Sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, that's all you can think of when starting a new show. Not because that's your experience, quite the opposite, actually. But because you know these shows will represent high school all the same.
Modern television has a wide array of TV shows to offer teens who are just starting high school or the ones attending at the time. While all these are amusingly entertaining, only a handful are relatable to high school students, if at all. It is shocking how many TV shows portray high school with outlandish plot elements that tend to glorify adolescence.
'Gossip Girl'
Gossip Girl frequently features Blair (Leighton Meester) and Serena (Blake Lively) drinking martinis or partying in posh bars, where magically, no one asks for their IDs or even cares that they're 15. If that isn't shocking enough, the teens tend to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan like they're only minutes away. That is impossible unless the elites possess a teleportation technique they're unwilling to share with the world.
While this may seem exciting to a viewer, none of the high-schoolers are sipping martinis in bars every, nor do they want to. And if no one's asking for ID or any form of age proof, you might want to check where you are.
'The Vampire Diaries'
The characters in The Vampire Diaries have a lot of time on hand before school starts. Workouts, setting up a school dance, makeup, and hair, they manage to do everything in the early hours of the morning. Sure, the show isn't supposed to portray reality because it's about vampires accurately. Still, no high school student, in their right mind or without a superpower, can accomplish all the students at Mystic Falls do before reaching school.
Realistically speaking, no teen in today's age gets up before they absolutely have to, and even if they do, their schools start early enough to reach them in the dark.
'Riverdale'
Riverdale emerges as the winner when it comes to unrealistic high school expectations. From detective work to running nightclubs, these teens have done it all. Riverdale High student Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) buys and runs her own speakeasy, La Bonne Nuit. At her age, it is illegal to enter a nightclub, but she somehow affords to run one, and no one's the wiser. On one occasion, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) does a full striptease to get accepted into the Serpents, and nobody thinks it's odd.
As for the students performing detective work, it is a little too much on the side of unbelievable that they would give up on their school work and social life to solve mysteries.
'Euphoria'
Euphoria, not much unlike the name, is full of scenes with excessive use of drugs and alcohol. Almost every day of the characters' life contains sex, drugs, alcohol, or violence in some form, all of whom are underage (the actors, of course, are not).
The show deals with real kids' issues: high school is the age where teenagers are first introduced to drugs, alcohol, and sex at parties hosted by their friends. But for them to be a daily occurrence in their lives is a drastic overstatement.
'Glee'
Glee, while excruciatingly adorable, is a classic case of a television show giving kids unrealistic expectations of high school. No one throws slushies in your face, they're too previous, plus visible forms of bullying would get most people suspended. And no matter how many expenses The Glee Club at McGinley High seems to make, high schools in real life have a meager budget for any events they conduct.
The show is filled with examples of stuff that will never see the light of the day in a regular high school. For instance, Brittany (Heather Morris) wouldn't have gotten into MIT Early Decision, or MIT at all, after failing her senior year in high school.
'Teen Wolf'
Another TV show about fantastical elements and supernatural beings, Teen Wolf, is a show about Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), an awkward teen who turns into a werewolf one day before his sophomore year after being bitten by one. While his high school, Beacon Hills, is generally run like a typical high school in any other part of the world, the sudden replacement of the principal by the show's villain is a flabbergasting plot twist.
When the most important employee of the school is kidnapped and replaced by a random person with no known qualifications, you'd think people would question the decision. But at Beacon Hills, no one even bats an eye.
'One Tree Hill'
All the characters on One Tree Hill are unexplainably wealthy and successful. Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) has a book published merely a year after graduation, which is then turned into a movie. Nathan (James Lafferty) and Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz) get married at 16 and have a baby while having no financial restraints whatsoever.
Their marriage, in most states, would be illegal. While most high school students barely have any money to buy lunch without depending on their parents, even those working part-time have a meager income. Nathan and Haley, however, work no job at all and still have enough to raise a kid.
'Sex Education'
While the show is known for representing accurate sex advice, Sex Education might not be the show to look up to for high school expectations. While the cast adorns beautiful outfits, British schools have strict uniforms for all their students. Even though it's free, the sixth form (higher education) is not compulsory, and not everyone attends. Only high achieving students go to more selective sixth forms.
Many characters are represented incorrectly in terms of their popularity or presence at school. And if Ofsted conducted any inspections in the school, Mr. Hendricks (Jim Howick) would've been fired immediately.
'Pretty Little Liars'
When most teens struggle to cover dark circles with little makeup and not look like they just rolled out of bed all the time, the girls in Pretty Little Liars are impeccably dressed to school each day. They look like they just stepped off the runway with their nails perfectly done and all accessories matching their ensemble flawlessly.
The attentive costume design and swoon-worthy outfits make for a compelling viewing experience. The ensembles, however, are never realistic for any teen. It already looks impossible to sit in them all day but to use after-school hours to solve mysteries in the same, hard pass.
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
With schools trying to increase their security in the United States across the board, the lax security at Sunnydale in Buffy The Vampire Slayer could be an unwelcome sight for some. The students can come and leave as and when they wish, random visitors are allowed inside without questioning their motives or any kinds of passes... and staff members and students attempting murder on school grounds are a daily occurrence.
Real-life schools would never allow visitors inside without some pass, and many even have metal detectors, making it virtually impossible for anyone to enter with a weapon.