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Teen From The US Reveals What It’s Like For An American To Attend An Aussie School
Lara Fourie is an American TikToker and social media influencer who moved from Texas to Melbourne in 2017. The teen has been attending an Aussie school there since, but the whole experience was like nothing she was used to back in the States.
So she made a series of TikTok videos that have since gone viral, describing the exact culture shocks about the Australian school system. From everyone being totally fine with swearing to being able to go outside during the break, these are some of the differences that shed light on how these two big cultures deviate in profound ways.
Scroll down to see what Lara has discovered there below and to all our beloved Aussie pandas, hit us in the comments with some more cultural differences you have in mind!
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Bored Panda reached out to Lara, the TikToker and RMIT University student in advertising who’s behind this viral video, who said she moved to Australia four years ago with her family. “My dad was an engineer and his company moved us all around the world. We’ve lived in Texas, New York, and Singapore as well,” she added.
“The culture shock was definitely the hardest thing to become accustomed to. People are simply different in other countries, not good or bad, just different,” Lara recalled and added that “the concept of change for me overall was the hardest.”
When asked what American things she misses the most, Lara said it’s “Chick-Fil-A, a fast food restaurant with the best food in Texas that you can’t find in Australia.”
In Australia, students can pretty much get away with swearing in class, swearing in front of teachers, that kinda stuff, in America, that was not tolerated at all and it was straight-up detention.
In many schools across the US, metal detectors are something teens and school staff go through every day. They were first used in a Detroit High School during the 1989-1990 school year, so they’re not an entirely new concept as many would like to believe.
However, recently, more and more schools are implementing the use of metal detectors on their sites due to the rise of school shootings. They serve as ugly reminders of the problem of violence in the US, and how sadly, the leaders have failed to ensure safety of their young generation without such extreme measures.
So in America, I woke up at 6 am every morning so I would be picked up by the bus at 6:30 for a 7 am start at school. Whereas in Australia, I start high school at 8:30 in the morning
Buying lunch at a cafeteria is a lot different to Australia as well. The cafeteria usually only makes a meal of the day and they only have a few snack options that are usually are all processed. We also have vending machines at school and a lot of them have soda, whereas in Australia, they have a canteen. They have so many more options and the food is way better overall.
This is the most generic Texas school outfit. And this is pretty much every Australian school outfit for girls
The check dress isn't super common past primary? A lot of secondary schools, especially the private ones, are either blouse and skirt or a generically tailored dress.
At the same time, there isn’t a lot of research about the positive or negative safety or social effects of metal detectors in schools. A study published in the journal of the American School Health Association detected mixed results as one study found that less students carry weapons to schools with metal detectors than the ones without them, though it’s not entirely clear how and if that translated into less violence in those schools.
Moreover, some experts claim that in more severe and lethal cases of mass shootings, metal detectors will do little if any good. Some believe that students in line for the detectors and the operators would likely be the very first victims.
In America it's mandatory to take a second language, a sport, and an art subject. But in Australia you don't have to.
So in American high schools, you have 7 classes a day that are 45-minute periods. At the beginning of the day, in first period, we would say the pledge of allegiance. The whole entire school would do this during morning announcements, we would turn to the flag that was in every classroom and we would go like this: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, individual [sic], with..." blah blah blah blah blah. I can't even remember anymore. So yeah, the whole entire school would do that at the exact same time, and then we would take a moment of silence for one minute where the whole entire school would be dead silent for a whole minute. Whereas in Australia, it's a bit different. In Australia, you have 4 periods a day that are an hour and a half, and at the beginning of the day, we have something called home room. We have houses like in Harry Potter, and pretty much every student from all different grades gets put into a certain home room
In Australia we have a 20-minute recess and an hour-long lunch, both of which you spend outside, whereas in America, we only got a 45-minute lunch and we spent it in a cafeteria
It's not always 20/60. My first highschool was 15/45, and my second flailed around from 15/30 to 30/60 depending on the day.
Another problematic aspect of metal detectors at schools is that they destroy trust between school officials and students. Often, the students are the only ones being screened, which may suggest they are being treated as potential threats.
Also, it’s well known that metal detectors are not foolproof. In September of 2008, in Milwaukee, a 15-year-old female student was stabbed several times in a restroom on the same day a $50,000 metal detector debuted at the school. Even though it’s not entirely clear whether the stabbing suspects had or had not been screened, the question of whether such a deliberate monitoring measure is effective remains open.
One of the biggest differences is the size of the school. Just for a bit of context, I lived in Texas, so our schools were huge. This was our football stadium/makeshift track. This is one of our three gyms. Our water tank. One of the pools. The district football stadium. And part of our performing arts center. Because you can get your license at 16, most of the students drove to school, and because we had around 5000, there was also a 3-tier parking lot. Also a band hall, orchestra hall, and two auditoriums. We also had a softball and a baseball field, and multiple soccer fields as well. We also had a separate cafeteria for every grade. Whereas Australian schools tend to be a lot more open. In America you spend the whole entire day inside, whereas in Australia you get a lot of time outside
I'm getting the sense that when she says "in Australia", she means "at this particular Australian school". In the US, my kids go to an open concept school.
In America, this is what the lockers look like. They're either halfway or full length. We also had the option to bring our backpacks to and from class if we wanted to. Whereas in Australia, at least the high school I went to, this is kind of what the lockers look like. They're a lot smaller
In America we have 7 subjects that we take and we have 7 40-minute periods every day, whereas in Australia, I only take 5 subjects and we have 4 periods every day that are an hour and a half
So in Texas high school, we have homecoming. Homecoming is the start of the football season and we celebrate by having a homecoming dance. These things right here, they're called mums. Basically, if you've been asked to homecoming by a guy, they will give you a mum and you will wear it on the day of homecoming. It looks ridiculous seeing everybody walk around school with these giant things on. And yes, I did wear one on homecoming, and yes, it's still in my closet. We also have prom and Sadie's dance. Sadie's is my favorite because it's the Valentine's Day one and the girl asks the guy out. Whereas in Australia, at least at my school, we have a year 10 formal and a year 12 formal and it's usually organized by the students outside of the school. In America, there are so many options for electives. We have everything from orchestra to flower arrangements
She means a Sadie Hawkins dance.... Americans don't even know their own traditions any more.
Sadie Hawkins is when the girl asks the guy out. Homecoming is after the first big football game
Load More Replies...Texas is a completely different beast. I had a huge culture shock moving to the Houston area from Colorado, almost as bad as she's describing when moving to another country. Mums are not a nation-wide thing, never saw them in New England, the Mid-Atlantic coast, or in the Rockies. Homecoming was a thing everywhere I was, but we also had junior and senior proms, Sadie Hawkins dances, etc.
Yeah that whoel "mums" thing is definitely only a very local tradition for her.
Load More Replies...My year 12 formal was horrible. My school decided to be cheap and got the year 7 hospitality classes to cook our dinner and desert instead of getting actual caterers. There was a pork and chicken option, I can't remember what the pork was but the chicken was battered in crushed Doritos, both were horrible and barely any of it was touched. The desert was Coles brand box brownies and meringue nests with canned whipped cream and passion fruit. All we had to drink was horrible town water or canned soft drinks, we didn't even have music for most of the night cause the sound system failed. Most of the students ended up going to Mac Donald's or KFC afterwards because every one was hungry. Not worth the $200 my parents paid for that shitty night.
Upvoting for the interesting look at an Australian formal. Sorry your night was shitty.
Load More Replies...I'm planning to have my female wear tuxedo on homecoming, with my male friends wearing a dress, and my non-binary friends wear a T-shirt with pants (or whatever they prefer)
This is not representative of the US in general, it must be a Texas thing. And we have to formals also (where the budget was set by the class that graduated the previous year) 8th grade prom and junior/senior prom. I don’t know what the mum thing is. From OK here.
I'm Texan and I had formal and the two proms. Still unsure what a mum is.
Load More Replies...Homecoming signals the (almost) END of our football season in my part of America. It usually doesn't take place until mid-October and football season starts in August (ends in early November)
Some schools in Aus also have socials, just mini discos basically. I didn't have them in any of the primary schools I went to, but in high school there was one every year. Though a few of my cousins in another state don't have them at their school. It varies of course.
Americans over celebrate everything, it's good and ridiculous at the same time.
in the UK we only really have casual (or costumed at halloween) school discos in primary school, and then nothing in secondary until you finish school and have your Prom. xP
Also there's no way most US high schools would let girls get away with wearing those dresses.
Um... No. I think she means homecoming. Once every year there is a big football game, and the day before is a dance. It's called homecoming.
In Australia, we don't actually have hallways, so in America, to get from class to class, you go through the school, through your hallways, whereas in Australia, everything's outside other than your classrooms. Lunch, recess, we also have recess, but it's all outside.
Same in New Zealand, which actually sucks during winter... Luckily in my later years at high school our tutor teacher would let us stay in our home room during the breaks cause we were part of the academic classes. (Basically talented students)
Everyone knows that American public high schools don't have a uniform, but we do have a dress code. Pretty much, you couldn't wear tops that were less than three finger lengths for the sleeves, and your shorts had to be below finger length. When we had gym or sports, we had a separate uniform that we were given, and we would get changed in the locker rooms before class. Whereas in Australia, the typical uniform looks something like this. We called this formal uniform, and on the days we had gym, we wore our PE uniform, that looked something like this. I've also heard a lot of schools in Australia have a "no hat, no play" policy, but I wouldn't know, because I didn't go to elementary school in Australia
Yeah if you let the kids out without hats they catch fire and spontaneously grow extra limbs. The sun hates you, it is Not Your Friend
So in America, we have water fountains and that's the equivalent to these, which in Australia, they call them drink taps, and they look like that.
@llarafourie Culture shocks I had when moving to Melbourne! #australia #america
♬ Wii Shop Channel - McTweet
Again with the TikTok screenshots. This is getting so stupid, BP.
Haha. "Hey, creating original content is HARD, you guys!" ~ BP, probably
Load More Replies...Just because her school in the US was like that does not mean all schools in the US are like that.
Its horrific that American schools have metal detectors and school police. Scary
Not a reality for some Americans, surely I’m not the only American that hasn’t experienced these things? No metal detectors, no cops at school.
Load More Replies...I went to school in the us for 12 years and I never saw 1 metal detector in a school.
Oh thank you!! I thought I was loosing my mind!! I haven’t either. In any school. What state are u from? I’m in OK
Load More Replies...My US high school was much closer to the Australian one. We went outside and could leave campus for lunch, class periods were an hour and a half long, lockers were tiny, ect.
When I was in Seattle I saw HS kids go out for lunch all the time off campus
Load More Replies...Well, overall, I would say, Oklahoma must be more similar to Australia than it is to Texas:) which I am 100% cool with😎
This frustrated me to the point that I couldn't read it all in one setting. 99% of these items DO NOT apply to the very-populated area of the US in which I live. And I am sure many other Americans can say the same thing. Most of these things being attributed to the differences in countries are in fact, differences in areas of different countries. In the US, systems vary city to city, county to county, state to state, region to region etc. I am betting the same thing applies to Australia. To give the impression that these apply to the entire United States is abhorrent. The purging of incorrect information gives the US a bad image.
It's sounds like my school. I live in New York. My school is one of the safest and cares about mental health more that education.
I’m Australian. I read the metal detector thing. I am confused and horrified.
Makes me wonder if some of the reasons for school shooting in the states is that the kids are indoors all days from early morning. Lots of short classes where I expect tge kids bearly have time to start learning before it's time to move on, also to get enough learning done to pass a general years work in a single subject will mean long hours of homework... Basically these kids aren't allowed to be kids, get fresh air and rest... a teenager brain needs both if these in large quantities as they are still developing. Their education is basically turning these kids into neurotic time bombs. I honestly feel for them
I went to school in the Midwest, none of our schools have gun detectors... Because no one is allowed to have guns. My husband and another friend went to school in different parts of California, and both had classes that opened directly to the outside. This is a dumb comparison post.
I’m still not sure about going on vacation there my sis told me that everything tries to kill you there
She could have moved counties and still experienced these same differences. This has nothing to do with US HS vs Australian HS. I grew up in Texas and really have no idea what she's talking about.
She really thinks that all schools in either country are exactly the same? I work in one of the most dangerous cities in the country and there are no metal detectors in the schools.
Also, much better at dealing with COVID! My half sister lives in Australia, and she has never had to wear a mask! Like, they just stayed home for a month or so, and then there was no need to wear them anymore! And it wasn't even that she had a problem with masks, she was totally okay to wear them (as we all should be) but there just wasn't a need!
My high school (in California) was definitely nothing like her Texas school. The only time I've ever seen a metal detector was at the airport
Nothing about human sized spiders and kangaroos teaching classes in Australia. Faaaaaake.
Wolf spider wearing wig shifts uncomfortably and sweats....
Load More Replies...Again with the TikTok screenshots. This is getting so stupid, BP.
Haha. "Hey, creating original content is HARD, you guys!" ~ BP, probably
Load More Replies...Just because her school in the US was like that does not mean all schools in the US are like that.
Its horrific that American schools have metal detectors and school police. Scary
Not a reality for some Americans, surely I’m not the only American that hasn’t experienced these things? No metal detectors, no cops at school.
Load More Replies...I went to school in the us for 12 years and I never saw 1 metal detector in a school.
Oh thank you!! I thought I was loosing my mind!! I haven’t either. In any school. What state are u from? I’m in OK
Load More Replies...My US high school was much closer to the Australian one. We went outside and could leave campus for lunch, class periods were an hour and a half long, lockers were tiny, ect.
When I was in Seattle I saw HS kids go out for lunch all the time off campus
Load More Replies...Well, overall, I would say, Oklahoma must be more similar to Australia than it is to Texas:) which I am 100% cool with😎
This frustrated me to the point that I couldn't read it all in one setting. 99% of these items DO NOT apply to the very-populated area of the US in which I live. And I am sure many other Americans can say the same thing. Most of these things being attributed to the differences in countries are in fact, differences in areas of different countries. In the US, systems vary city to city, county to county, state to state, region to region etc. I am betting the same thing applies to Australia. To give the impression that these apply to the entire United States is abhorrent. The purging of incorrect information gives the US a bad image.
It's sounds like my school. I live in New York. My school is one of the safest and cares about mental health more that education.
I’m Australian. I read the metal detector thing. I am confused and horrified.
Makes me wonder if some of the reasons for school shooting in the states is that the kids are indoors all days from early morning. Lots of short classes where I expect tge kids bearly have time to start learning before it's time to move on, also to get enough learning done to pass a general years work in a single subject will mean long hours of homework... Basically these kids aren't allowed to be kids, get fresh air and rest... a teenager brain needs both if these in large quantities as they are still developing. Their education is basically turning these kids into neurotic time bombs. I honestly feel for them
I went to school in the Midwest, none of our schools have gun detectors... Because no one is allowed to have guns. My husband and another friend went to school in different parts of California, and both had classes that opened directly to the outside. This is a dumb comparison post.
I’m still not sure about going on vacation there my sis told me that everything tries to kill you there
She could have moved counties and still experienced these same differences. This has nothing to do with US HS vs Australian HS. I grew up in Texas and really have no idea what she's talking about.
She really thinks that all schools in either country are exactly the same? I work in one of the most dangerous cities in the country and there are no metal detectors in the schools.
Also, much better at dealing with COVID! My half sister lives in Australia, and she has never had to wear a mask! Like, they just stayed home for a month or so, and then there was no need to wear them anymore! And it wasn't even that she had a problem with masks, she was totally okay to wear them (as we all should be) but there just wasn't a need!
My high school (in California) was definitely nothing like her Texas school. The only time I've ever seen a metal detector was at the airport
Nothing about human sized spiders and kangaroos teaching classes in Australia. Faaaaaake.
Wolf spider wearing wig shifts uncomfortably and sweats....
Load More Replies...