Although teen television is generally set in or around a high school, rarely does the educational role of that environment take centre stage. As a setting, school provides a common location for characters to meet up, have conversations, make plans. Even in shows where we regularly venture into the class room, those trips tend to be frames to the start or end of break – the bell rings and socializing may begin.
Of course this picture I’m painting of the teen drama high school is somewhat exaggerated. After all, school and school-related activities take up over 40 hours of a teen’s week. We’re bound to see characters studying or worrying about a grade. But really besides the particularly studious, or the lessons learned about how cheating is wrong, school is often something to set aside or avoid so that life can happen. Considering all that, what strikes me is actually how relevant school projects seem to become to the social lives of TV teens.
Never has a home economics or family studies project been passed out that didn’t somehow reflect or enhance the state of someone’s relationship. Perhaps most blatantly, in handing out roles for a household budget project not only are budding lovers Dawson and Joey split up, but Dawson is put in partnership with ex-girlfriend Jen, leaving Joey a single mom – the odd one out as the class is paired off. While Jen tries to take advantage of the pairing in an attempt to spur the fiction into reality, Joey also takes the hint and begins pulling away from her relationship.
Any school assignment can nudge relationships along. On The O.C. Ryan and Lindsay begin their life together as lab partners in science class, naturally they soon begin dating only to discover Lindsay’s absent father is Ryan’s adoptive grandfather which complicates matters.
Paired up for trust exercises in Dance Academy, Tara and Christian overcome their disdain for one another, eventually leading to a fiery on-again-off-again romance – also ignited by another assignment, rehearsing for one of their dance classes.
Even when romance doesn’t develop, the parallels to social relationships add up. Cast as Romeo and Juliet in the English class production of the famous play, Gilmore Girls‘s Rory is forced to deal with Tristan’s incessant advances, while boyfriend Dean looks on jealously.
And while assignments often trigger relationship questions, they also have a knack for reflecting what’s on your mind. While Veronica and boyfriend Duncan co-parent their animatronic baby for family studies on Veronica Mars, Veronica is coincidentally investigating a cold case from her mom’s time in high school, when a baby was abandoned at the prom.
From essay topics that happen to reflect what’s happening in a character’s life to group projects that throw kids together, teacher’s assignments can often feel like the machinations of an omniscient being, playing thematically with the lives of high schoolers.
While I was under the impression that a group project was really just a group project, a closer examination of the facts reveals that high school really does have life lessons to teach – just maybe not the ones envisioned by the instructor. Lessons in compatibility and chemistry, managing arguments, and setting priorities are all born out of the simple proximity school projects create. When forced to work together, teens learn a lot… about their feelings and their potential romantic partners, at least.
