Okay, this may start to sound like a rant so I'll attempt to make it short and sweet. Everyone I know belongs to or wants to belong to a certain "group" of people. This is very prominent in high school and even in elementary schools. Children and teens basically give themselves labels to try and fit in. There are many popular labels such as Jocks, Preps, Stoners, Nerds, Brown-nosers, Snobs, Rich Kids, Weirdos, Emos, Punks, Goths, Tramps, Grunge, Dirtbags, Losers, Oddballs, and, of course, The Inbetweeners. If none of these groups sound familiar then you speak a different language or never went to school. The labelling issue is not a recent development by any means. Labelling oneself is a popular addiction that we all seem to have, past and present. It helps to catergorize and segregate us and thats were the problems start.
Some of you may be thinking "Well when I was in High School, I never labelled myself." Truth is you probably did. Many people refuse to admit the social status they acheived as a teenager. Some, because they were "losers" or "geeks", others because they used their status as an excuse to bully others. We have all seen it and probably taken part in it. Bullying. Cliques actually seem to inspire this more than anything else. The popular kids, when they are alone can be relatively nice people but some of them when in larger groups or around friends feel the need to torture others to gain acceptance. Its a small wonder that they are still popular after the things some of them do.
I know,I know.... I seem to be pinning this all on the popular kids but its not all them that does the bullying. Every clique does it at one point or another. They seem to magically form a sort of pecking order that gives them full rights to bully and harass lower social groups. They bully people who attempt to fit into their groups and even people who they cast out of the group. Often times many teens will gang up, and in a group they will humilate the person.
All in all I think these groups are just another form of bullying others in a more subtle way. I think they are bad for our school systems and only promote segregation and dislike for differences among others. Cliques are way over rated and have no place in the lives of children.
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Cliques produce that sense of belonging that everyone's looking for. Even going into the work place. Of course by the time you're old enough to work full-time in the work place, these cliques suddenly become work groups.
I'd like to disagree with you and say that cliques are not such a bad thing. Most of the time, cliques revolve around a simple, common area of interest. Let's say a group of girls enjoy shopping and spending all their money in the mall. Well, they're bound to meet up with other girls who enjoy the same things and then become friends; Hence, the formation of a clique.
Clique's should not be a problem if people don't let them become so. I'll say that my school looks very much like the high schools on television with the cheerleaders sitting at one table and the jocks sitting at another and the nerds sitting with the other nerds.
I make it sound so stereotypical, but only because those are interest groups. The cheerleaders like to cheerlead so they'll hang with other kids who like to cheerlead. The jocks like to play sports so they'll hang with kids who like to play sports. The nerds like to hang with the other nerds because it so happens they're in the same class for everything and spend the same amount of time reading, or studying.
You gravitate towards people who resemble you. Granted there are exceptions to these groups, but people hang out with people they can relate to.
Well right now, in my school cliques aren't really important any more. I go to a very large high school (2500-3000 people). There are definitely different types of people, but everyone for the most part gets along. It's totally common for a "goth" to be seen talking at the "prep" table. And myself for example- If I had to classify myself based on my personality, I would say I'm a "skater". I love skating and the rebellious attitude and dress according. My best friend is a varsity cheerleader. Its really nice, I've got to admit.
I believe there is more to cliques than them just bullying others around and treating them below the average middle class. What's very popular among cliques these days is the styles they all choose to adapt in order to conform to the social norm seen on MTV and in the music videos. Cliques are more "clannish" than ever, choosing to imitate each other rather than adapt their own freedom of expression. It's all about who's got the new Jordan's, who wears the latest Sean John, the latest Baby Phat, and the oh-so popular, who can "go dumb" and "get dummy retarded". I know there are fads out there that all kinds of people are going to fall for and everything else, but I definitely don't think it's right to look down on others who simply choose to follow their own means of expression and not society's, influenced so heavily by celebrities.
My school's just like xShellix's. About 3500 stduents attend my school and there's really no social distinction between anyone. True, some people like to hang out in one group or another; in fact, the school encourages this by promoting clubs and organizations on campus.
In my experience, no one has really been shunned away because they're "this" or "that."
Of course, this would probably be different at other places.
I'd also like to mention that my school is about 33% Asian/Pacific Islander, 50% Caucasian, 25% Hispanic, and 8% Other (African-American, etc.). If that makes any difference.
What is an "Inbetweener?"
When I was in high school, there was these cliques:
Jocks and cheerleaders - hang out in the commons
Goths and metal heads - hung out in the stage until it was closed off. Then hung out near the stage
Handballers - hung out where the handball courts are
Geeks and Nerds - hung out in a quad
Gangstas - Hung out in another quad
Anime lovers - hung out in a quad near the stage
What was intresting is that you can hang out with everyone if you choose to.
i'm one of those people in the Drama group- everybody in the group is a drama geek but im also one of those people in the jrotc group and in a group for people who dont really fit in a certain clique.