I graduated from high school around a year ago and it really wasn't that similar to the movies. There were different social groups and such, but people wouldn't stick with only their cliques. They would talk to other people too. High school was some fun times, socially, but academically not as good as other countries I'm sure. I live in california and we get fairly good education. My high school had awards for their academics and stuff, but US schools in general are pretty bad. People don't respect teachers and are they're only for the social aspect. I'm not speaking for everyone though, because there were lots of people in my school in programs like honors classes. I think it has to do with public schools being free though, because I think people have to pay for school in other countries, which makes them want to do better.