High school: what a riot of emotions and experiences. And they’re trending today on Twitter.
People are chiming in with their high school takeaways under the hashtag #WhatHighSchoolTaughtMe. It’s been running since at least last year, but picked up speed today, and was trending by the time East Coasters were having lunch. (h/t @EvieBlad)
The tweets hit a range of notes, from joyful to cynical, wise, flip and bittersweet. (Though there isn’t much that praises high school for its academic bounty.) Take a look:
From a future newspaper reporter:
Sold my 1st photos for a magazine cover and to my school library then. Youth doesn’t = incompetence. #WhatHighSchoolTaughtMe
— Caitlin Kelly (@CaitlinKellyNYC) August 12, 2016
An artist from Texas offers a metaphor:
#whathighschooltaughtme don’t get caught skipping .....& always have a back up plan!
— christy6g (@christy6g) August 12, 2016
A Canadian musician touches on the controversy around over-testing:
#whathighschooltaughtme is how to pass a multiple choice exam - whether I know anything about the subject or not.
— Ormand Jones (@OrmandJones) August 12, 2016
A young man from Duluth, Minn., took away a dark lesson:
#WhatHighSchoolTaughtMe is how to be cynical and antisocial!
— Carter Kallis (@CarterK1997) August 12, 2016
And a young woman from Altoona, Iowa left with a lingering experience about kindness:
You cannot fix yourself by breaking another person. #whathighschooltaughtme
— Katelyn Martinson (@katelyn_rae22) May 23, 2016
And there’s this, about high school’s end:
#WhatHighSchoolTaughtMe that it went by quick & how terrified I am to be on my own.
— jes (@VintageJes) May 29, 2016
Educators and policymakers spend a lot of time trying to remake high schools, and often not much time actually listening to what students and former students have to say about it. What would you say in a tweet about #WhatHighSchoolTaughtMe? Chime in on Twitter (or in our comments box, below!).