<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Ah, high school! A time of changes. Of growing up . . . or growing fangs? Of learning cheers . . . or casting spells? Of alienation . . . or aliens?

High school and Sci Fi have gone together since the rise of the youth culture in the 1950s. Certainly, part of it is appealing to the audience: by setting movies, books, and TV shows in high school, creators naturally attract a target market with a fascination for mass media and discretionary income.

It is also an appropriate time for other reasons.

People are going through massive changes, uncertain of who they are or who they will become. Doubt, isolation, and secrecy all acoompany this time of transition. Since high school students can hide drug use, pregnancy and sexual orientation from their parents, stories can suggest that they could hide vampirism, secret science experiments and coven meetings.

The flirtatiousness of young people lends itself well to the visual media. Whether in bikinis in the 1960s, or low-rider jeans in the 1990s, high school movies and TV give an opportunity to sell with sex, whether just hanging out or in more explicit activities.

Idealism and empowerment are part of the experience as well. Teenagers may want to change the world for the better, and believe they can do so. They may take risks older people generally wouldn't. Where their parents may do what the police say (even if the police have been taken over by aliens), the students are more likely to act on their own.

From The Blob and I Was a Teenage Werewolf to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell (TV series), and over to Harry Potter and The Craft, the teen theme is likely to continue to be an intergral part of Sci Fi for years to come.

To see specific information (such as individual movies, TV series and books), please click the High School Sci Fi category link at the bottom of this article. To see article that reference high school, please click the What Links Here tool in the toolbox at the bottom of this page.