High school experiences play a major role in shaping a generation. How Generation Z and Millennials have experienced high school is so different compared to past generations, especially with the emergence of social media and huge technological advances.

Teachers of all ages and backgrounds have experienced high school in many different ways.

 “Lunch for one thing was very different,” World Geography teacher, Savannah Scott said. “We had very different food; it wasn’t as healthy as it now or as healthy as they try to make it. It was very greasy. Kids weren’t so focused on their appearance like they are now, and they definitely weren’t as good at doing makeup.” 

With new trends that pop up in social media, teenagers now feel the need to be like those social media influencers that start those trends. 

Teens in all decades have always tried to follow trends, but there is pressure now more than ever to follow them. Along with popular trends developing, security has become a top priority in light of recent tragedies.

“It’s completely different,” said World History Teacher, David Vargas. “Now you can’t get on campus until a certain time, you have badges and they have to check them often, there’s 360° cameras, [and] the windows are bulletproof. I mean before you could just walk into the school.” 

High school has also become more strict on certain activities, such as smoking. Students used to be allowed to smoke on campus grounds, though it was not desired.

”You could smoke back then,” recalls Math teacher, Enrique Yarto. ”You would just light a cigarette right outside of the school, of course not inside, but right outside against the wall it was kind of a thing.” 

One aspect of high school that is more relaxed is dress code. Scott, Vargas, and Yarto all say that the dress code was much stricter in the past than now. For example, we can wear leggings, semi crop tops, and ripped jeans as compared to having to wear slacks, capris, or knee length skirts.

High school has changed immensely over the past couple of decades, and it shows not just in the way students dress, or eat, but also in how they see the world. With better security and new technology to help students learn, they can learn more and expand their minds. With so much knowledge at the tip of their fingers, they see the world in such a unique way that is different compared to any generation before them.