Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

This is justified if the character is in their late teens, as in many places, finishing high school is not compulsory.

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

** Even [[Cloudcuckoolander|Tristan]] wonders why they haven't been expelled by now.

* Trainers leave for one year, in the ''[[The Electric Tale of Pikachu]]'' manga series.

** This [[Justified Trope|does make some sense]], though, since in all but one story arc the protagonists are intimately connected to the [[Big Bad]] or have what the [[Big Bad]] wants.

* In ''[[Nekketsu Saikyo Gosaurer]]'', the [[Transforming Mecha]] are made of the sections of the protagonists' schools, so technically they are in school as they adventure in their mechs.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* ''Akiko on the Planet Smoo'' has a robotic doppelganger take her place over the course of the adventure, since she's gone in real-time.

* In ''The Dangerous Days of Daniel X'' by [[James Patterson]], it is handwaved by saying that Daniel is so smart he does not need to go to school. He avoids truancy officers by using his powers to create his mom and dad, who say that he's homeschooled.

** And later in the series, after he realizes how much saving the world every few months sucks, he starts saying "Why can't I just be in school?" Naturally, every attempt to back out of his spy life just throws him in even deeper.

* Many of Les Amis in ''[[Les Misérables]]'' are students, though they hardly ever seem to mention going to classes. However, this is more because a lot of them seem to skip their classes rather than them not existing.

* Subverted in ''[[Big Bad Beetleborgs]]''; one episode involved them having to keep ducking out during class.

* ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]'' frequently features the characters in school...they just never actually go to ''classes''.

* ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]]/handwaves this in one episode, despite the show not being a particularly noticable example of this trope:

{{quote| '''Cory:''' You know we really should have taken more classes during our senior year. We have entirely way too much time on our hands.}}

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* While nobody remembers that Sora exists during the missing year in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', Riku's only excuse was [[Word of God|being presumed missing or dead]], and Kairi and Selphie do attend school.

* It seems that most child trainers in ''[[Pokémon]]'' stay near home until their a certain age (usually late teenagers, post-school most likely) and are seen going to school or referring to it. You are usually eleven years old and are allowed to venture off around the region, but it seems that you were either home schooled or you finished.

** Also, when calling Ness's mom, she will occasionally remark that one of his teachers stopped by, and that she covered for him.

* [[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army|Raidou]] [[Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon|Kuzunoha]] wears a school uniform and is said to be a student, but never seen at school. Given Raidou is 17, the time period (~1931), in both games he is working as an apprentice and time seems to have passed in the 2nd game, he likely doesn't need to be.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[The Weekenders]]'', because all the action takes place on...well...the weekend.

 

* Played straight in most ''[[Nancy Drew]]'' book series. Nancy's boyfriend Ned and his friends Burt and Dave are in college, but eighteen-year-old Nancy and her best friends Bess and George are high school graduates who never really even discuss the idea of going to college, or any sort of career plans... except in the short-lived ''Nancy Drew on Campus'' series, in which the college setting was the whole point. This made perfect sense in the earlier books, as in 1930 it would be more unusual for affluent young women to go to university or enter the workforce, but in the current ''Nancy Drew, Girl Detective'' series, which was launched in 2004, it's still never explained why Nancy, George, and Bess aren't enrolled in post-secondary education or planning for some sort of career. Nancy very occasionally takes courses, and she frequently works, whether it's a paid job, an internship, or a volunteer position, but these are always temporary things that last for the plot of one book and are never expected to lead to a degree or a career path.

** And yet her lawyer father hopes to someday rename his firm to "Drew and Daughter".

** Although, Hermione stays responsible by {{spoiler|eventually going back to school to finish her 7th year, per [[Word of God]]. Even though it was probably the two boys that could've used it the most.}}

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** Though she also drags Ron along with her, who's shown to be far less successful.

** Seeing as how her "saving the world" thing isn't exactly a secret to anyone, she probably can get away with it.

** Her parents once said they don't like her saving the world on a school night.

** Expressly justified for [[Mission Control|Wade]] -- he's [[Child Prodigy|a genius]] who's already finished school up through college.

{{quote| '''Homer:''' Shouldn't you be in school right now? <br />

'''Bart:''' Shouldn't you be at work right now? <br />

* In the ''[[Western Animation/Legion Of Super-Heroes|Legion Of Super-Heroes]]'' cartoon, nobody there goes to school. Alright, they could all have graduated as most are in their late teenage years, but in a flashback where they are shown in their uniforms, they all look about twelve or so. Are there no schools in the future?

** We are told in the original comics that 14 year olds are considered adult by at least some planets in that future with the implication that this is common.

{{quote| '''Freddie:''' It looks like a mystery to me, and I think that's just a little more important than school.}}

 

* ''[[Digimon]]'' loves this trope, being that it consistently stars characters who are still public school age:

** Averted in ''[[Digimon Adventure|Adventure]]'', as it takes place during summer vacation and [[Year Inside, Hour Outside]] is in full effect.

** Invoked in ''[[Digimon Tamers|Tamers]]'', as the characters literally walk out of school to go to the digital world, and their teacher is understandably deeply concerned about it all.

** Ninety-nine percent of ''[[Digimon Frontier|Frontier]]'' takes place in the Digital World, so school doesn't appear. To be fair, they couldn't go to school even if they tried. The commute from parallel world to parallel world isn't particularly easy. Also explained away via a time paradox. Supposedly, the entire series takes place in the span of [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|only ten minutes in the real world]].

* ''[[Nabari no Ou]]'': Played completely straight in Miharu and Raimei's cases - Miharu in particular misses at least two months of school after {{spoiler|using the Shinrabanshou}}...[[Hands-Off Parenting|and when he comes back home, his grandmother is just happy he's making friends]]. It's averted by Yoite, who never attended school to begin with, and later by Gau when it's mentioned that he ended up dropping out. It's justified in {{spoiler|Kouichi and Shijima}}'s cases because they're not actually kids.

 

* ''[[Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide]]'': Sure they're in school, and sure, they go to class when the plot calls for it, but there are many examples where they are some how able to spend the entire day out of school and doing whatever they need to be doing for the topic of the class- and the teachers involved in the plot never mark them as skipping? (One example this troper remembers specifically was the episode where Ned and Moze were dealing with a pair of sneakers in the Lost and Found, Ned wanting them, Moze wanting to return them, and they had the whole day to themselves to deal with the problem, never showing to class once.)

** Amusingly [[Lampshaded|semi-lampshaded]] when there's a dramatic moment in the hall, (hostage exchange, etc. - hey, it's that kind of show) a teacher or hall monitor will walk past, [[Phrase Catcher|ask "Do you have hall passes?"]] and the action pauses while all the students hold up passes, then go right back to the drama.

* ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' is uneven in its treatment of this trope. Veronica handles cases during school hours, and manages to spend a lot of time at school digging up dirt on people rather than attending class. However, she frequently gripes about cases and consultations making her late for class, and on occasion the guidance counselor brought her spotty attendance record to light.

** And yet she still had the second highest GPA in her class.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** Could be justified, and possibly even an aversion, as most of the events that take place on Earth span only a few hours, save for a few scattered conversations.

** The events of the comic itself, however, begin at 4:13 to 7:13 for the other three depending on the time zones, so John could've just gotten home.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** May be a case of [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]] considering who his [[Batman|mentor]] is.

*** Robin is also preternaturally devoted to eradicating crime, so it's unlikely he could stomach an ordinary high school life when there's bad guys to beat down.