The Journey to Writing a Successful Story: a tip book

American Schooling Pt. 6 - Popularity and Bullies

I've seen a lot of people asking about the American school systems, so I will like to provide you the information on them. I have been to over fourteen different types of schools in various areas, so I'm using my knowledge from that and from my siblings' schools. Do know that I'm no "knowledge-keeper" when it comes to this - I know a lot of the system, but there are things that I am unaware of. If you do have any questions that I did not answer throughout any of these areas, please comment below. I will try my best to find the answer from my most wonderful best friend, Google.

Now, let's get started.

Popularity:

We'll first talk about this as in books, it's actually portraying it wrong. Most people think of popularity like it is in the movies, such as Mean Girls, The Duff, Cinderella Story, Another Cinderella Story, High School Musical, and so on - the person who is prettier and richer is the person who is popular. At times, wealth plays a part. But, not as much.

In smaller schools, in a small town, where most people know one another and you're comfortable in going to every house on your block to ask for sugar because you all are best friends and grew up with them all, then there is a chance that your school has a popular group. But in larger schools where not everyone knows each other, then no, your school won't have a popular group like in the movies.

But it depends on the definition of popular in the school.

What's rare is the type in the movies - the popular group is the rich, beautiful, cheerleader/jock (possibly?) group who bullies people.

The other types which are more common are either where the person/group are the party animals (drugs, alcohol, parties) and part of the school likes them; or where a person is the funnest to hang around in a large group of friends. And most of the time, the people aren't jerks, per say.

Just because someone does sports, doesn't always mean they will be popular in the school. They may only be recognized because people like the sport, for instance, teachers in my old high school who were into football and volleyball, knew the students that played in them and would brag about them or the games.

And just because someone is in a sport, doesn't mean they will act like jerks. I knew of cheerleaders that weren't mean at all and I even had a really cute football quarterback as a partner in my biology class - he was incredibly nice; he cracked jokes, smiled a lot, and was sweet and kind.

This doesn't mean that popularity doesn't exist in high school. It just depends on the area and the school itself.

Bullies:

Popular people may bully, but it's not always true. Your bullies are random people who are basically nobodies themselves.

Every bully is different for what they do, but it's mainly using vicious words or embarrassing you in some way. Other times, they may actually beat you up, but I've never seen that - I've only heard of it. Back in the day, people were given swirlies and shoved in lockers, but not much, anymore. When time changed, what people did changed too.

You're basically bullied for various reasons - what you wear, what you look like, your weight, where you live, how you live, how smart you are, how tall you are, how you smell, your sexual orientation, if you're a virgin, being scared to do something, how strong you are, and so on.

But again, it differs on what the person does to torment you.

Elementary school and middle school will be the worst, but high school doesn't have as much bullying. There may be times when you will be, but it's technically not as bad as earlier years.