High School Cliques

Between grades one through six, which is approximately 6 years of age to eleven years of age, children place priority and importance of popularity, which increases over the elementary school years, this reaches its peak in late middle school and in the early high school years. Studies show that children in grades one through four consider popularity more important than friendship. It was also found that early and middle adolescents generally place more emphasis on conforming and being part of a popular group than younger or older children do. The low-status group, which hope for acceptance into the high-status groups may get some attention, however, rarely do they obtain full acceptance. Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky, Bandura, and Kohlberg all have theories that address the

The groups that are formed as adolescents often determine group associations as adults and define an individual within their social group that will either set them with or against other groups. This is described in an article on social groupings by Colin Allen, which mentions that our social associations as adolescents are strong indicators to future patterns of social norms as adults. Therefore, the group of students in the movie, The Breakfast Club, can also be extrapolated to adult group dynamics. However, the varying social norms between groups can present conflicts when adults are required to function within a very diverse group of individuals. In The Breakfast Club, the Jock, Geek, Prom Queen, Delinquent, and the Freak groups are brought together initially through an autocratic or directive leadership role, used to bring the group together in order to proceed to the next phase of group development. This stage is particularly important within a group of

Jack was a boy who wanted to fit in with everybody in school. It took him awhile to understand that cliques begin in middle school. Realizing that he got labeled as “nerd” for reading books and having glasses, he decided to change his appearance. Jack stated, “I figured if I wore clothes that were more like everyone else’s I could pass for cool, or at least not be made fun of” (Garrod, 2012, p. 180). Along with the wardrobe change, he also convinced his parents to let him use contact lens’ and went to the dentist to fix his yellow patched teeth. Jack noticed how his peers picked on him during school. Even if he thought someone was his friends he knew if he did something they did not approve of, they would turn their back on him. He did not

In the movie, The Breakfast Club, there are five characters that are to go to school on a Saturday, to serve a detention. While getting to know one another, each student has a different personality. Also, they discover that each and every one of them belong to “classified” group. For example, like the personalities in the movie, there might be athletic, girly, smart, odd, or trouble-making cliques that go through a school. As time passes by in detention, they manage to accept each other's’ differences, and become decent friends. This movie accurately depicts the type of isolation and separation that occurs in high school.

Middle school was the point in every middle scholar’s life to find a group where they fit in. These groups were called cliques, a group centered around gossiping about others and even gossiping about one another in the group. In middle school this group became your community. The group you do everything with and told everything to. This group is almost like your other family. Sadly, this community, the people you surround yourself with can lead to negative thinking about others. Your community can easily persuade your actions and thoughts because the people you surround yourself with have such a big influence on your life.

The book The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth is a book that everyone should read at one point or be taught from in school. It explains school cliques, high school emotions, popularity, and outcast life. The author, Alexandra Robbins, studied many years, about a decade, for this novel to come to life. Throughout her words, she explains that outcasts, whether they are nerds, punks, losers, loners, “tree huggers,” math geeks, band members, etc, are the future of our world. I agree with her when she says that the qualities that people exclude for in school help individuals exceed in life.

High School has obviously changed since the 1985 movie, The Breakfast Club, which portrayed different school stereotypes through five students, and how this made them reflect on their identity. In a way, this theme of different High School Stereotypes proves to still be evident in High School today when students

The fact that the students in this movie actually become friends at the end shows that when looking at this situation from a sociological view, it can be said that cliques are not always what defines people. Cliques can be a negative and a positive thing. Obviously the negatives to cliques are that people get labeled into stereotypes which can be hurtful to some, and that people isolate themselves from other peers that are not in the clique. Positives of cliques can be that the people in the group have a sense of belonging, support from their friends during tough times, and also have a form of identity.

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.

Cliches, common at most high schools, often categorize and exclude students with unique interests and talents for being “weird”. Whereas, at St. John’s students genuinely appreciate the unique gifts present in each of their fellow classmates. Encouraged to feel compassion for fellow classmates and others, Prep student learn the benefits of considering the needs of others and helping were needed. As such, no one should feel alone at the prep with the support of their brothers ever present. Starting at a new school can be terrifying, especially when it comes to finding a group to sit with at lunch. While at lunch with his friends, one student noticed a boy sitting alone. He asked the boy to sit with them, and from that simple compassionate gesture, a close friendship developed. At the Prep students develop a network of friends within the community, a network not restrained by the boundaries of a cliche, but instead as diverse as their individual interests. Friends who celebrate each other's success and support each other’s needs, friends who will be present and who will not

Should teens in high school avoid cliques in high school? According to www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-gangs, cliques in high school are one of the leading factors for growth of violent crimes both on and off school property. It's critical that we began to understand this topic because clique activities happen in neighborhoods, public and private schools. Teens that go to a public high school are most likely to join cliques in high school than teens that go to a private high school. Cliques in high school is an important issue facing teens today because teens need to be more cooperative with others and communicate with other cliques.

For four long years I felt as if my high school was in a different world in of itself. I had spent that time interacting with an extensive amount of groups, or “cliques”, and getting to know what they do. Through my experiences, I had begun to realize what made this “subculture” high school of sorts run like it did. High school is an incredibly dynamic time for people, and I had changed as a person dramatically from my freshman to senior year. Like many, my freshman year was quite awkward, as remnants of my middle school self remained with me. As time went on, how, I talked to more people and grew out of my passive and shy personality. This did not just randomly happen without reason though. I began to learn and realize who I was and whom I enjoyed talking to in school, which explained why I spent so much time socializing with multiple kinds and groups of people. Everyone’s concept of “normal” was different, and high school was where I learned that lesson and will never forget.

Some people think that boys schools are cruel and violent places, but the true is that boys do not form cliques because they do not have to be handsome or awesome. In boys schools, all kinds of boys are there and the introvert students are more comfortable in single six school.

Surviving high school is no easy task. From the very first day of class, students are forced to find comradery in various social circles. These cliques can range from sports jocks, to math and band geeks, to school club members, and to the social outcasts who could care less about school. While there are more various types of groups, the most common are the jocks and the nerds. As far as everybody in the school in concerned, the popular athletes and the “wimpy” nerds are from two very different planets. However, while there are a lot of differences between the two as far as physical appearance goes, I had the honor of being part of both worlds, and I know for a fact that they have more in common than either would care to admit.

I moved around a lot and ended up going to high school in the south. Going to Forbush high school was very interesting. The classrooms were in buildings and all the buildings were surrounding the court yard. Each building had a letter so I would have French class in H building and History class in A building. At my school when you got out of the parking lot you immediately entered into the courtyard. The subcultures that existed in my high school were very similar to most high schools. At E building all the rednecks hung out. They always wore Carhartt and there was always chewed up tobacco all over the side walk. You had to have a truck, love mudding, or listen and blast country music all the time. They wore jeans every day and rebel flagged tee-shirts every single day. At B building all the popular kids hung out. They were