I (17F) am from a South American country where for some stupid reason the high school you graduated from is seen as a status symbol. Like grown adults well into their 40s will randomly ask each other “Oh and which school did you go to?” like it’s a zodiac sign or something. And they WILL treat you differently if you didn’t graduate from the same top 5 schools all the rich kids go to.

When I was little my parents enrolled me in this private French school in my city. It’s super prestigious, funded partly by the French government and your diploma is valid both here and in France. In paper sounds great but that place was HELL ON EARTH.

I was bullied non stop from the first year I was there. Not just by the students, but the teachers too. I was eight years old when a teacher literally tore up my French writing assignment in front of the whole class and called me dumb little rat because I didn’t write well in French (SHOCKER: My first language is Spanish, not French). When I was 13 a math teacher called me “petite salope précoce” because my skirt was a tiny bit above the knee. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I also had classmates writing “BITCH” on my assigned desks, cut my hair with scissors, spread rumors about how I was blowing the teacher to pass math (I was 11 years old, mind you), etc. I literally had NO friends and I’m not even exaggerating, idk what is to have a childhood friend group.

By 15 I was so depressed I could barely get out of bed. I FINALLY convinced my parents to transfer me to another private school, way less prestigious but at least it felt human. I could finally breathe without feeling that everyone would make of me for it. But I still have major trauma from my time at that French school. Like I still get flashbacks and panic attacks sometimes.

Now for the TikTok part. There’s this trend going around where people use the Lady Gaga sound “I don’t wanna be friends” but change it to say “I don’t wanna French”. So I jumped on the trend and made a video with that audio and the caption: “Me after studying in that hell of a french school in [my city]”. I didn’t name the school. I didn’t @ anyone. Just vague enough to avoid drama or so I thought.

The video got like 2000 views and 100ish comments. A bunch of people agreed with me, turns out I’m not the only one who had a miserable experience in that shithole. But then came the defenders. Some current students or alumni showed up in the comments acting like I had insulted Dolly Parton.

One girl commented: “Imagine making fun of [French School] when you go to [my current school], resentful poor girl”. So I responded“Imagine thinking you’re posh like an European when you shop at Forever 21 LMAOO”. (Bc she had a giant F21 logo in her pfp)

My friends think I’m hilarious and that I’m just standing up for myself. But some family members (who also think that school is some sacred institution) said I’m being petty and disrespectful.