People Are Sharing The Tropes They Are Tired Of Seeing In Teen Dramas, And Honestly, I Couldn't Agree More

    UGH, as if we need more student-teacher romances.

    Salimah McCullough
    by Salimah McCullough

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the high school tropes they are tired of seeing in TV shows/movies, and they did not let us down! Here are some of the best responses.

    Note: Some submissions include drug abuse and pedophilia.

    1. Cheerleaders always being the mean girls.

    Quinn, Santana, and the other cheerleaders laughing at a video of Rachel Berry in Glee
    Fox

    "I'm so bored of it, and trust me, I couldn't have been further from a cheerleader, but it's just so lazy. I knew plenty of nice cheerleaders and plenty of mean smart kids."

    —circe26

    2. The token lesbian couple with a mean skinny white girl and a nice skinny Black girl.

    Cheryl and Toni from "Riverdale" sitting together on a couch
    The CW

    "I feel like that same couple is in every show these days."

    —paigesmoon

    3. The only colleges that seem to matter are the Ivy League schools.

    Serena and Blair talking about Ivy League schools in "Gossip Girl"
    The CW

    "Every main character has to go to one of the major universities. What's wrong with community college or just a regular university?"

    —monikap6

    4. And somehow mediocre students are getting into top schools like Harvard and Stanford.

    Peter Kavinksy standing outside of Lara Jean's house in Stanford attire
    Netflix

    "Normalize state schools and junior colleges!"

    —kendallg2001

    5. The "designated ugly fat friend" trope.

    Jess, Casey, and Bianca walking in the school hallway in "The Duff"
    Lionsgate

    —c439b13101

    6. The overuse of love triangles.

    Damon, Elena, and Stefan walking into a school dance together
    The CW

    "I'm kinda tired of them. Don't get me wrong, some of them are top-notch, but some shows just make the love triangle too big of a plotline for too long. Like I enjoyed Delena vs. Stelena in the first few seasons of The Vampire Diaries, but man, I got tired of it."

    —ktso14

    7. The sassy Black best friend trope.

    Mercedes from "Glee," Dionne from "Clueless," and Sky from "Grown-ish"
    Fox/ Paramount Pictures/ Freeform

    "If you want representation, you need to make it not a stereotype."

    —moviesandmusic

    8. The normalization and romanticization of forbidden teacher-student relationships.

    Aria and Ezra looking at each other and setting up a date in "Pretty Little Liars"
    ABC Family

    "It’s not cute, sexy, or romantic for an adult who is old enough to teach high school to be dating a minor. It’s pedophilia and a literal crime."

    —rachelmay

    9. Prom being this huge, fun party where everyone falls in love and enjoys themselves.

    Ryan, Troy, and Chad dancing at prom in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"
    Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

    "My prom sucked! All the chaperones were so sure we were going to sneak in alcohol, so everyone was waiting until the two-hour mark so we could all leave and go to after-parties."

    —jeroy

    10. Teens having ample time to solve mysteries, party, and avoid doing homework, even though they're supposedly in school from 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

    Alison, Spencer, Emily, Hanna, and Aria pointing a gun at A in "Pretty Little Liars"
    Freeform

    "And then, suddenly, we see them going to some Ivy League school."

    —xtina919

    11. The curly-haired girls always being portrayed as "ugly."

    Mia from "The Princess Diaries" getting her makeover
    Walt Disney Pictures

    "Growing up, it took such a hit on my self-esteem because other girls had silky, straight hair. I straightened it for years, but I finally love them now. OUR CURLS ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!"

    —reyesmclaire

    12. High school coming off as super cliquey.

    Paramount Pictures

    "For some reason, every teen drama has a perfectly divided social hierarchy, and no one ever interacts outside their group until they have some kind of Breakfast Club moment to fight evil, find a murderer, or something. Most high schools are less of a series of cliques and more of a bunch of weird friendship blobs that intersect in about seven million ways, and most people actually get along with each other."

    —emilym4e8497a33

    13. The characters are always consumed by romance and dating.

    Devi telling her friends that they are rebranding to become cool in "Never Have I Ever"
    Netflix

    "Most high schoolers don't date. My graduating class had four established couples out of the 150 of us. Honestly, you're lucky enough to find one person you think is cute, let alone have crushes on 10 different people."

    —justchillman

    14. There is always a non-American kid who has a thick accent and is fascinated with the "American lifestyle."

    Finn and Rory from "Glee"
    Fox

    "It's so frustrating. They also usually have a bunch of stereotypes from the country they're from."

    —tpwk2021

    15. Every female student being well dressed with a face full of makeup and their hair perfectly styled all the time.

    Patty walking down the hall after her makeover in "Insatiable"
    Netflix

    "At my school, we barely changed out of pajamas for classes. No one has that kind of time and no one cares if you don't wash your hair!"

    —cazboline

    16. The "I'm not like other girls" trope.

    Cady from "Mean Girls," Bella from "Twilight," and Missy from "Bring It On"
    Paramount Pictures/ Summit Entertainment/ Universal Pictures

    "STFU! Just because you hate the color pink and have your hair tied in a messy bun doesn't mean you're special."

    —doseofdivineee

    17. Whenever the main character's sibling — who has never been mentioned before — comes in for one episode to cause trouble or date another main character.

    Scott Rosson from "Gossip Girl"
    The CW

    "Bonus points if it’s the person their sibling dated/has an interest in. Then they leave and are rarely mentioned again."

    —abigailbrown1013

    18. The "what could have happened if" or dream sequence episodes.

    Lucas almost hitting Nathan with his car in "One Tree Hill"
    The WB

    "Often, these episodes have no real impact on the current plot. For example, the episode of One Tree Hill when they showed what the characters would be like if Dan married Karen and raised Lucas is pointless."

    —belleyre

    19. People are always being stuffed into lockers and given wedgies.

    Eric being shoved against his locker by Adam in "Sex Education"
    Netflix

    "I'm English, so we don't have lockers big enough to push people in. But this idea of bullying being physical in this way is outdated and often not the case. Often it is small remarks, faces made, cyber, and far more subtle and very destructive. It annoys me that they think it is taking lunch money or knocking books out of someone's hands."

    —crizzy444

    20. The gay best friend trope.

    Rachel referring to Kurt as her best gay in "Glee"
    Fox

    "At the time, it was a revolutionary way of positive LGBTQ representation, but now it's a tired trope. It's mostly white cis gay men."

    —supermanfrancois

    21. Teens feeling the need to "lose their virginity" as soon as possible.

    Julie, Kayla, and Sam creating their sex pact to lose their virginities on prom night in "Blockers"
    Universal Pictures

    "'Cause obviously they would just DIE if they had to go to college a virgin, so they NEED to have sex on prom night 🙄🙄."

    —honeymummy777

    22. Teens never have time to sit down and eat breakfast.

    Elle running out of the house with a piece of toast despite her dad having breakfast laid out because she's late for school
    Netflix

    "When the parent has spread out a whole breakfast meal on the table before school, and the rest of the family is sitting down eating, and the main character is in a rush for no reason and quickly grabs some toast."

    —curlygirl34

    23. Or, the total opposite, where every teen somehow has time to get coffee before school.

    The WB/ The CW

    "And the sun being up when they get up to go get coffee before school."

    —mermaid04

    24. The girl who has glasses is "ugly," and later on, her friend gives her a makeover where they style her hair and take off her glasses.

    Comparison of Laney in her glasses and then Laney without her glasses and with makeup on in "She's All That"
    Miramax Films

    "Usually after she reveals to her friend that she has a crush."

    —curlygirl34

    25. The obsession with becoming the prom queen.

    Quinn Fabray putting a crown on her head for prom in "Glee"
    Fox

    "Seriously, almost every teen TV show/movie has this overdramatic character, that if she doesn’t get to be the queen, her life would be over. It’s just high school prom; get over this already!"

    —inbary2

    26. Every high school on TV has a seemingly unlimited budget for extracurriculars and activities.

    Peter Kavinsky on the dance floor at prom in "To All The Boys: Always and Forever"
    Netflix

    "You're telling me that some public school in the Midwest can afford a prom in a museum with a grand staircase, floor-to-ceiling decorations, and a DJ with a giant booth and light show? Bullshit! That prom would be in the gym with some balloons and streamers bought from the dollar store and the DJ that does local weddings."

    —skysmith16

    27. Incredibly buff and muscular adults playing teenage boys in almost every teen drama.

    Spencer from "All American", Zach from "13 Reasons Why," and Paxton from "Never Have I Ever"
    The CW/ Netflix

    "Even the most attractive boys at my school didn’t have a single muscle between them, yet on TV, it feels like in every other scene there’s some kid with his shirt off looking like he bench presses houses and takes steroids like they’re going out of fashion."

    —tashc4da81140d

    28. And finally, having literal children handle huge and dangerous situations on their own.

    Sheri helping Justin detox from his drug addiction in "13 Reasons Why"
    Netflix

    "I know all of these things feed into the fantasy that teenage viewers have that they're actually fully functioning adults who can handle the world, parents be damned, and therefore make them want to watch more, but maybe not make it look like a good thing to detox your heroin-addicted friend in your bedroom secretly, okay 13 Reasons Why?"

    —obstinateostritch

    Are there any tropes/clichés that you are tired of seeing in high school TV/movies that didn't make this list? Feel free to drop them in the comments below!

    Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.