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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
The pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. In a free country. Oh, the irony!
The pledge makes so much more sense when you learn it was invented by flag companies so they could sell a flag for each classroom in the county.
Load More Replies...Once again, I’m in rural Oklahoma, we only did the pledge in grade school, no moment of silence (sometimes if there was a school death and we did one after 9/11) and we all had home rooms before actual classes started. I’m not sure she’s American, lol or maybe rural Oklahoma if vastly different from her home state.
Yeah her experience in an americna high school is very different from mine
Load More Replies...Some people think the pledge makes american brainwashed or some other bs, bur it was mostly just an annoyance to me
Because I was in middle school (then called junior high) and high school during the Vietnam War, I would stay seated and not do the Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of the class as a protest against the war.
Load More Replies...Where in America did this chick go to school. We had 4 classes a day, stopped saying the pledge in third grade, had recess, wore uniforms, and home room was the first class of the day. I lived in New Jersey and Mississippi during school. It looks like she is just looking for reasons to be different.
It has definitely changed. we used to have 6 classes per day except Wednesday, when we would have 3 classes in the morning and then Sports all afternoon. Yes In Australia.
The period lengths are very different from school to school. Homeroom isn't actually used everywhere.
What are you supposed to do if you’re not an American citizen ?
Exactly. It’s be pointless to do it every day. We only did that when recognizing a death of someone or something.
Load More Replies...in Romania before 1989 we had Ceausescu's and his wife's portraits in every classroom, we sang the national anthem every morning. We had no cafeteria or lunch provided by the school, packed lunch. We had classes from 8 am to 3 pm, Monday to Firday, with 10 minutes break between them. We had uniforms. In 2nd grade we were made "pionneers" and the class became something like a small army brigade, with class chief, squad leaders, flag bearers. We had a special tie and if you forgot it at home you were punished. Oh, Ceausescu's photo was on the first page of every school book, if you defaced it you could get in trouble. Well, your parents.
At least while I was still in school, we stop doing the pledge of allegiance when we got into junior high.
It is different for each school. When I was in school we had 6 lessons a day 2 before recess, 2 before lunch and 2 after lunch. We had home group in the morning for 10 mins to mark you off the roll and give any notices. And the houses/groups you are given are mainly used for sports day. The team you are given usually depends on the first letter of your last name.
I’m not sure where this person went to school but the high school I work at has 6x50minute periods. Home room is once per week and students are put in a “house” for sporting events only.
I'm in my 70s, and live in Canada. When I went to high school, we had homerooms every year. That was the first class of the day every day.
I never had four classes a day, even with double and triple lessons you were still attending the same amount of classes, usually 8. Three in the morning, two after recess, three after lunch.
the idea that all those schools across America are at the same time saying the pledge of allegiance always seemed like something out of a dystopian novel to me and is quite creepy, although given how capitalist America is having hundreds of thousands of kids quoting an advertisement made to sell flags is probably normal.
Pledge of allegiance is complete BS. I never understood why a free country would force that on their chidlren. With "god" in it with all those different religions and all those non- religious people. Like a tyranny.
Flags? In school??? Here in Sweden you're not allowed to have the swedish flag in school. It is said to be racist to wear one - even during football season. Not to mention the swedish hockey team Tre Kronors logo. It all gets confiscated. :(
I live in America and sense I’m on virtual I just go get food instead
Home room - is not In Australia. We have a roll call at some time during the day. Then you go to your Recall class room.
My high school it was called home group, we went first thing in the morning for roll call and given any notices and again after lunch for the same thing. Was a way to find out if people were wagging.
Load More Replies...This depends on the school. I had I think 6 classes a day, 45 minutes per period. No houses.
We do this in Texas too. Starting in elementary kids are doing A day B day schedules . Half the classes are on A days , which consists of 1 1/2 hour classes and lunch . B days are the remaining classes and lunch .
Again, I grew up in Texas and in high school we never said the pledge. Again, Texas. Austin, TX, but still.
90 minute periods is very unusual. I've never heard of a school that does more than 60
Unless you have double maths etc. I hated getting double lessons, it just went for too long.
Load More Replies...OMG, such bulls****! Moment of silence? Since when? Pledge of allegiance? On occasion. Neither of my kids ever did that except when they were in private school. As far as the 7 classes a day... no. Neither myself, nor my kids ever had that. It was 4 classes a day.. are you sure she ever went to school in the US?
WHAT school, where????? Which State? Public or private school? Not in any school I taught in, or any school my children went to. 8 periods a day. No home rooms, just the classroom that you had lessons in. Some school have a senior room for the year 12 classes. Methiks this arrogant child has been sent to an expensice priovare {Inernational"school
She speaks about this as though ALL American schools are exactly like the 1 school she attended. Her reality at whatever High School she went to is NOT the same for the entire United States. I've never heard of 90% of these lies she's spewing. Utter BS
Looking at this I thought everywhere else was the same, what's the "Pledge of Allegiance"?
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.
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...