10 Things High Schoolers Wish Their Parents Understood

At the time of writing, there are about 16 million American students enrolled in public high schools, with another million or two in private high schools.

That’s a lot of people – about 5% of the population total. But there are certain things that they’d really like the remaining 95% of us to understand about what they’re experiencing right now, and much of it is falling on deaf ears.

Here are 10 real, privately submitted confessions about high school.

10. Do the math

“Yes, she graduated high school.”

9. Hard times

Dang, what kind of drugs are we talkin’ about?

8. Party hard

Definitely wasn’t my experience but ok.

7. Teen angst

There’s a difference between being moody and losing all hope for your life.

6. The workload

“They just don’t get it.”

5. Caught on camera

Like living in a police state reality show.

4. Perfect grades

“No wonder mental health is suffering these days.”

3. Hitting it off

“Yes that has happened.”

2. A failure to communicate

At least she’s trying.

1. Don’t be naive

They may be good kids, but no one is an island. They’re gonna be subject to all the same pressures as everyone else.

High school certainly sounds a lot more intense than back in my day. I don’t envy these kids, for a whole lot of reasons. I hope the rest of us can continue to listen and continue to believe.

How was/is your personal high school experience?

Tell us all about it in the comments.