CBC has introduced a new podcast, specifically designed for high school students called This is High School. So, if you’ve ever had a hard time trying to explain the difficulties of high school, have your parents and grandparents watch this podcast. What CBC did was put 50 cameras in a high school and let them run for eight weeks. The end result is this six-part series currently available for your viewing pleasure.

South Kamloops Secondary School in British Columbia had allowed for CBC to record the everyday scenarios of the school. People obviously were a little freaked out at first but the awareness of cameras doesn’t last forever and soon, teachers and students and faculty members began behaving like their normal selves again. You may think that the cameras caught the kind of situations you might see on an after-school special, but the podcast digs deeper into serious struggles that students deal with, reminding people that these things happen more often than we think they do. We all know that high school is a life-changing time and This is High School shines a light on that.

Each episode focusses on two students having to deal with the various events that plague a high school student’s life. The producers of the podcast got the chance to see how students and teachers truly interact with one another, exposing both sides of a kid trying to figure themselves out and a teacher trying to shape their students into educated people ready for the adult world.

Available on CBC’s website is biographies for each of the highlighted students. One of the students, Karsen, is a drama student who deals with anxiety. Though, her anxieties tend to melt away when she’s on stage. Harry is a confident First Nations student who enjoys bantering with his teachers and wants to become an advocate for First Nations people. Maddy is a student who is a bit shy around adults but way more extroverted around her friends, like many high school students.

But, the podcast also focusses on the staff and faculty. For example, Vice-principal Blake Buemann needs to deal with the fact that his good nature doesn’t fly with some of the more troublesome students of the school. You’ve got the biology teacher, Dom, who gets along pretty well with his students and has all the typical fixings of a stereotypical biology classroom (including the skeletons and tarantulas).

One of the most inspiring things about This is High School is their focus on the everyday lives of everyday people. It doesn’t paint anyone to be the bad guy and doesn’t try to act like high school kids are the only ones who need to find balance in their lives. But, they also don’t take away from their struggles to focus on those of the teachers. The neutral podcast allows for someone to learn something in every episode, which is one of its greatest strengths.

The creators also tried to ensure that their balanced understanding stretched into the comments section, which is why they kindly ask on their Facebook for people to leave “kind and fair” comments. Their inclusivity also allows for people to suggest edits for their Facebook page, should you want to see a serious change made. This is High School also has a Twitter and an Instagram page.

The first season is available for viewing so if you feel like you or anyone in your life has something to learn about the struggles of high school, pop on over to their website and have a watch.

Sources:

https://www.facebook.com/thisishighschoolcbc/

http://www.cbc.ca/thisishighschool/videos/about-this-is-high-school