This raises the question: “How realistic is it that Alex feels so much pressure due to the SAT that she has a mental breakdown and goes on to see a therapist after this incident?” For this, it is important to know that Alex is very academically inclined and wants to go to one of the best universities in the United States. Throughout the show, she specifically mentions applying to Princeton, MIT, Caltech and even Harvard. While she was rejected by Harvard (leading to another small breakdown in season 6 episode 18 “Spring Break”), she is accepted into MIT and Caltech, eventually opting for Caltech. It would therefore be interesting to see, if these universities have different requirements to applicants, especially concerning the SAT scores.

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Sadly, it seems that there is no statistical data available on the pressure that the SATs put on students. However, there are a number of blogposts and other online articles which deal with this issue. Many of them claim that the SAT puts too much stress on students. For instance, Anne Reeves wrote an article on pennlive.com titled “Expensive, stressful, time-consuming, the SAT needs to scat”. She argues, rather emotionally, that the SAT should be abolished altogether, one of the reasons being that it causes too much stress. An older article from NPR named “School, Study, SATs: No Wonder Teens Are Stressed”, which was published in 2006, sums up what they have found out by talking to students, parents and the MIT dean of admissions. They found that while the majority of students are doing fine, there are more and more who struggle and feel too stressed, which can lead to self-mutilation and eating disorders in extreme cases. However, they say that the SATs are not solely to blame, but rather the wide variety of things they need to do in order to get into college, such as having a good GPA and extracurricular activities. Yet another article claims that the SAT is actually not as important as many students are led to believe, causing them much more stress than necessary. This article was published on The Odyssey Online by Gianna Pisano, who at the time attended St. Thomas Acquina College and majored in Communication Arts/ Broadcasting and minored in Journalism/ Social Media. And while this is a small selection of articles, there are many more out there.

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All in all, there seems to be a general consensus that the SAT puts a lot of unnecessary stress on students. However, when talking to three students who took the ACT or SAT, they all said that they did not feel stressed or pressured and did not invest a lot of time in studying for the test either. They also claimed that the colleges they wanted to attend did not have very high standards for SAT results. This may very well have led them to believe that the score they achieved without studying hard would suffice to get into the college of their choice. Therefore, they also did not feel stressed because they were confident that their score would be good enough either way.

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As will be explored in a moment, the universities of Alex’s choice are very competitive and therefore also have higher requirements to accept students. For this, the SAT scores and acceptance rates of Caltech, MIT and Harvard will be explored to see how hard it really is to get into these schools and whether Alex’s stress is justified.

While there are no statistics available on accepted students of previous years, the websites of MIT, Caltech and Harvard show the class profile of the most recently admitted class, i.e. the class of 2023. Assuming that their criteria have not changed dramatically between the years 2014, when the respective episodes of Modern Family aired, and 2019, from when data is available, it makes sense that Alex would feel the same pressure to reach an excellent score in 2019 as she did five years ago. Therefore, it is justified to simply compare the available data for the class of 2023.

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The SAT has undergone a reform in 2016. According to the College Board website, the possible range of scores used to be 600 to 2400 and was changed to 400 to 1600. Therefore, it does not make sense to look at the absolute scores when comparing the universities, but calculating the relative scores in percentages makes a comparison possible. According to the MIT Admissions website, they admitted 6.7% of their applicants in 2019 and the middle 50 % of admitted students reached 95.0 – 98.75% in their SAT. The case for Caltech is very similar, as they admitted 6.4% of their applicants and the middle 50% of them reached 95.6 – 98.1% in the SAT. The Harvard Admissions website unfortunately only says that they admitted 4.6% of their applicants for the class of 2023; there is no information on how well students did in their SAT. However, the organisation Prepscholar which specialises in preparing students for their SAT, states that the middle 50% of students admitted into Harvard had SAT scores of 91.25 – 98.75%, showing a greater variety in SAT scores than the other two universities. All in all, these three universities seem to have very high standards for the SAT scores of the students they are admitting. This becomes especially apparent when comparing these numbers to the national average SAT score of high school students who graduated in 2019: According to College Board’s SAT Suite of Assessment Annuals Report for 2019 , the mean SAT score was 66.2%. More importantly, only one out of fourteen test takers managed to score higher than 87.5%. And since this essentially means you have to be among the top 7% if you want to go to one of the elite universities, it makes a lot of sense that Alex feels so much pressure – because it really is hard to get into one.

Of course SAT scores are not the only aspect that is important for college applications, and it is still possible to get into Harvard without a perfect SAT score. But it still seems like a good score is vital, especially since it is easy to compare students by their scores and therefore make a decision on this basis if the rest of their application seems similar. In the end the SAT score could be the deciding factor for whether someone is admitted to their university of choice or not. Therefore, it is understandable and to a certain degree realistic that Alex is working so hard for school in general and at some point feels overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things to do.

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Being Gay in High School Football

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Football coach Tucker is first introduced as the boyfriend of Mitchel Pritchett and later on in the show becomes his husband. The two have an adopted daughter, Lilly, which they care for. Besides his conviction to raising his child, Cameron Tucker has many hobbies; football is one of the pastimes he is most passionate about. Cameron played football when he was young. He was an active player at college and talks about the liberating experience playing football had on him. Cameron’s passion for football is mostly based on his own experiences as a player. When he thinks back to that time, he says, “Football was my salvation - every time I stepped out on to that field, I wasn't that weird, gay outsider kid anymore. I inspired my entire team because I had something to prove”. After Cameron fails as a history teacher, he is offered a job of junior varsity football coach at the high school and he is happy to fill out this new role. Over time, the viewers see him evolving from the junior varsity coach to the coach of the varsity team. He becomes an admired figure in the local community and the position of college football coach might be on the table for him. Viewers from around the world followed Cameron’s story, his fire and flame attitude towards football and his job but how truthful is his story to the reality of football players and coaches in the US?

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At least Cameron’s account of his time as an openly gay football player seems exaggerated. Football has always been and still is regarded as a masculine sport. Toxic masculinity still is part of modern football, and it surely was when Cameron was playing several decades ago. On top of that, the masculine peer-culture in football seems to be homophobic to some extent. For example Chris Culliver of the San Francisco 49ers was interviewed as late as 2013 and told the interviewer, that he would not want gay players on his team. Others, like the retired player O’Callaghan, claim that every team has several gay or bisexual players. However, they are staying in the closet out of fear of losing the support of their teammates or be barred from ever playing football again. Some states in the US still do not have employment protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Those who are not afraid of losing their job, they might be worried about the fallout such an announcement might have with their fans and the media. The public will treat their sexual orientation and private life like a spectacle because there are so few homosexual players as of yet. According to the website Outsports, not a single openly gay or bi player has ever been active on the highest level of football and only thirteen came out after the end of their career.

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However, acceptance and the environment the NFL provides for LGBQT players seems to be improving. Outsports also lists eight gay and bi players active in college football today, Conner Mertens being the first college football player ever to come out in 2014. Chances are this new generation of openly gay and bi players could potentially join the NFL, becoming the first active gay players at the highest level of American football and an inspiration for other LGBQT players. This development seems to confirm the observation of Eric Anderson, a professor for sporting ad sexual cultures at the University of Winchester, who says that “homophobia is on the rapid decline among male teamsport athletes in North America at all levels of play”.

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However, Cameron played football in High School and College several decades ago. While football and sports in general are headed in the right direction with more active gay players and a decline of homophobia as well as toxic masculinity, it is unrealistic for a football player to have come out to his teammates, let alone made his homosexuality public several decades ago. Ultimately there was no gay or bi player football player before 2014. In reality Cameron most likely would have hid his sexual orientation so he could protect his ambitions.

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This illusion of a reality that treats LGBQT players as equals is rather inconsistent with Cameron’s interview by channel 12. He is interviewed for being an openly homosexual high school football coach. The combination of his homosexuality and his position as a high school football coach makes him special. The news reporter thinks it extraordinary enough to do a piece on him. This narrative closely reflects the status of gay high school football coaches in America. Gay and bi coaches in professional football are rare. According to Outpsorts, Katie Sowers became the first gay coach in the NFL when she joined as an assistant coach in 2017. The numbers of gay high school coaches is also low. Timothy Bella, who interviewed the basketball coach Anthony Nicodemo, the first openly gay high school coach in the New York City metropolitan area, describes it as a game of chance. Depending on the place of residence of the coach, the reaction might vary greatly. Like the professional players, they might lose their job because of the lack of protection. In other places, gay coaches are shunned by administrations and parents or players are pulled out of teams because of the coach’s sexual orientation. Anthony Nicodemo was lucky in this game of chance. He was able to rely on the support of his players and their parents. He made the decision to come out after an inspiring interview of veteran NBA player Jason Collins, an inspiration that football coaches do not have. They cannot look for role models in professional players or coaches because there are none. Instead they are facing the same masculine peer-culture as their players and have to be afraid of losing the trust of their team and their high school. One example for this is the case of Coach Burke Wallace. According to a report by James Nichols of HuffPost, he was fired from his position as head varsity football coach of a High School in California after colleagues overheard him talking about his husband. Nobody knows how high the number of unreported cases such as this one really is. From this perspective the success and acceptance of Cameron Tucker as an openly gay football coach is extraordinary and warrants an interview. He was not afraid of the consequences the public display of his sexual orientation might have and he is an inspiration for other gay football players and coaches.

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In summary Modern Family displays the topics high school football and homosexuality in two different ways. On the one hand, there is the illusion of a world in which gay football players are accepted at any level of the sport and in which football can be a salvation for players who feel different. On the other hand, the show is aware of the difficulties gay high school football coaches might face and shows that they are special for doing what they are doing.

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Conclusion

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Overall Modern Family addresses real issues that Americans face in high school, both academically and in terms of their sexuality. Certainly, not every detail is accurate in terms of the average American: Alex is among the elite of students which certainly is not an everyday phenomenon and Cameron is an inspiration for members of the LGBTQ+ community which can unfortunately hardly be found in the reality of the United States today. It is even more important that issues like too much stress and the struggles of being openly gay in high school football are dealt with on popular TV shows to raise awareness and perhaps to a certain degree inspire a more inclusive culture in sports. And these goals can be rightfully be considered more important than accurately displaying life of an “average” American in high school.

 

Sources:

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Episodes of Modern Family:

“A Fair to Remember.” Modern Family, season 5, episode 7, Fox Television Studios, 17 Sept. 2015. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80018814?trackId=14170289&tctx=0%2C6%2C5475d216-79d4-4d08-9e4c-9f3173b2d4e0-422232651%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_14487394X3XX1581946567613%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_ROOT

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“Queer Eyes, Full Hearts.” Modern Family, season 6, episode 7, Fox Television Studios, 13 Oct. 2016. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80043942?trackId=14170289&tctx=0%2C6%2C5475d216-79d4-4d08-9e4c-9f3173b2d4e0-422232651%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_14487394X3XX1581946567613%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_ROOT

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“Spring Break.” Modern Family, season 6, episode 18, Fox Television Studios, 10 Nov. 2016. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80043953?trackId=14170289&tctx=0%2C17%2C5475d216-79d4-4d08-9e4c-9f3173b2d4e0-422232651%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_14487394X3XX1581946567613%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_ROOT

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 “Under Pressure.” Modern Family, season 5, episode 12, Fox Television Studios, 1 Jan. 2016. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80018819?trackId=14170287&tctx=0%2C0%2C5475d216-79d4-4d08-9e4c-9f3173b2d4e0-422232651%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_14487394X3XX1581946567613%2C90be623f-1408-4356-8ba5-3eee65d9e253_ROOT.

 

Other Sources:

“Admissions Statistics.” Harvard College, The President & Fellows of Harvard College , college.harvard.edu/admissions/admissions-statistics.

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“Admissions Statistics.” MIT Admissions, MIT Admissions., mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats/.

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Anderson, Eric. “‘Being Masculine Is Not About Who You Sleep with...:’ Heterosexual Athletes Contesting Masculinity and the One-Time Rule of Homosexuality.” Sex Roles, vol. 58, no. 1-2, June 2007, pp. 104–115., doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9337-7.

Bella, Timothy. “For Gay High-School Coaches, Coming out Is a Game of Chance.” Al Jazeera America, 12 Dec. 2016, america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/america-tonight-blog/2013/12/12/after-coming-outahighschoolcoachreadiesteamforseasoninthespotl.html.

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Buzinski, Jim. “San Francisco 49ers Assistant Katie Sowers Is First out LGBT Coach in NFL.” Outsports, Outsports, 22 Aug. 2017, www.outsports.com/2017/8/22/16175286/katie-sowers-san-francisco-49ers-coach-gay-coming-out.

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Buzinski, Jim. “There Have Been 13 out Gay and Bi Players in the NFL's 100-Year History.” Outsports, Outsports, 5 Sept. 2019, www.outsports.com/2019/9/5/20850457/nfl-history-gay-bi-players.

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Buzinski, Jim. “Outsports Male Athletes of the Year: 8 out Gay and Bi College Football Players.” Outsports, Outsports, 26 Dec. 2019, www.outsports.com/2019/12/26/21037010/outsports-male-athletes-of-the-year-gay-bi-college-football-players.

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“Class Profile.” Caltech Undergraduate Admissions, California Institute of Technology, 2020, http://admissions.divisions.caltech.edu/apply/first-yearfreshman-applicants/class-profile

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“Compare SAT Specifications.” SAT Suite of Assessments, College Board, 17 Jan. 2019, collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/inside-the-test/compare-old-new-specifications.

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“Harvard SAT Scores and GPA.” Prepscholar, Prepscholar, https://www.prepscholar.com/sat/s/colleges/Harvard-SAT-scores-GPA

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“Homosexuality in American Football.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_American_football.

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“LGBT Rights in the United States.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States#State-by-state_summary_table_of_LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States.

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Nichols, James Michael. “High School Allegedly Fires Football Coach For Being Gay.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 2 Feb. 2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/football-coach-gay-fired_n_4240489?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEGpyDIQQ4OlMwjGFZPSVB9s1BkRPmia16_7t6M61gvuLvFL0dSNH2CJolQzlg0nKJ-TxfO294WdTLF34zBvfzHzxSS-pLEyzBC5weJBqaFfbQyRyVzTvyIdEcixw6EMQychyxb9fPGH6gi2r2jy0lTj1B6OFKV-aVQemInv8u4g.

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Pisano, Gianna. “Are The SATs/ACTs Worth The Stress They Cause Students?” The Odyssey Online, The Odyssey Online, 16 Oct. 2019, www.theodysseyonline.com/sats-acts-worth-stress-students.

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Reeves, Anne. “Expensive, Stressful, Time-Consuming, the SAT Needs to Scat: Anne Reeves.” Pennlive, Advance Local Media LLC, 14 Mar. 2014, www.pennlive.com/living/2014/03/post_16.html.

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Rogers, Martin. “Niners CB Says Openly Gay Players Would Not Be Welcomed on the Team.” Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo!, 30 Jan. 2013, sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--report--niners-cb-says-openly-gay-players-would-not-be-welcomed-on-the-team-190346715.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG_KiXEbFGF2KRlLcBmR8EUNXEjLqkPA07stc-fl0GwzXWawSX-ADklsojmIsXZRULyltUYv8yW3V2iYq3Atc1ylMlPykxHd78Otf-1cwLb5zA25ur3BsdiGm7qEXFfJJveUgwp9eNCCvnUaNGAhcpnnLQDg3Ue6fwop6_FeP00R.

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“SAT Suite of Assessment Annual Report.” College Board, 2019. https://reports.collegeboard.org/pdf/2019-total-group-sat-suite-assessments-annual-report.pdf

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Trudeau, Michelle. “School, Study, SATs: No Wonder Teens Are Stressed.” NPR, NPR, 9 Oct. 2006, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6221872.

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Wakefield, Lily. “Every Football Team Has Gay or Bisexual Players, Retired Player Claims.” PinkNews, 28 Aug. 2019, www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/08/28/every-nfl-team-has-gay-or-bisexual-players-retired-player-claims/.

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