18 Reasons British Teens Were Jealous Of High School In America

1. Having your own giant lockers.

Lockers so big you could make a shrine to your crush in them! Some schools in the UK had lockers but most of the time you were left to cart your textbooks around in a shoddy JD Sports carrier bag.

2. Being able to play American football.

It just looks way better than kicking a ball that has lost its leather around a muddy pitch into some netless goals.

3. Actually decent-looking school gyms.

American schools appear to have vast sports facilities that could be mistaken for the kind of places professional athletes would train – at least that’s what we learned fromHigh School Musical anyway. We made do with a crappy muddy field.

4. Being able to do/watch cheerleading.

It just looks so damn cool. Goddamnit, Bring It On made us jealous.

5. Pre sports game pep rallies.

American kids get to have TIME OUT FROM SCHOOL to cheer on their sports team. British kids barely even get a half day for sports day.

6. Hanging out at malls after school.

Every US high school movie seems to show high schoolers hanging out at some giant air-conditioned suburban mall. We were left with hanging around outside a Greggs in the high street and shoplifting pick ‘n’ mix from Woolworths. And yes, we were supremely jealous of The Cheesecake Factory, even if it isn’t that great in reality.

7. Some sort of termly “Big Game” that the school’s continued success depends on.

Unless you went to Eton or something, in the UK most people don’t give a shit about high school level sports. British school sports games were mostly just watched by PE teachers and overly keen parents.

8. Sitting on and generally enjoying the presence of bleachers.

YOU CAN MAKE OUT UNDER THEM. And do musical performances on them to impress your crush.

9. High school marching bands.

We had to make do with some crappy school orchestra when we could have been walking around in ridiculous costumes doing highly coordinated dance routines. AWESOME.

10. Driving to school.

11. Not having to wear a uniform to school

British school kids spend at least 11 years of their lives wearing shirts and uncomfortable blazers (or worse, those awful polyester jumpers that you made thumb holes in). You could never truly show your emo credentials when oppressed by that uniform.

12. The ridiculous coolness of being able to wear varsity/letterman jackets

The best you could hope for in the UK was a sports captain badge on your tie. Or a fake letterman from Topshop.

13. Drinking out of red cups at parties.

American high school movies make drinking out of red cups look so cool. So large. So much room for mixers. Those tiny white plastic cups you get in the UK are just trash in comparison.

14. Going to parties with kegs.

Yes, underage keg parties are definitely illegal and probably something only seen in movies, but still has anyone ever even seen a keg at a party in Britain? Exactly.

No, we just drank WKD and White Lightning.

15. Getting to go to a prom that’s actually a really big deal.

Yes, we have proms in the UK but they definitely don’t look as glamorous. And we only get one if we’re lucky.

16. Going to homecoming.

Nobody in the UK knows what homecoming means but it looks like a fun party/sports game and we’re jealous of this.

18. Having a high school graduation ceremony.

You know what happens when you leave secondary school in the UK? You get some rubbish assembly about why you should do A-levels and then everyone goes to the local park to drink Strongbow.