18 Reasons British Teens Were Jealous Of High School In America

    Why can't we drive to school, dammit?

    Sophie Gadd
    by Sophie Gadd

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    1. Having your own giant lockers.

    Clemens v. Vogelsang / Via Flickr: vauvau

    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.

    Blamesummer / Via en.wikipedia.org

    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.

    Crossman33 / Via en.wikipedia.org

    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 from High School Musical anyway. We made do with a crappy muddy field.

    4. Being able to do/watch cheerleading.

    Jeff Hitchcock / Via commons.wikimedia.org

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

    5. Pre sports game pep rallies.

    6. Hanging out at malls after school.

    Bobak Ha'Eri / Via en.wikipedia.org

    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.

    Djarizpe13 / Via commons.wikimedia.org

    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.

    M.O. Stevens / Via en.wikipedia.org

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

    9. High school marching bands.

    People590 / Via commons.wikimedia.org

    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

    Moodboard / Getty Images

    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

    13. Drinking out of red cups at parties.

    14. Going to parties with kegs.

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

    MustbeAmoocow / Via commons.wikimedia.org

    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.

    Ray Dumas / Via Flickr: rtdphotography

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

    17. Having really long summer holidays.

    18. Having a high school graduation ceremony.