The Importance Of High School Cliques

When thinking of a jock, people would most likely picture a muscular, sweaty guy wearing some sort of jersey. A stereotypical jock is usually also fairly popular, so there is some overlap between the groups in some cases. Everybody knows their name and whenever people talk to them, the subject of sports usually comes up. People ask questions like, “How’s the team looking this year?” or “When do you have practice?” Being a jock doesn’t necessarily mean that your grades are bad, but with practices every evening or two to three hours, finding time to study and work can be difficult for jocks. Teachers usually like jocks and they might ask them questions about the game from the week before. This bond between jocks and teachers can give the jocks an advantage. The teachers might be more lenient when it comes to assignments if they know that the jock has a big game coming up or had a tournament the weekend before.

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

They come to work sick, they strive to be the best. It goes to show that there can be more than just the 2 groups. Robert describes Jock Culture as a danger to the common good, and a distortion of sports. “It is fueled by greed and desperate competition.” (pg 350) Jock Culture applies the rules of competitive sports to everything. It’s to keep the fear of being known as “feminine” to the others. You want to be known, overall, as the alpha male, or masculine at least.

Just like in the movie, high schools form cliques that are based off of similar personalities. Spending time in detention

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.

In high school people usually fall into "cliques" or certain groups of people they hang around with. College and high school are similar; an example is that if someone plays football tend to spend more time with each other. They usually talk with one another or share a bond which no one else usually has. In high school people tend to do the same thing, kids group up with either the jocks or other groups. People just make friends more easily if they have something in common.

They might have a fall out with a friend in there own group at one point and join another or they simply make friends in another group and realize who true friends are and join one group. Cliques form by bonding over something. That’s how the group gets it’s name. If a group is all about sports than they’re athletes, if someone’s group is all about skating than they’re skaters. Depending on what clique you’re in, it can be good or bad.

For example, a student for his/her senior year has been recognized as the MVP (most valuable player). Upon being recognized he has been chosen for a certain amount of money for college/university. Most college/universities (not including community college) cost a lot of money to pay, so the student must do well in school to get the awards and/or sign up for financial aid so that they can pay for tuition (along with a few other things). Jocks know this, and they must play well, as a team, to get the scholarship(s). This develops leadership skills and enhances certain educated factors in the system, if they think about it.

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.

Jock Culture has many interpretations of what the meaning really is. According to Robert Lipsyte, the author of Jock Culture, a jock is a winner and does whatever it takes to win. I translated this to mean that even a cheater can be a jock. According to his coach that he wrote about in his article, Bill Stowe, a jock is brave, manly, ambitious, and goal-driven. From my perspective, a jock is a cool, popular, outgoing, and most importantly a winner who abides by the rules. My definition of a jock is more similar to Bill Stowe’s explanation than Robert Lipsyte because I do not consider a cheater to be a consider a jock. Cheaters are not winners.

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.

At first glance high school seems to be a fun and relaxed time. A time that you get to hang out with friends and participate in extracurricular activities. Some of your most treasured memories will be made in high school. However, high school is a cruel and unforgiving place. In high school individuals get judged by their appearance, the way they act, and who they hang out with.

The “dumb jock” stereotype we’ve all heard it used before and for some of us have even been called it. However in recent surveys across the United States has found that student-athletes grades are generally higher than

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.