By skyforbes To paraphrase one analysis of teen movies, particularly in the 80s, if a high schooler is wearing a varsity letter jacket it may as well be a Waffen SS uniform because there will be crimes against humanity being committed. And it hasn't exactly abated since then.
Where did this depiction come from? Is it more or less pulled out of thin air by writers and directors who feel they didn't have enough friends in high school and want to justify why that was? Was it in some cases truth in fiction if there were sports teams that got enough social privileges so that those with an inclination to commit said crimes did so with impunity? Or is it something else?