Finding Your Place in High School

Why do teens have a hard time when it comes to fitting in with others while going into higher grades?While growing into teen years,Teens often find themselves forming friends as they go into higher grades.According to the article “Social Cliques” While becoming a teen,they often start to figure themselves out, meaning that they start to realize what they like to do and what they like doing during their spare time.According to the site “Adolescent cliques” In the social sciences, the word "clique" is used to describe a group of 2 to 12 (averaging 5 or 6) "who interact with each other more regularly and intensely than others in the same setting.The Popular Clique — members of this clique are generally known to have the most friends in their

Media has influenced a lot of today’s trends and ideologies. Adolescents, being on the psychological level of self-identification, bring this deceptive notion of fashion and social classes to school. The problem comes when this trend affects the performance of students and their personal lives. We all remember our days back when the talk was “Who are the jocks, the cheerleaders, the rick kids, the geeks, the losers, etcetera?” Believe it or not, the status quo in schools is always composed of them. These cliques have identities exclusive for each. Students who do not look, act, or dress the same as one group are, more often than not, left out. They could be hurt physically and or psychologically with cruel teasing and rumors. Bullying and

As I transitioned from elementary school to middle school, I have always heard about everyone trying to fit in. For me, I too have experienced trying to fit in. While others tried to fit in by buying the trendiest clothes, listening to the latest music or playing the newest games, I thought I could fit in by just going along with everything people said. However, because of this, in the long run, I began to lose myself.

High School culture has changed since the “old days.” Students from all grades are not only striving for academic success, but also participate in many extracurricular activities as outside forces continue to impact social life. With this comes the typical struggles of students figuring out who they are, and what kind of person they want to become as college becomes a daunting factor.

Every public school lunch room is filled with many tables, every day these tables are the perfect place for a student to find where they “belong”. Like Beverly Daniel Tatum states in “Why Are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”, part of the social groups forming in high schools goes to thank adolescents. Tatum writes, “As children enter adolescence, they begin to explore the question of identity, asking ‘Who am I?’ ‘Who can I be?’”(375). At this point in their life everyone begins to see their own interests and hobbies that makes them a little different than others. Because students are starting to realize their differences, in modern day high schools there are many social groups that students can identify with and feel the most comfortable being themselves.

As a part of the human life, growing up from childhood to adulthood is the toughest time frame in a person life. As a part of growing up, most of us experience with peer pressure which make us do a lot of foolish things because we want to be able to fit in, and be a part of something. Most of us don’t want to be stand out or being different because we’re afraid being teased, or being the subject that everyone in school making fun of. This leads to many people changed their life style, and pretend to be someone that they know deep down inside that this is not who they are. Some disobey and even be disrespectful to their parents just because they want to be cool, and want to show their friends that they can be just like them.

In the famous movie, “The Breakfast Club, we see how five teenagers, each members of different high school cliques, who spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all more than their respective stereotypes. High school cliques determine who, what and where they belong. Most of the high schools have "cliques"; which are groups of students with similar interests that hang out together. When looking at what really goes on in the average high school, and how friendships are formed, it is amazing. When observing the jock, nerd and the popular kids, one must wonder where they fit in.

The media portrays high schools being full of identity stereotypes, whether it is in movies, TV shows, or sometimes music. Each school has the group of star athletes, the kids bound for broadway, and the kids who could become the next Einstein. Every show or movie has the same supporting character who each belonged to different cliques.

As students enter into their first year of college, they have so many questions flowing through their heads concerning fitting in and belonging. “will I fit in?”

In the article title “Individuality vs. Conformity: The Healthy Middle?” by an anonymous high school student it says that there are only two thing that a typical high school student wants to typically achieve in their short high school life (par. 1). One of these things is to fit in (par. 2). The second one is to be different (par. 3). How could you do this?. You could choose to be individual or just conform. However I really maintain the idea that what we should really do it's to stay in the middle so we won't forget who we really are and still be liked by different groups of people.

Throughout my middle school experience, I have been very popular. I made friends easily and relationships with every human I came into contact with required little to no effort in maintaining them. However, I became enraged by the realization that I had a friend who was becoming more popular than me. Feelings of absolute rage and jealousy engulfed my body. I hated her and, there was no stopping setting my mind on destroying her. I quickly realized back-stabbing and evil deeds of jealousy was the only way I could take her out of the picture. Throughout my 8th grade year, I realized that there is nothing more horrible than destroying the dynamic of a friend group and the dynamic of you and a best friend, for the best interest of yourself.

Adolescence is about being yourself. Some people can’t determine wether or not it is better to fit in, or stand out. In “Lord of the Flies”, Piggy was being picked on and told Ralph that he was “the only boy in school that had asthma,” (Goulding). In “Lord of the Flies”, most of the kids on the island picked on Piggy. This is very similar to real life situations. In high school, or even grade school, there is normally one child, who is exceptionally different from the rest, who gets picked on. But, how do they determine if it is better to stand out or fit in? Either way, it’s kind of a lose, lose. If you stand out, you are more prone to be picked on or judged, but if you fit in, you are not being yourself and you are conforming to everyone else’s exceptions. We as individuals, shouldn’t be worried to be ourself, we should be able to be whoever we want.

Back in my old school, fitting in was something more important for the students, rather than getting good grades. I had a group of friends who made me do everything they told me to, and there

The desire to fit in with peers can be a very strong influence on teens.

Have you ever not been friends or friendly with someone because they are different? A lot of people can relate to this if they go to school, popularity can hurt a lot of people. The Rainbow Fish put himself before others, whoever tried to be nice to him wouldn’t get a friendly interaction back. At first, everybody wanted to be friends with him, but not till’ after they encountered him, they realized he wasn't who they thought he was. This relates a lot to popularity, you want to be friends with the popular people, but when you get to know them they aren’t as nice as you thought.