New High School Story

[literolover25]

Hi all, Some of my favorite stories on here have been The New girl in Town and Senior Year Memories. But I have always thought that the heroes of the story are too perfect, and everyone around them is the ones making mistakes and growing as people.

I want to write a story about a guy who turns 18 just before his senior year, and I am thinking hes like a soccer player in a football town, so he goes under the radar. Well he starts getting some recognition for being a great player and kind of steps into a popular role and loses sight of his past values and friends. Would love some help with some scenarios where he might slip up without realizing it too late.

Thanks

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Well, first of all, no one turns 18 just before their senior year unless they were held behind a couple of grades somewhere along the line. And most don't turn 18 until they are at least halfway through their senior year and some not until after they graduate.

The school system works it that way. My cousin and I are the same age. She started school one year head of me because her birthday is in
September whereas mine is in January. So, she graduated when she was 17 and I graduated when I was 18. Yet when I graduated she had been 18 for a whole month already.

So, the story would probably not fly here. Go to a Brit site where the age of consent is 16 as that's how old juniors are when they go on summer vacation after their junior year.

 

[gunhilltrain]

There is a site that sets the age at sixteen and another one that has it at fourteen. (I'm not talking about that site that seems to have no rules at all.) I can't name them on this forum, because that is not allowed by Lit. None of them are British as far as I know.

If you really want it to go on Lit, how about moving it to college rather than high school?

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Now hold on a minute it's possible for a teenager to turn 18 before they start there senior year high school.

If there birthday is in early August which is when most high schools in the United States start the school year.

Yeah, nope. Most high schoolers graduate before they turn 18.

And the school year usually doesn't start until Sept. right after labor day. And there where cut offs as to when you could start. My cousin and I are the same age, she was born in a couple of months before me, yet she was old enough to start school a year ahead of me because my birth month was January. So she graduated when she was just turning 17 because she was born in the summer and I was born in the winter.

Unless they were held back a number of years somewhere along the line. I myself was held back in 5th grade due to needing glasses which wasn't found out until I was doing that grade over. So, I did turn 18 halfway through my senior year. Almost everyone else in my class was still 17.

And back when I was in high school you weren't considered an adult until you turned 21. You had to wait to do things like vote and drink, although most states still have the drinking age at 21, and a bunch of other stuff.

When the draft for Viet Nam came along, somewhere along in there they changed being an adult to 18 figuring if you could die for your country you could do all those other things, like vote and stuff.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yeah, nope. Most high schoolers graduate before they turn 18.

And the school year usually doesn't start until Sept. right after labor day. And there where cut offs as to when you could start. My cousin and I are the same age, she was born in a couple of months before me, yet she was old enough to start school a year ahead of me because my birth month was January. So she graduated when she was just turning 17 because she was born in the summer and I was born in the winter.

Unless they were held back a number of years somewhere along the line. I myself was held back in 5th grade due to needing glasses which wasn't found out until I was doing that grade over. So, I did turn 18 halfway through my senior year. Almost everyone else in my class was still 17.

And back when I was in high school you weren't considered an adult until you turned 21. You had to wait to do things like vote and drink, although most states still have the drinking age at 21, and a bunch of other stuff.

When the draft for Viet Nam came along, somewhere along in there they changed being an adult to 18 figuring if you could die for your country you could do all those other things, like vote and stuff.

I was a month beyond my eighteenth birthday when I graduated from high school. I believe that there were others in my class who had their birthdays at some time after January of their senior year.

I can only tell you what I've gotten accepted here at Lit. I've been able to post stories where at least one of the protagonists was in the last couple of months of high school or in the summer break immediately following. I will mention the character's age of eighteen in the text and perhaps in a disclaimer too.

That's as early as I will push it here. If I want to go back further, I will put it on another site.

P.S.: Many states set the drinking age at eighteen in the 1970s. New York State was one of them and I did buy beer and wine at times. I'd have to check, but there may have been a Federal mandate that all states go up to twenty-one.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Well, first of all, no one turns 18 just before their senior year unless they were held behind a couple of grades somewhere along the line. And most don't turn 18 until they are at least halfway through their senior year and some not until after they graduate.

The school system works it that way. My cousin and I are the same age. She started school one year head of me because her birthday is in
September whereas mine is in January. So, she graduated when she was 17 and I graduated when I was 18. Yet when I graduated she had been 18 for a whole month already.

So, the story would probably not fly here. Go to a Brit site where the age of consent is 16 as that's how old juniors are when they go on summer vacation after their junior year.

While you're not wrong, Lit has a long time honored tradition of assuming that a high school senior is 18. As long as you're a good writer you don't even have to specify what grade they are in. The story would almost definitely fly.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

While you're not wrong, Lit has a long time honored tradition of assuming that a high school senior is 18. As long as you're a good writer you don't even have to specify what grade they are in. The story would almost definitely fly.

I under stand that, but unless the child was held back at some point in their education, they will not be 18 prior to about half way through their senior year.

As for not specifying a grade they are in. The process that first sniffs the stories is quit good a looking for other things that would indicate that it MIGHT be an under 18 situation and boing back it goes. So it behooves you to mention age of all the individuals if you are writing close to the line.

Easy way, make them freshmen at college. No worries then.

 

[sirhugs]

I under stand that, but unless the child was held back at some point in their education, they will not be 18 prior to about half way through their senior year.

As for not specifying a grade they are in. The process that first sniffs the stories is quit good a looking for other things that would indicate that it MIGHT be an under 18 situation and boing back it goes. So it behooves you to mention age of all the individuals if you are writing close to the line.

Easy way, make them freshmen at college. No worries then.

He went to a strict all boys school, so the sexual attraction associated with sports stardom never registered. Once at college, he finds women throwing them at himself & doesn't know what to do...

 

[sirhugs]

I under stand that, but unless the child was held back at some point in their education, they will not be 18 prior to about half way through their senior year.

As for not specifying a grade they are in. The process that first sniffs the stories is quit good a looking for other things that would indicate that it MIGHT be an under 18 situation and boing back it goes. So it behooves you to mention age of all the individuals if you are writing close to the line.

Easy way, make them freshmen at college. No worries then.

or make it an Old High School story, like the tenth or 50th anniversary reunion...

 

[Zeb_Carter]

or make it an Old High School story, like the tenth or 50th anniversary reunion...

But you still couldn't talk about what happened when you were under 18.

 

[BrattyLinds]

For those debating something as simple as ages of seniors... Both my sister and I are June babies. We graduated high school at 17. One of her classmates was born in 1977 like me but she was in my sister's grade. That girl was 18 for almost her entire senior year. Then, there's a cousin of mine who was born Sept of '76. He started college at age 17 since his birthday came after the start of the school year.

*

 

[Dingo_Triplesix]

Set the story in a parallel dimension of reality, where all pupils worldwide have one more year of school education. Would be better not only for plotting reasons ;-)

 

[sirhugs]

Set the story in a parallel dimension of reality, where all pupils worldwide have one more year of school education. Would be better not only for plotting reasons ;-)

I am old enough that when I was in hgh school, in Ontario Canada if you were university bound you did 5 years of high school... they lowered the drinking agew to 18 for a couple of years then raised it to 19 when they realized most gr 13 students were 18, to "het booze out of the schools". Yeah, that worked about as well as banning sex.

 

[Whanmore]

Yeah, nope. Most high schoolers graduate before they turn 18.

And the school year usually doesn't start until Sept. right after labor day. And there where cut offs as to when you could start. My cousin and I are the same age, she was born in a couple of months before me, yet she was old enough to start school a year ahead of me because my birth month was January. So she graduated when she was just turning 17 because she was born in the summer and I was born in the winter.

Unless they were held back a number of years somewhere along the line. I myself was held back in 5th grade due to needing glasses which wasn't found out until I was doing that grade over. So, I did turn 18 halfway through my senior year. Almost everyone else in my class was still 17.

And back when I was in high school you weren't considered an adult until you turned 21. You had to wait to do things like vote and drink, although most states still have the drinking age at 21, and a bunch of other stuff.

When the draft for Viet Nam came along, somewhere along in there they changed being an adult to 18 figuring if you could die for your country you could do all those other things, like vote and stuff.

Most high schooler's turn 18 during their Senior year. if they had their birthday in an earlier month .....say August or September..... they could certainly turn 18 as the year started. It depends when their parents started their schooling

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

Well, first of all, no one turns 18 just before their senior year unless they were held behind a couple of grades somewhere along the line. And most don't turn 18 until they are at least halfway through their senior year and some not until after they graduate.

The school system works it that way. My cousin and I are the same age. She started school one year head of me because her birthday is in
September whereas mine is in January. So, she graduated when she was 17 and I graduated when I was 18. Yet when I graduated she had been 18 for a whole month already.

So, the story would probably not fly here. Go to a Brit site where the age of consent is 16 as that's how old juniors are when they go on summer vacation after their junior year.

You sure about that? I turned 19 my senior year. So did my Daughter.