This is the type of question I receive if non Japanese people ask: “Are high schools in Japan like anime?” and the answer I give is: “no” since that’s not reflective of what actual school life is. Sure, there may be inspirations upon anime taking place at a school setting since all they portray is nothing but festivals, clubs and events as if the environment is that relaxing (far from the truth, JP school life in reality is regimented on studying).
In contrast, the same shit is said about US high schools via pop culture when shown to foreigners mainly portraying: teens hanging out in someone’s house partying with drinks, flexing who’s the most popular, jocks in sport, bullies picking the nerd, cheerleaders & football, 13 reasons why, high school musical, prom king & queen to list a few. However, is any of that representative of real high school life in the United States?
To add to the rest of the comments. It also depends on how far from a city you are. Most of the high school depictions on tv are based on smaller suburbana and rural high schools where there is a better chance to know people. When you go to a school that has 3,000 kids, it’s a bit harder for all of that to happen. Especially if you rush to class and have no time to hang out in between periods. My high school had bullies, but it did not have a real jock or cheerleader crowd.