Why does everyone treat high schoolers differently?

Daniel Moore3 said:I’ve gotta admit, I spent my entire high school years under this massive delusion that prep school kids were basically gods.
I didn't hang out with much of anyone back then, so I had no clue what the actual vibe was like on the ground.

Then I finally hit college and realized they’re just regular people—flawed, messy, and totally unremarkable. 😁
Sure, there are always outliers. You'll find geniuses in both elite private academies and local trade schools, but generally speaking, being a "prep kid" isn't some magical status worth worshiping.

If someone is a complete jerk, they're going to be a jerk whether they graduated from an Ivy League feeder school or a vocational program. 😬

That’s exactly the point; I never claimed we actually were superior, just that everyone acts as if we are.
I'm not sure if I've made myself clear, but I am talking about this specific phenomenon among my own age group—those typical fifteen to nineteen-year-olds—not the older crowd.
The way you all are commenting suggests you're looking at this from an adult perspective, and since most of you seem quite a bit older than me, it feels less like you're seeing through the lens of a teenager and more like you're judging from the outside. I realize you've lived through enough to know better, and I know it too—there are plenty of brilliant kids in regular public schools who don't buy into this nonsense. The idea that prep school is some insurmountable academic mountain is largely a myth; you can breeze through it without much effort, yet the whole thing is packaged to create this aura of prestige, leaving everyone else to believe it's harder than it is simply because they follow the hearsay instead of looking at the reality.

Patrick King7 said:They won't bother because they know you're talking nonsense. And it happens because they know you're talking nonsense, so they don't give any weight to what you say.

My point was that I have the capacity to manipulate people if I felt like it; essentially, if I chose to, I could talk anyone into believing a lie.

Now that I’ve finished vocational school, having spent some time chatting with the kids over at the local high schools—people just like us technical students—🙂 I really think we need to ditch those old stereotypes 🙂

I don't really get the point of this thread, other than the author trying to flex their intellect 🤷

Personally, I’ve never heard anyone actually worship high schoolers or the prestige of being in an academic prep school. Maybe back in the day, when getting into a top-tier university was considered the absolute peak of existence for a young person, it made sense. But honestly? Nowadays, it feels like more and more kids just want to get through trade school or pick up a craft as fast as possible. They’re smart enough to realize that a college degree doesn't carry nearly half the weight it used to, not to mention it’s zero guarantee you'll actually land a decent job or gain any real social standing.
It’s probably just those parents who act like their kid in a prep school is royalty—they drill it into them that only "smart" kids go to those schools to get into a good university, basically treating everyone else in vocational programs like total losers. 😁

hiddenhawk3 said:I don't really get the point of this thread, other than the author trying to flex their intellect 🤷

You really have to live through it to grasp the dynamic. People who went to prep school tend to view them as nothing more than straight-A nerds, instantly placing them a notch lower on the social ladder.

Bryan Jackson98 said:You really have to live through it to grasp the dynamic. People who went to prep school tend to view them as nothing more than straight-A nerds, instantly placing them a notch lower on the social ladder.

Exactly.
But calling someone a nerd is an insult—it’s not some badge of honor people wear, and nobody is actually looking up to them or acting superior because of it.🤷

Bryan Jackson98 said:You really have to live through it to grasp the dynamic. People who went to prep school tend to view them as nothing more than straight-A nerds, instantly placing them a notch lower on the social ladder.

It's all about perception, I guess. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, right? 😬

Edward Murphy4 said:Exactly.
But calling someone a nerd is an insult—it’s not some badge of honor people wear, and nobody is actually looking up to them or acting superior because of it.🤷

I guess you're right. It probably should be a priority.
So, I guess people who actually put in the effort and have decent work ethic are just pathetic now. Maybe that's how it works.
People who actually try to get things done are just pathetic, I guess. Maybe.
So, according to your logic, thieves are actually cool—especially if they’re charming enough, smart enough, or just well-connected enough to dodge the cops. I guess. ☕

It feels like people just want to trash anything that isn't a product of pure intelligence—though, I guess we still don't even have a real definition for what that actually means. ☕It’s more like eating, I guess. It might happen, but who knows. 😍

I mean, why even be surprised? You’re living right in the heart of it—surrounded by those "self-made moguls" who basically just made a fortune smuggling oil during the war. And honestly, why let what some random person thinks about your school get under your skin? Are you studying to build your own future or just to satisfy whatever gossip is flying around small-town America?

hiddenhawk3 said:I guess you're right. It probably should be a priority.
So, I guess people who actually put in the effort and have decent work ethic are just pathetic now. Maybe that's how it works.
People who actually try to get things done are just pathetic, I guess. Maybe.
So, according to your logic, thieves are actually cool—especially if they’re charming enough, smart enough, or just well-connected enough to dodge the cops. I guess. ☕

It feels like people just want to trash anything that isn't a product of pure intelligence—though, I guess we still don't even have a real definition for what that actually means. ☕It’s more like eating, I guess. It might happen, but who knows. 😍

Look, I finished both high school and college—which people love to call "nerdy"—so I definitely know the difference between a total geek (some idiot who just memorizes things to pass a test and forgets it instantly) and a genuine intellectual who actually enjoys learning stuff.

High school used to be such a different world back in the day... it feels like forever ago, but it was a time when those elite prep schools were basically reserved for the kids of the wealthy elite. You just knew they were going to grow up to be big-shot CEOs, surgeons, or high-level executives... people who held all the cards. For the rest of us, working-class folks, those kids were always seen as someone special, almost untouchable... kind of like how we look at the billionaires and industry titans running the show in the corporate world today...

Edward Murphy4 said:Look, I finished both high school and college—which people love to call "nerdy"—so I definitely know the difference between a total geek (some idiot who just memorizes things to pass a test and forgets it instantly) and a genuine intellectual who actually enjoys learning stuff.

"enjoys learning" 🤷, is that some kind of oxymoron or something?
even the Bible says you'll earn your bread through toil and sweat 🤣
it's funny how being an intellectual is tied to having a degree😕, I always thought it was a job, like being a baker, a butcher, or a shopkeeper 🙂 🤣

K***c
I'm heading to high school, and everyone outside my circle treats us like we're just a bunch of straight-A nerds, losers, and idiots
Even though talking to them every day makes it pretty obvious that most people in my class are way sharper than the rest of them... Of course, that isn't true for everyone, maybe it’s just how things are here in my part of Chicago...

Bryan Jackson98 said:I’m not sure if this has been covered yet, but I’ve been wondering about this tendency people have to voluntarily subordinate themselves—essentially placing themselves in a lower tier because they assume someone else is more intelligent. It’s like they stop trying to hold onto their own convictions or become too terrified to push back. I have two specific scenarios playing out in my life. The first involves older generations; for context, I’m just hitting my late teens. They look at me differently the moment I mention I'm heading to an elite prep school, instantly labeling me as some kind of intellectual prodigy who exists on a plane above my peers.
Then there’s the second scenario: when I tell someone my age that I’ll be attending a top-tier academy, they seem to regress, acting even more foolish than before, which I find fascinating. In those moments, once they’ve convinced themselves that they sit at a lower intellectual level than I do, I could practically lead them anywhere; I could convince them that nine is actually less than seven—a banal example, obviously, but that’s the point. I could spout absolute nonsense, and they would nod along, refusing to even take a second to verify the truth. I’m curious about the root cause here. Is it driven by some deep-seated prejudice regarding prep school students and the prestige attached to them? I’m not saying I dislike having this advantage, but I’d love to understand the psychological mechanics behind why people surrender their agency like this.

It seems likely that they suffer from deep insecurity, lacking both self-confidence and basic self-respect. Speaking from my own experience attending a prep school, I personally feel that students there are often overrated when it comes to actual knowledge... I have found myself having far more meaningful conversations with hardworking professionals than with my own classmates... there is a certain sense of overinflated importance that seems to permeate the whole environment...

They don't bother hanging out with high schoolers because they label us all as "nerds," mostly because they’re too afraid to actually face the reality of what goes on in those hallways. Sure, there are plenty of idiots who just memorize everything to get by, but there are also genuine geniuses in the mix—people they refuse to acknowledge because it’s apparently beneath them to strike up a conversation with someone from a prep school and actually engage their brains. I have friends from vocational schools who are incredibly sharp, yet most people won't even give them a chance. To be clear, I'm not saying high school is superior, but this whole dynamic likely stems from middle school dynamics; when kids pass eighth grade with top marks and head to an elite academy, they get branded as the "smart ones," creating this immediate prejudice that everyone there is a scholar. Anyone knows you can cruise through middle school with straight As without ever opening a book. It feels like a certain level of immaturity, if you want to call it that. For most of them, the priority is just where they're going to grab drinks after class—it's become this pervasive trend where social status is measured by how much you can drink, which is fundamentally broken. If you try to point out how hollow that is, they just dismiss you as some bookworm who doesn't know how to live, when in reality, they don't have a clue what the actual high school scene looks like; they’re just clinging to a preconceived vision instead of actually experiencing it.

I hang out with a ton of kids who went the prep school route, even though I finished a three-year vocational program myself. I think there's this lingering "oh, he's such a scholar" vibe. People just assume if you're a genius, you're going to grind through high school and then head straight to a university for a specialized degree. Honestly, I never thought they were any smarter or more intelligent than anyone else—maybe just more organized and disciplined. Personally, I was never one for sitting around memorizing textbooks 🙂
.
Most prep school students look at vocational tracks like they're some easy way out, but nobody realizes how much work those actually require. You think someone without a shred of natural talent could make it through a specialized design program or a fine arts track? Nobody mentions that those schools are incredibly demanding. Sure, maybe you don't need raw talent for everything, but for an arts academy? That’s exactly what they’re looking for. It seems like because prep schoolers deal with such a heavy load of pure academics compared to vocational schools—which balance theory with hands-on training—society just labels them as the "overachievers"div>

A plumber pulls up in his Ford—or maybe a Mercedes, if you want to get fancy—and rings the bell. The homeowner answers, glasses perched on his nose, clutching a book, with a whole stack of literature scattered across his desk. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, there’s a pipe hissing away and a literal flood on the floor.
Within an hour, they've got it all sorted out: the leak is plugged, and the plumber's daughter is set to get some tutoring sessions.

Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but looking back, everything eventually settles into place... It's all relative, really. All that talk about high school kids being a "superior class"... honestly, it's just prejudice and a total waste of energy.

Whether they're headed for prep school or trade school, these kids are going to grow up to be serious adults... and perhaps even future business partners one day.

Just my two cents from the perspective of an old man...

Brenda Booth5 said:A plumber pulls up in his Ford—or maybe a Mercedes, if you want to get fancy—and rings the bell. The homeowner answers, glasses perched on his nose, clutching a book, with a whole stack of literature scattered across his desk. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, there’s a pipe hissing away and a literal flood on the floor.
Within an hour, they've got it all sorted out: the leak is plugged, and the plumber's daughter is set to get some tutoring sessions.

Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but looking back, everything eventually settles into place... It's all relative, really. All that talk about high school kids being a "superior class"... honestly, it's just prejudice and a total waste of energy.

Whether they're headed for prep school or trade school, these kids are going to grow up to be serious adults... and perhaps even future business partners one day.

Just my two cents from the perspective of an old man...

I appreciate you mentioning your age, because everyone chiming in here is viewing things through the lens of who they are today, whereas I'm interested in how my generation sees it; I know firsthand that the pieces eventually fall into place.

Bryan Jackson98 said:I’m not sure if this has been covered yet, but I’ve been wondering about this tendency people have to voluntarily subordinate themselves—essentially placing themselves in a lower tier because they assume someone else is more intelligent. It’s like they stop trying to hold onto their own convictions or become too terrified to push back. I have two specific scenarios playing out in my life. The first involves older generations; for context, I’m just hitting my late teens. They look at me differently the moment I mention I'm heading to an elite prep school, instantly labeling me as some kind of intellectual prodigy who exists on a plane above my peers.
Then there’s the second scenario: when I tell someone my age that I’ll be attending a top-tier academy, they seem to regress, acting even more foolish than before, which I find fascinating. In those moments, once they’ve convinced themselves that they sit at a lower intellectual level than I do, I could practically lead them anywhere; I could convince them that nine is actually less than seven—a banal example, obviously, but that’s the point. I could spout absolute nonsense, and they would nod along, refusing to even take a second to verify the truth. I’m curious about the root cause here. Is it driven by some deep-seated prejudice regarding prep school students and the prestige attached to them? I’m not saying I dislike having this advantage, but I’d love to understand the psychological mechanics behind why people surrender their agency like this.

Personally, I don't judge, nor do I ever place myself in a subordinate position!
Don't generalize like that! Your two little anecdotes aren't exactly a sufficient sample size to draw such a broad conclusion.
For instance, I don't treat someone any differently just because they have a degree from an Ivy League school versus someone who doesn't.
One really needs to actually get to know a person before forming a judgment, and what you're describing here is, at the very least...😂
...neither a choice of high school nor a college degree tells you absolutely anything about a person's actual intellect.

This topic seems more suited for teenagers! I suspect it doesn't really belong here.