60 Awful Things About High School | Teen Ink

60 Awful Things About High School

February 17, 2012
By Courtney Yates BRONZE, Casco, Maine
Courtney Yates BRONZE, Casco, Maine
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

All the things you’ve heard about high school are true. It’s a horrid place. It’s all the bad parts of the real world thrown under one roof. You make friends and you lose friends. You meet new boys that turn into a disaster. Your teachers are always giving you a hard time. You’re always wanting to pull your hair out. Four years seem to take forever. Well here is a list of 60 the things I hate about high school. Trust me, you are not alone.

1. Broken chairs

Every single classroom you walk in to in my high school has at least one broken chair or desk. You sit down and you one of the legs is broken and you’re tipping all over the place. I didn’t know this was an amusement park. I thought I was in English class. Also, you can sit down in a chair and it is cracked. It pinches my butt to no end and it just makes the class more miserable than it normally is.

2. Crowded cafeteria

Walking in to the cafeteria is like entering a maze. You have to maneuver around people, chairs, tables, backpacks, and who knows what else. First of all it is insanely stressful and my voice is gone by the time I get to my seat from saying excuse me or sorry to every single person that stands in your way.

3. Girls standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom

I don’t know about you but when I go in to the bathroom I would like to make sure that I’m presentable. If I can’t look in the mirror then that’s not going to happen and I could be walking around with a huge piece of food on my face or something like that. It wouldn’t bother me so much if the girls would just move over or back up so someone else can have a turn but of course every girl in the school is selfish.

4. The temperature

Getting dressed for school takes many hours of consideration. You can’t dress for warm weather because more times than not it’s going to be snowing inside the school. You can’t dress for cold weather because the teachers are always throwing a cabin fever beach party and you’ll be sweating all day. For best results go to school in jeans and a t-shirt and bring a duffel back with backups.

5. People making out before class

Do not get me wrong. I have nothing against having a boyfriend and liking him a lot. I just don’t think he needs to be reminded of how much you really like him in between every class. That stuff should be saved for your house. First of all you’re making all the single people really angry and sad. Secondly if all these couples are lined up down the hallway making out that leaves little to no room for the traffic of everyone else trying to get to class on time. You maybe making your girlfriend/boyfriend happy but you’re making the rest of the student body miserable.

6. Cranky teachers

I’m sure every single student in school has gotten the speech about how teachers are people to. I understand that they have feelings and don’t live at the school but when they are cranky they maybe turning around the moods of some very upbeat students. Say I’m all excited to go to Math. I get to Math only to find out that my teacher is crotchety and all of a sudden I am no longer excited for Math and the rest of the class is just miserable. News flash: students are people, too.

7. Announcements interrupting class

I don’t know if the lady in the office forgets about the time in between classes, but interrupting class to tell Jimmy his mommy is here with a clean pair of underwear doesn’t seem important enough to interrupt the learning environment. It’s really bothersome when it takes the teacher ten minutes to say one sentence because after every word there is a new announcements.

8. Broken school supplies

It’s really saddening that kids in my school don’t have the decency to respect the supplies that is given to us for free. Sure they may just be markers and what not but that doesn’t mean you can build a marker light saber and then reenact a scene from Star Wars. We are in high school in case you have forgotten. It isn’t all that appropriate or attractive to be swinging ten connected markers around during Art.

9. Short days

Short days are great after a long night of basketball or something like that but they truly aren’t helpful when you didn’t do your homework and you don’t have a full study hall to complete it. Sleeping in is my favorite thing to do but getting an F on a homework assignment does not thrill me. Also when it’s a short day the schedule gets thrown completely around and confuses everyone to no end. It just adds more stress to everyones life.

10. Messy bathrooms

A peaceful bathroom experience doesn’t seem like too much to ask for. When I go in to the bathroom I really don’t want to walk in to a stall and be surprised by the toilet paper, women products, feces, or anything else that could possibly be in the bathroom. I do not see what is so hard about being neat and orderly for the two minutes you’re in the stall. To be truthful, you’re making your own life easier while making someone else’s bathroom trip a little less traumatizing.

11. Seniority

Being a Senior does not make you the most important person to walk on this Earth. You are not better than any other person in the school it just means you’ve been here the longest and it’s your turn to get out of this horrid place. I don’t see how that gives you the right to make every innocent Freshmen’s life miserable or demand respect from all the kids in the school. We’re all just waiting for it to be our turn to leave. We’re all just minding our own business so why don’t you mind yours.

12. Jammed printers

Teachers always say not to wait until the last minute to print because something may go wrong and you won’t be able to receive your paper. When do you think we’ll learn to actually listen to them? It would be nice if you could count on the printers to always work but of course that is never the case. It takes one student to print a picture of a dog for their English project and you’re doomed. It’s very taxing.

13. No toilet paper in the bathrooms

The worst thing that can happen during your trip to the bathroom is picking a stall with no toilet paper. The only thing that can make this situation even worse is not having a friend with you who can get you some. What can you even do when you are stuck in a situation like that? If there is other people in the bathroom you can yell to them but if you don’t know them it could be a little awkward. If there isn’t anyone in the bathroom you’re really stuck. You could drip dry, pull your pants up, and go to the next stall. That does not sound all that fun to me though.

14. Slow internet

It’s extremely difficult to complete an assignment that involves the internet when it’s working slower than a tortes or not working at all. Refreshing the page one hundred times doesn’t really help either but that’s all you can really do.

15. Unavailable teachers

Class periods are only a certain amount of time. Of course there is no way you can get all your work done in the time allotted for that class. Sometimes you need to see a teacher after school or during a free period of yours. Nothing bothers me more than when it takes me a week to make an appointment with my teacher to retake a test, ask them for help on a project/homework, or ask them an important question. I understand that they have other students but it would make a lot of students lives easier if their teachers were available during their free periods or on the days that they can stay after. It’s hard having to work schedule around your teachers.

16. No tissues

When there is no tissues in the class your in it is very irritating. What are you suppose to do when you spill something on the desk or your nose is constantly running like it’s on some treadmill? You could go to the bathroom and get paper towels or toilet paper but your teacher might not let you leave. You could go to the office and ask for a new box but again your teacher might not let you leave and if they do you could walk all the way to the office and they could be all out and then you just wasted all the energy for nothing.

17. Unnecessary classes

What is the point of adding extra stress to a students life by making some courses that they might not ever need in their future mandatory? I have enough homework for the four core classes, let alone the classes the are one hundred present unnecessary. I understand that homework is important because it makes you practice the stuff that you learned in class. In the classes we don’t need though, what are we learning that we need to practice at home? I don’t know if a teacher’s job description mentions making a student’s life miserable but sometimes it sure does seem that way.

18. Having to walk outside to get to a class

I don’t know how many students actually have to walk outside to get to a class but I’m sure the ones that do understand my pain. I live in Maine and when I have to walk outside to get to a class during the winter I am not a happy camper. I don’t know about you but I don’t bring my snowsuit to school for when I have to walk outside to get to a class. Also with the three minutes I have between classes I don’t have time to go get my coat. Walking outside to get to a class is not something we should have to do. Students could get colds and spread it around the school. I don’t really want to catch a cold for someone who got it from walking outside to get to a class.

19. School food

I’m sure if every student in this country was asked to make a list of things they hated about high school the school’s food would be on their list somewhere. It has been known since the beginning of time that school food is not even close to appetizing. Half the time it doesn’t even look like food. I have even seen it move once or twice. I don’t know about you but moving food is not something I want to consume.

20. School Water

Along the topic of food is water. The school’s water is deceiving. At first glance it looks good. Wait until you actually take a sip of it. It actually tastes like you’re a drinking out of a pure metal water bottle that has been soaked in rotten eggs and tuna. We are expected to drink a certain amount of ounces of water a day but there is no way that is going to happen when our school’s water tastes something like that.

21. Classes with no friends

Nothing makes a class worse than not having a single friend to endure the pain with you. School is bad enough and when you have no one else to fight through it with you have no reason to fight. You have no one to text and ask what the homework is when you forgot, you have no one to ask for help on a paper or a project, you have no one to sit next to during the class, and the list could go on and on.

22. Embarrassing moments in front of everyone

When something embarrassing happens to you, it is definitely easier to handle when no one else see’s it. When someone does there are many different stages of embarrassment. There is the mild level of embarrassment. A situation can be labeled as mildly embarrassing if it honestly wasn’t all that embarrassing or not a lot of people were around to see it. The medium level of embarrassment where, for example, you trip in the hallway and spill every single thing you’re holding in your hand on the floor but the only person in the hallway is your best friend Sally. Then there is the major level of embarrassment where you fall, drop everything in your hands, the whole student body (including your crush) saw it, and you gain an ugly name out of the whole situation. All of this just makes your school career that much worse.

23. When Tumblr isn’t working so you don’t have something to distract you from class

I live for things to distract me from class. When the one thing that usually is the cause of most of my distractions is not working I have to control the urge to drop to my knees and cry in the middle of class. For those of you who don’t know what Tumblr is, it’s a type of blog. People post whatever they want and you can reply, reblog, or like it. It is the soul purpose of my existence and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t make it through my days of high school without it.

24. Coming to school with two hours of sleep

It’s almost impossible to function on a regular day with only two hours of sleep but trying to function on a school day with only two hours of sleep is absolutely impossible. I practically fall asleep walking from class to class. The cause of the two hours of sleep is usually homework so I think that we should still have nap time like we did in kindergarden. It was such a genius idea and should have never have been taken away.

25. Kids that make the classroom smell bad

I don’t see what is so difficult about taking a quick shower before you come to school in the morning. I know some kids may not be so fortunate to have a shower in their home but there is alternatives. You could easily bring a towel to school and take a quick shower before the bell rings. No one wants to be subjected to the stench of dirty feet in their learning environment. It can be very distracting and uncomfortable.

26. Not having your license

Not having your license can limit you from doing so many things. The kids that can drive don’t have to work around their parents schedule because they can drive to where ever they want to go. Also if they have their license they can drive to school and they don’t have to endure the excruciating bus ride to school. Overall your high school experience would be better if you had your license. Of course I don’t though so my life is just miserable. If you’re looking for me on a Friday night don’t expect to find me on the roads, I’ll be home grooming my cat.

27. Being blinded by the projector

Nothing is more nerve racking than having to present a project in front of your class. You have to worry about messing up, entertaining people, and pleasing your teacher. Now I would love to know who created the projector, because who ever did must not have been blessed with good eyesight. The light that beams out of the little hole in the front can probably cause blindness. If you’re unlucky enough to look in to it by accident prepare for an unsatisfactory presentation.

28. Having to please everyone

Nothing in high school causes more stress than being under the pressure to please everyone. My one goal in high school is to get through it with out stirring up too much trouble. I don’t want to be in the center of any rumors or be the one with the reputation for knowing all the guys in the school. The only way to accomplish this is to please everyone and that is probably the hardest thing to do. This one task is probably the main reason for all the horrors of high school.

29. When Sparknotes is blocked...

Sparknotes is the most convenient website ever created. Without Sparknotes I probably would never be able to pass English. Trying to get on to it the period before taking a book test and finding out it is blocked can practically throw a girl in to a panic. Without the only tool that helps me review a book how am I expected pass? What sort of devil would block such an awesome learning tool? The answers to these questions are unknown but I do know that Sparknotes is needed to pass high school English.

30. Sex talks with the guidance counselor

Would you like the definition of awkward? The definition of awkward is having a sex talk run by a guidance counselor with all of the girls in your class. This is probably the one thing I would never want to skip a whole class for. I really don’t want to hear what my guidance counselor has to say about STDs or STIs.

31. Being let down by a friend

Through out the four years of high school don’t be surprised when friends change. Someone you had been trusting with all your secrets your whole life could no longer be trusted. The friend you ran to for everything may not be just around the corner. Your friend that you have told your whole life to could tell the whole school all your deepest darkest secrets. The toughest part about high school is learning who you’re true friends are.

32. Having to walk four miles just to get to the front door of the school

My friend and I usually get to school right before the bell and at that time usually all the parking spots in front of the door are taken. This means we have to go all the way down to the end of our long parking lot. During the winter it is a very long cold walk to the front door. Talk about a ruined morning.

33. Prom

Who ever invented prom has obviously never experienced the sorrow of singleness. When prom season comes around every single girl in high school is very aware of it. They get to watch all their friends get asked by their boyfriends and all the cute guys in school. Then they are forced to help them pick out a beautiful dress. It’s a very dreaded time for all the single ladies without a ring on it.

34. When you count on a snow day

Counting on a snow day is a lesson I will never learn. Whenever I hear the weather and the weather man informs me that there is snow coming I assume there is going to be no school the next day and I never do my homework. I always regret it when I turn the news on in the morning and my school doesn’t pop up. I have to fight back tears. Talk about a day ruiner.

35. When you start failing a class and you have no idea why

The greatest mystery in high school history. You’re checking your grades and you realize that you’re failing a class that you were passing the day before and you haven’t passed in anything new. All of a sudden you become one of the greatest detective alive. You run around the school searching for all the clues you can gather like you’re on an episode of Blue’s Clues. Then all of a sudden you realize that you took a quiz and you failed it awfully. You didn’t even get to make it to mail time.

36. Waking up late and not feeling comfortable showing your face in school

If high school students weren’t expected to get up before the roosters do then maybe we wouldn’t be so miserable all the time. I can never get up when I’m suppose to if I want to make it out of the house on time. This means that I’m missing out on breakfast, not being able to pack a lunch, and having the proper amount of time to make myself pretty. Not being able to make myself look pretty means I have to deal with all the snide comments from the catty girls that fill the hallways of my high school.

37. Having to dress up on a Monday/Friday

People who play sports know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have a game on a Monday or a Friday expect to dread your life the whole six hours you are in school. Monday and Friday are the two days I really wish I didn’t have to go to school and if I have to dress up on either of those days they just make them that much more unenjoyable.

38. Late nights because of sports

When you have to drive almost two hours to get to a game you can’t expect to get home before eleven. You can only do so much homework on the bus on the way there and you can’t do anything on the ride home because it is so dark. Then you get to school the next day and your teacher asks you why your homework isn’t finished and of course, “I get home late from a basketball game,” is not a good enough excuse. Weren’t they in high school once? They should understand.

39. Getting sick from all the kids that had it in school

I don’t go to school to catch illnesses. I go to school to learn. If a student is deathly ill you should probably just stay home. It’s not very nice to subject everyone else to your sickness. If students continue to go to school when they’re sick you’re going to end up with an empty school.

40. The smell of paint in the hallway

I don’t know about you but I don’t enjoy getting high from the paint fumes in the hallway. My high school is currently under construction and every other day there is something new to sniff when you’re walking from one place to another. I’m not even sure if that’s legal. They should save stuff like that for the weekends so the poor students lives aren’t that much more miserable.

41. Back stabbers

Nothing is more painful than a knife to the back. I’m sure almost everyone has suffered from a back stab. It’s pretty much inevitable. Being stabbed in the back by a friend or a boyfriend/girlfriend is probably one of the worst parts of high school. Everyone changes and you get let down. It’s truly disheartening.

42. Clogged toilets

It is really disgusting when you walk in to a bathroom stall and you see someone else's toilet paper or feces just laying in the toilet. Either save it for when you get home or go in to the girls junior varsity locker room. That’s what it’s made for! You don’t need to make someone else’s life miserable by clogging up the toilets.

43. Valentines Day

First off, whoever created Valentines Day has no heart. It’s kind of ironic how that works. Secondly whoever decided to celebrate it during school is obviously out to make everyones life miserable. I have a teacher who refers to Valentines Day as single awareness day, and she is so right. When students walk around delivering flowers or cupcakes and you don’t get one it makes your day a bad one. If someone has a girlfriend/boyfriend they can celebrate the holiday on their own time. There is no need to bring it in to school.

44. Awkward moments in the bathroom

I’m sure everyone has had one of these. When you go to the bathroom alone and there is only one other person in there and you give them an awkward smile. Another situation is when you don’t see someone in a stall so you go ahead and push the door open and you see someone on the toilet. Don’t expect to forget that. It will be imbedded in your brain for the rest of your life. Of course everyone tries to avoid these situations but it’s almost impossible.

45. Spilling your coffee on yourself while walking down the hallway

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times this has happened to me. In the morning when I’m walking to my first period class and I have all my stuff in my hans, including my coffee, and somehow the cap to my coffee mysteriously pops off and I’m wearing it. Not only do you smell like coffee for the rest of the day but you also no longer have any coffee and that’s enough to ruin anyones day.

46. Spilling your coffee on your homework

This isn’t as tragic as spilling your coffee on yourself but it still doesn’t make me happy. It’s embarrassing having to ask your teacher for a new homework paper because you spilt your coffee on the first one. I promise I’m not irresponsible, it was just an accident. That isn’t enough though. The teacher still gets angry with you.

47. Tripping in the hallway

I can’t think of anything more embarrassing then tripping in the hallway. You draw so much attention to yourself and everyone sees it. It can completely ruin your whole day. You could hurt yourself or drop all your stuff. I really can’t think of anything worse.

48. Running in to someone when walking around the corner

Turning a corner you can’t see what’s on the other side. More times than not there is another person who is going to be right in your way. I have ran into so many people when turning a corner. Then once you run into them it turns into a dance trying to decide what way to go. Do I go left? Oh, I can’t go left that where the other person is going. Do I go right? Oh, can’t go right the other person decided to go right too. It’s just awkward.

49. Losing a friend

Losing a friend is not at all pleasant. Every situation is different though. There are so many different reasons for losing a friend. Maybe you lost a friend because you decided that there not the kind of person you want to associate with. You could lose a friend because they went behind your back and did something you asked them not to. Losing a friend is part of high school but it sure does suck.

50. Crazy substitutes

I don’t mind having a substitute because that means we can get out of doing our work but what I don’t like is when the class is smarter than the substitute. When the school goes through and hires people to come in and substitute shouldn’t they have some teaching ability? It’s so irritating when the teacher can’t even run the class. It takes all the thrill out of having a substitute.

51. Getting your lunch on your clothes instead of in your mouth

Spilling food on your clothes i so awful. Depending on when you have lunch you may have to live with that horrid food stain on your clothes for a really long time. You try to convince yourself that it isn’t all the noticeable but you know very well that everyone can see the big purple jelly stain on your white shirt.

52. Forgetting to study for a huge test

I’m sure every high school student has done this. It’s a very common thing. I get to class and my teacher asks if you’re ready for your test and I suddenly start freaking out because I totally forgot and didn’t study. Now I’m stuck in the situation of pulling all of the answers out of my butt. It’s a talent you will learn to master.

53. Having a test the day before vacation

Nothing can ruin the day before vacation more than when one of your teachers schedules a test to be on the same day. The last day of vacation is a day that should be stress free but obviously my teachers just want to make my life miserable. I feel like that’s all they’re here to do.

54. When you actually have work to do and the kids in your study hall think they’re outside

Talk about one of the biggest distractions on this planet. You just want to sit in you’re silent study hall, in silence, and do your work in complete silence. Of course everyone has something important to say and they feel the need to scream it during a quiet study hall. It’s really disruptive.

55. Girls that think they can walk in heels

I understand wanting to look good when you go to school but please remember it is still just school. The hallways aren’t catwalks. If you can’t walk in heels then don’t bother wearing them because it’s pretty likely that people won’t think you’re hot. They’ll think you’re annoying. Also what’s the point of wearing heels? They’re uncomfortable and they make so much noise when you’re walking down the hallways.

56. Math homework in the morning

Math homework is difficult no matter what but trying to do it in the morning really kills my braincells. It’s so taxing. I know they call it homework for a reason but let’s be honest who does their homework at home? I hardly ever do my homework and I don’t understand how I’m passing all my classes. I always save it for the morning and I probably shouldn’t because i can barely function in the morning.

57. School without coffee

I don’t ever get the right amount of sleep that is needed to function properly. I need coffee in the morning or else there is no way I will make it through the day. When I don’t have time to stop at Dunkin Donuts I practically cry.

58. Wannabe Snooki’s

High school is not an episode of Jersey Shore. Save the puffs for Snooki, leave the tanning for Pauly D, and leave the drama for Sam and Ronnie. This is a learning environment not a reality T.V. show so stop trying. It would be nice if everyone in high school had the same mission. To get out in four years unnoticed. I don’t understand the dying need to draw attention to yourself twenty-four/seven.

59. Dumb Rumors

I don’t see the reason for starting rumors. Where do they get you anyway? They give you a bad reputation for being a bad person. You probably won’t make any friends because people will know that you’re the one who starts the rumors about people, and they don’t want rumors started about them. Rumors can really hurt people. They can hurt someone emotionally and physically. Every high school student probably thinks that rumors are a part of a high schoolers life but it shouldn’t have to be. People have taken their own lives because of a dumb rumor. They are not a joke. You may think it’s funny at the time but wait until the next morning when you find out that person killed themselves.

60. Having a countdown to your last day of high school on your wall

I don’t know about you but I’m most definitely counting down until graduation day. High school has some good things about it but for the most part it is a horrid place. Everyone has to suffer through four years of mean teachers, stinky people, hard work, bad girls, lying boys, and all of that good stuff. I would like to end this with a good luck to everyone who is going through this now. You will make it through!


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This article has 4 comments.


Ely_07 said...
on Apr. 20 2022 at 1:32 pm
Ely_07, San Diego, California
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
(Nataren) I couldn't agree more with this list due to the fact that most, if not all, High school students have experienced the same situations at least once during their High school years.

on Apr. 20 2022 at 1:02 pm
DragonSlayer420, San Diego, California
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments
(Wilson) It's somewhat true and kind of funny but you should really look at the positives more than the negatives.

ZoB1234 said...
on Mar. 8 2012 at 6:48 am
I agree with this! If this author did this for a school assignment, they would definitely deserve a 100%.

on Mar. 4 2012 at 7:40 pm
It was not only funny, but true! This author did a great job!