Tag Archives: high school

Beach Bonfires/Senior Sunrise and Sunset

Age: 21

1. Senior Sunrise and Sunset (ft. a bonfire) to mark the beginning and end of the final year of high school. 

2. Growing up in Huntington Beach, this participant went through a special tradition in high school, called the senior sunrise and senior sunset. When the participant first “officially” became a senior (that is, the weekend right before school started for the year, he explained), he and his graduating class drove down to the beach and lit a giant bonfire and waited for the sun to rise so they could all watch it together. Then, at the very end of the year, right before graduation, the class all drove down to the same spot, lit a bonfire, and watched the sunset together. At the very end of the year, during the sunset trip, some kids brought all of the school work they had done throughout the year and burned it in the large fire pit they had going. The participant explained that he thought this ritual – done every year by the graduating seniors at his high school – was supposed to be symbolic of how special the year was supposed to be for them, and how at the end of it, it was almost as if the sunset was not only concluding the day, but their year as seniors and time together. 

3. Interviewer’s Interpretation: Upon hearing this ritual from the participant, I believe that I agree with his interpretation. The sun – often used as a representation of the life cycle of something – is used here as a symbol for their time at high school, and the experience of the bonfire retreat was obviously meant to unite them all in this feeling of great achievement – unifying them in their shared accomplishment of making it to the end of high school. The bonfire itself I think is also symbolic, especially at the sunset event where kids would burn their old homework. If we are to consider fire in its traditional symbolic sense as a way of cleansing, I would argue that the graduating seniors were, in a sense, cleansing themselves not only from their past work but also from their former selves. Leaving high school, they enter a transitional period in which they’re meant to go on and become adults; as such I think it could be seen that the bonfire is also meant to represent their cleansing or rebirth of themselves – no longer children.

Birthday Pushups

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Language: English

“In ROTC or Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, we had a tradition to, or I guess it’s kind of ritualistic. Um when it was someone’s birthday, we would in class, we would have to do our birthday pushups. So, we would have to, ou know, get down in push up position and then the leader in at the time would command us to basically begin push ups. And as you do the push ups they sing happy birthday. But they sing it really slow. And so even if you finish your push ups you have to stay in a plank position until they’re done singing it. And then you have to wait for the leader to let you come back up.”

Context: High school Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, on someone’s birthday.

Analysis: This tradition, as one of many life cycle traditions surrounding birthdays, plays on the idea of shared pain, similar to birthday spanks. The subject has to complete push ups and go through the ritual to prove themselves and be celebrated by the group as a whole. In this ROTC tradition, the object is not just pain but achievement. By completing the birthday pushups, the individual can show their increased athleticism and reassert their place in the group identity based on strength and discipline. By knowing everyone has to do the same when it is their birthday, the individual is more willing to complete their turn in good humor and recognize it not as a punishment, but as a way to bond with their peers and recognize the achievement of another year. 

The 5th Floor McDonalds

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Morris Plains, NJ, USA
Language: English

It was a piece of school lore that was told to them by the upperclassman and that he later passed on to the younger classmen. They use it as an initiation process for high school. You are a real member of the high school if you know this joke.  

“My brother went to high school at [M], and always told us there were plenty of pranks people would play on my sisters and I. When I got there I was told there was a secret McDonalds on the 5th floor. It was funny because it was really hard to find the 4th floor so the idea that there might be a secret 5th floor felt pretty realistic. I remember a senior walking into gym class with McDonalds and telling the freshman he didn’t even leave the building. A lot of kids were really excited. I eventually told it to the freshman at the club fair.”

While it’s not uncommon for seniors to play pranks on freshmen, I think this particular prank developed because of the school structure. Upon asking more questions I found that the over 10 stairwells in the building all lead to different levels and sometimes skipped floors. This made it difficult for students to find the right floor when they first came to the school. Therefore the idea that a secret staircase to the 5th floor was pretty believable. It was a fun initiation for the freshman and a good way to explore the school. 

Malaysian High School Taunt

Nationality: Malaysian

Occupation: Full time student

Residence: Baltimore, MD

Text:

“People with bad knees masturbate too often”

Context:

The informant played rugby throughout high school and college. He first heard the phrase in high school in Malaysia, where it was used by both coaches and players to shame newer members of the team who complained about being in pain. The informant said the phrase at a rugby match to a teammate who was out injured with a torn ACL.

Analysis:

The phrase shows the way that pain is viewed within the culture of a rugby team. To admit being in pain is seen as weak and is strongly discouraged and shamed. This is partially out of necessity; rugby is a violent sport, and being able to endure pain is important to be able to successfully play the sport. However, it is a part of the culture of rugby to appear tough, and this includes playing through injuries. Missing games due to injury (no matter how severe the injury) is shameful in rugby culture, and injured players are taunted and mocked until they return to the field. Additionally, injuries are such a frequent part of rugby that everyone at some point has to deal with them, and when you are injured it’s your turn to be teased.

Bomb Threats Written on School Bathroom Walls

Informant Context: The informant is a nineteen-year-old female undergraduate student at the University of Southern California (USC). She attended a public high school in Chicago, Illinois.

Conversation Transcript: 

Collector: “What is something traditional you’ve seen written or drawn on high school bathroom walls?”

Informant: “Initials are pretty common. I’ve seen couples’ initials with a heart drawn around them. Penises are drawn a lot too.”

Collector: “You see them drawn in the girls’ bathrooms?”

Informant: “Not often. I have seen girls write polls on stall doors. This or that questions about general topics. Like coffee or tea. Mascara or blush, for example. Then girls would put tallies under each option to place their vote. Oh! At my high school, people would also leave bomb threats in the bathrooms.”

Collector: “Bomb threats?”

Informant: “Yeah. Kids would write threats on the walls like ‘I’m going to shoot up the school’ or ‘there will be a bomb explosion tomorrow’. Crazy stuff.”

Analysis: It was surprising to hear the informant’s examples escalate during our discussion. I was familiar with her first examples because I had seen similar drawings in bathrooms at my public high school. What shocked me was the informant’s experience seeing terrorist threats written on walls. While I never saw any at my high school, I could imagine this being a popular practice across the United States, as school terrorism has become an epidemic in the country’s recent decades.