School Status

Schools are filled with cliques and groups of people. You have jocks, nerds, gamers, and so on. While everyone is different, most people fit into a clique because they bond over something they enjoy like sports, learning, and gaming. In the High School Musical series, they sing a song about the status quo and how you should stick to it because it is what you know.

A status quo is very similar to stereotyping which is another way of labeling people. Stereotypes found in schools are labeled exactly like the status quo groups, Jocks, nerds, gamers, and so on. Stereotypical jocks are good at sports but not much else, stereotypical nerds are extremely smart but usually get made fun of, and lastly stereotypical gamers are always eating junk food and playing video games instead of doing anything else productive.

The status quo can be harmful because it causes people to hide what they truly love just as Troy does with his singing. Troy is influenced by music but hides it because he is afraid that his dad will hate him. This causes his dad to form the misconception that Troy wants to go on to play pro league basketball and eventually Troy has to tell him the truth. Hiding his true love for music and theater was a great hardship for Troy.

The status quo and stereotypes are topics that should be addressed because every person is unique in their own way. They should not feel like they have to live up to being a certain way. People should feel comfortable to be themselves. Schools and other big social groups cause this to become difficult because you are constantly under the watch of others. Overall, do not let others tell you what you can and can not do, do whatever you want.