What School do you go to

What secondary school do (did) you go to?

I lived in South Eash London in England and I went to Crown Woods. It was the biggest Comprehensive School in the UK, it had over 5,000 pupils and almost 600 rooms. It also had its own farm and lodge. If you got expelled from another school you were likely to end up going to Crown Woods, it would be the only school in the area that would take you. As a result the school was rough, other schools in the area required a police escort when the school day ended and it was time to catch a bus home.

Although I didn't like school I made a lot of lifelong friends there that I still see 40 years later. I came across the picture above on Google and it just brought back a ton of memories. I didn't realize how depressing the place looked to be honest.


« Last edited by Sanzano on Jun 4th 2022 »

Secondary school is high school right? Like ages 14-18, roughly? I just went to the local public high school. My town is too small to have our own, so it's in the next town over. Kind of a poor area, pretty lowly ranked, but I think things like that are what you make of it. I elected to take higher level classes which meant the teachers and other students were more engaged and the curriculum was harder, kept me away from a lot of the stuff you see in videos now of kids screaming and running around and fighting while the teacher just looks defeated.

I had no real problems in high school. Not the most popular kid but I was well-liked and had my friend group, some of whom I still keep in touch with, it's been about 10 years for me. I probably had a pretty standard experience as a bright kid going to school in a small, kinda run-down city. I wasn't going to parties every weekend and getting a ton of girls but it was a far cry from what some kids experience. One of my best friends at the time and still to this day was much more of a loner type in school and didn't care about his grades so he was in lower level classes with the troublemakers and never interacted with anyone no matter how hard I tried to get him into the groups I ran with. So he was miserable all 4 years. He's much better now but it just proved to me that you really have to take control of those situations for yourself.

It's not until you leave school that you realize how important it was to fit in and be accepted amongst your peers. Those kids that get bullied and shunned and move from one school to the next because they are so unhappy must suffer all sorts of mental problems when they get older and have to mix with society.

Yeah for sure. You don't have to be popular but you need some friends. Having absolutely no one to talk to for some very important years has to take a toll.

Without a doubt, during those formative years it is so important.

Nowadays in Spain if a teacher sees that you are a loner you get booked in with the psychologist who determines if there is a problem somewhere either at school or at home. This was unheard of when I was a kid, nobody cared back then in the UK.

Every school in Spain now has a psychologist who monitors every kid.

Yeah I'm pretty sure every school here has someone like that too. No idea how effective it is. It wasn't even a thing when I was in school. Attitudes towards stuff like bullying have totally changed even in the past 10 years or so.

There is now a no tollerance stance towards bullying in Spanish schools. If you are a bully you will get weeded out and thrown out of the school. That's what they tell you anyway, the reality is they turn a blind eye whenever possible or suspend the bully for a couple of days. The reason being schools are struggling to find kids to go to them and are shutting down. People can't afford to have three and four kids like back in the 70s and 80s.

Yeah, my experience in high school was almost exactly like Mikes. Straight As, athletics. A little quiet, but nothing crazy. Valedictorian, but really only because small class.

I'm glad you two guys had a happy school experience, there's so many people that don't and it affects them for the rest of their lives. The only regret I have with school is I wish I had of taken the classes more seriously, I never bothered doing homework or revision. I just at the time didn't realize the importance of it. My mum is Spanish and couldn't help me with the work I was given and my Dad did night work and was never around to help so what happened is I didn't have anybody pushing me and I got lazy.

Middle School was rough for me. I had an early growth spurt, so I was a giant compared to everyone else. If that was not enough, most of my elementary school friends ended up being in a different district, so my younger, quieter self had to make all new friends. And the few that did go to the same middle school like me, well, they turned into not so nice people.

Dennis - my parents were always on me to make sure I got my homework done. They didn't mind if I got a bad grade here or there but my work had to be done and they had no tolerance if I got into trouble at school. Annoying at the time but I appreciate it now.

Middle school was fine for me. My town has one school for K-8th grade, so I was good friends with a lot of those kids. Then we got shipped to the next district over for high school, and my old middle school only made up like 5-10% of the class so I had to make mostly new friends for high school.

You don't realize how lucky you were, I wish I had parents that pushed me. I now push my son and have a tutor come in twice a week to help him in areas he is struggling with. I keep telling him to make the most of his time at school otherwise he will regret it like me.

I never had a tutor or anything but I'm glad I was sort of pushed into higher level courses. I think it gave me a natural curiosity and joy for learning that has really helped me out. When you're out and you meet people that just don't have "it", that spark or whatever you want to call it. I don't think I'm better or smarter than the average person but I do think my parents encouraging me in school set me up for success.

I wish I had a K-8. Probably would have made for a much easier transition. But I made it through.

I live in Harrisonburg, VA. I went to the middle (THMS) and high (HHS) schools here.

I haven't been to college yet. Planning to once my wife can take over the bills.

College was great, I went to the London College of Print in central London for five years to learn about Graphic Design. I did one your full time and the other four years was one day a week on an indentured apprenticeship. Basically the company I worked for let me go to college one day a week. Ended up getting a City and Guilds in Graphic Design which is basically I think what the Americans call a diploma in a trade.

Sadly, Elementary School was by far my favorite years. Ultra popular, played football every day at recess. Those were the days. lol

College/university was by far the best for me. Semi independent, a taste of "adult life", next to no responsibilities besides doing well in classes and keeping a part time job. Constantly surrounded by friends, tons of eligible women around. Once you get older and out of that environment the time really seems to fly. I've been out of college for longer than I was in it, but those 4 years seem to have lasted forever and the 5 years since have absolutely flown.

steelersrock01 said:

tons of eligible women around

I loved this.

Thing is though they are unlikely to be interested in getting into a relationship, they are focused on getting good grades and don't want any distractions while trying to do the best they can.