the schooling system mostly in terms of it lowering social mobility and failing to give a good education.
  - cletus 16y ago
    It's true the German education system is far from issue-free and I don't mean to put it up on a pedestal. Rather it is simply an example of a system that does separate out high school age students on something other than simply your geographical location.
    - eru 16y ago
      Yes. Though geographical location also plays a huge role. There's a big north-south divide. Some Realschulen in the south are better than some Gymnasien in the north.
nandemo 16y ago
> It's kinda funny, because when you're inside, teachers and adults are saying this, but noone listens. I don't quite understand. Do you mean that people who are bullied should just "not care" for 3 years, because eventually it will be over? Or are you not talking about bullying? (I can't see the video now)
- corin_ 16y ago
  It's not a case of them needing to not care about it, just that if they understood how the balance of ups and downs would end up over life, they would be more able to get through those years.
maxawaytoolong 16y ago
Highschool is a weird anomaly really, inside there's one set of rules for what's good, what's important, and who's popular. But when you get outside you realize it was all crap. Being popular in high school earns you nothing in real life. Noone outside cares about what was important in high school. Except... Work at a company that has more than a handful of people. Who is the PM, the VP of sales, the product manager? Creative is mad at engineering because they have to redo all the graphics to make room for a new javascirpt dropdown. The tech exec meeting has to be rescheduled because the director of mobile is running a triathlon. Are we going to have a scrum with the SA's and network ops? Maybe promotions occur via, uh, tests and a grading system. Maybe they occur because one VP likes another director. It's a social structure that has no bearing on the world outside of the organization, with it's own internal cliques and language and popularity contests. Dare I say there's a fair amount of bullying involved as well. If you leave to become an independent, you realize it was all crap. I don't think High School is really that much of an anomaly. It's just a collection different sub-organizations and power structure than what you find in other organizations.

cletus 16y ago

High school is where a select few get to be popular just before they spend the rest of their lives pumping gas and waiting tablets for a living. Germany, as one example, actually separates out their high school system is split. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany > German secondary education includes four types of school. The Gymnasium is designed to prepare pupils for university education and finishes with the final examination Abitur, > after grade 12 or 13. The Realschule has a broader range of emphasis for intermediate pupils and finishes with the final examination Mittlere Reife, after grade 10; the Hauptschule > prepares pupils for vocational education and finishes with the final examination Hauptschulabschluss, after grade 9 or 10 and the Realschulabschluss after grade 10. There are two types > of grade 10: one is the higher level called type 10b and the lower level is called type 10a; only the higher level type 10b can lead to the Realschule and this finishes with the final > examination Mittlere Reife after grade 10b. This new path of achieving the Realschulabschluss at a vocationally-oriented secondary school was changed by the statutory school > regulations in 1981 - with a one-year qualifying period. During the one-year qualifying period of the change to the new regulations, pupils could continue with class 10 to fulfil the > statutory period of education. After 1982, the new path was compulsory, as explained above. Other than this, there is the Gesamtschule, which combines the approaches. There are also > Förderschulen/Sonderschulen. One in 21 pupils attends a Förderschule.[2][3] Nevertheless the Förderschulen/Sonderschulen can also lead, in special > circumstances, to a Hauptschulabschluss of both type 10a or type 10b, the latter of which is the Realschulabschluss. Perhaps the reason that high school is so disconnected to the rest of life is that everyone goes through the same system. After that, you go to college (or not). Whether or not you go, to what school you go and what you study is largely merit-based. The private education system is better in some ways but isn't merit-based. It's largely a function of the economic circumstances of the students' parents.

eru 16y ago
How funny that somebody would laud the German schooling system. They also have enough bullying --- though I do not know whether it's statistically less or more than in the US. And I only know about the Gymnasien first hand. The other types are just awful, from what I heard. In Germany people talk about the schooling system mostly in terms of it lowering social mobility and failing to give a good education.
- cletus 16y ago
  It's true the German education system is far from issue-free and I don't mean to put it up on a pedestal. Rather it is simply an example of a system that does separate out high school age students on something other than simply your geographical location.
  - eru 16y ago
    Yes. Though geographical location also plays a huge role. There's a big north-south divide. Some Realschulen in the south are better than some Gymnasien in the north.

nandemo 16y ago

> It's kinda funny, because when you're inside, teachers and adults are saying this, but noone listens. I don't quite understand. Do you mean that people who are bullied should just "not care" for 3 years, because eventually it will be over? Or are you not talking about bullying? (I can't see the video now)

corin_ 16y ago
It's not a case of them needing to not care about it, just that if they understood how the balance of ups and downs would end up over life, they would be more able to get through those years.

maxawaytoolong 16y ago

Highschool is a weird anomaly really, inside there's one set of rules for what's good, what's important, and who's popular. But when you get outside you realize it was all crap. Being popular in high school earns you nothing in real life. Noone outside cares about what was important in high school. Except... Work at a company that has more than a handful of people. Who is the PM, the VP of sales, the product manager? Creative is mad at engineering because they have to redo all the graphics to make room for a new javascirpt dropdown. The tech exec meeting has to be rescheduled because the director of mobile is running a triathlon. Are we going to have a scrum with the SA's and network ops? Maybe promotions occur via, uh, tests and a grading system. Maybe they occur because one VP likes another director. It's a social structure that has no bearing on the world outside of the organization, with it's own internal cliques and language and popularity contests. Dare I say there's a fair amount of bullying involved as well. If you leave to become an independent, you realize it was all crap. I don't think High School is really that much of an anomaly. It's just a collection different sub-organizations and power structure than what you find in other organizations.