Your Opinion on Cliques

[Shoe]

Just to try to start a conversation...and a little bit of criticism practice for me, haha. This is pertaining to the teenage school cliques by the way.

I like to write a lot, so if you don't like to read a lot, just feel like skimming over everything and go to the bottom under the line where a summary of my expressions is written. I'd appreciate it more if one was to read it carefully, but it's really no matter.

First, the bad things about cliques in my opinion. I personally find them a bit pointless, as I think people should express themselves separately and try to get along with everyone, and not join a classified or exclusive group all the time. If the branched out, that would be different, but really I suppose it doesn't really matter to me one way or another, haha.

They seem to separate people more. For example, two boys who were friends since their crib days enter middle school (This is where I started noticing Cliques anyway), the one who was more athletic would most likely sign up for football or some other sort of sport, while the other was more inclined to mental prowess and sign up for chess club, science club, or whatever. If pulled into the peer pressure and the back talk of those two groups, the two friends would probably begin to drift apart, labeling one another based on who they're hanging out with. In this case most likely a jock and nerd. The jock friend may even start picking on his old friend due to the peer pressure put on him by those in his group.

Another thing, it limits one's social skills. One person would stay with that one set group and shun or ignore another. You would be surprised at how many things you would have in common with someone that looks as if they're in a totally different world.

People would label me probably as a goth, or more likely "Emo" which seems to be the new, inaccurate term for goth. I admit, I have a dark touch to my outfits the majority of the time, but I assure you, I'm the exact opposite to the clique definition of a goth or emo. I'm sure a few of you already know that if you remember me.

The good points however, are that people can talk about similar thoughts without feeling that they're going to be judged negatively on said thoughts. Though that judging is the entire reason for the clique-esque society of school.

In any case, it's nice to be around people with similar feelings and ideas, but it wouldn't hurt you to branch out a little bit. Even if you don't like what that group's ideas would seem to revolve around.

Try it out, and you might find that among their similarities with one another, they also may like a few things you do. Like, a jock might like to play video games other than sports, which is what you might imagine to. They might like RPGs, but wouldn't say something like that around their group because they feel they might be shunned.

And a small note: I'm using the group "jock" frequently not because I want to pick on them, but its easier for me to compare things to them.
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Simply put, cliques can be considered useless in some points, such as the lack of social experience being confined to that sole group, and that they shun or even hate another group because of what they're thought to like, but also helpful in others in the fact that people are able to talk about similar ideas and feelings and just to hang out with them.

I think it would benefit others more if one was to go deeper than just appearances and assumptions, but that's just me.

I'd really like to hear what others think about this though. I for one stand neutral to the whole thing. I do have to thank the existence of cliques for giving me an idea for a series though, haha.

[Yoshi]

I don't really see cliques as a good thing in any case.

I've always assumed there was a different between a social group and a clique, in that a clique demands more uniformity and has little or no tolerance for other groups that don't share their values. After all, once you believe your ideas and way of life is the best, it makes everyone else wrong in one way or another.

[Lord of the Dance]

I think the reason I haven't really noticed cliques myself is because I go to relatively small schools. Everyone has always had to see each other at some point during the day so they might as well get along.
Cliques seem like a good way for people to find a place where they feel like they belong. Cliques are usually pretty tight-knit, and not everyone really wants to be themselves I guess. I mean, if they did, then cliques virtually wouldn't exist and we wouldn't have this problem.
Of course, I very much dislike small groups that make you do things if you want to "fit in". I laugh in their faces and leave if they try to get me to do something I really don't want to.

[Cayoshi]

Cliques?

Cliques are terrible. Cliques are a convenient little way to single out anyone with physical or opinion differences and taunt them within large numbers. In a divided society, realistically, nothing will ever be accomplished.

And that just sucks.[/size]

[Sol Vent]

My school is too small for cliques. Everyone pretty much knows everyone. Except for me, I distance myself from everyone at school. so I guess I'm a loner when you put it like that, but when I'm with friends, I'm really fun-loving and such.

I wouldn't really know, but my current opinion on them is a negative one. Cliques must be destroyed.

[Rackinac]

Cliques are just stereotyping people into groups.

Sadly, I am a part of one. I'm in that one clique that consists of few people that don't fit into other cliques. So, it's really not a clique, but a clique of people that don't fit into other cliques... oh wow, I think I hurt my brain.

In other words, my group is diverse, it's just that they don't hang out with their clique really. Like I have this goth friend... well, there's no goths in my school so she just chills with us. I have a prep friend... well, she's pretty enough to be a prep and dresses like one, but she's shy and... not prep like. I have 2 geek friends, yet everyone loves them. So... they're geeky but in an awesome way so no one is mean to them. And I'm the 'rebel' I guess. I just get bad grades and don't care if I get in trouble. But... I'm nice and stuff and I try to get good grades, and some teachers like me and I respect them.

So, we can be in certain cliques, it's just that we have this one thing that makes us not fit in. But because we don't fit in with those groups, we have our own little 'not-clique' clique.

But we do often talk to everyone from every clique, so... we're the social butterflys?

In other words, we're to awesome to be a clique.

We're the non-clique.

But what's also cool is that we don't hate on people that are different because we're all different. Not to mention there is no pressure to change how you are because we are all friends, despite what people can stereotype us as.

Chyeah.

[Masakuni]

I don't really care for them. They're just a group of people who usually look the same, do the same stuff, etc. And they shun people who are different too, and that's kind of lame. So yeah. I don't really think cliques do anything worthwhile at all.

[red.yoshi]

I'd rather be a leader than a follower.

If your talking about "Emo" or "Goth" cliques and you want me to feel bad or some kind of remorse for them, its not going to happen. Many people think you are born Emo or Goth. Thats definitely not the case. Your race isn't "Emo" or "Goth." Anyone can be themselves.

I really just single myself out and call myself a nerd. ROTFL. I don't mind name calling. I beat to my own drum. I'm not really fond of the same activities others like.

To get right to the point, I believe judging a person is wrong. Judging their actions is alright. Stereo typing is wrong. You can't judge a book by its cover.

[Fluory]

A lot of the opinions here are falling into a discriminatory tone that is pretty much synonymous with the existence of cliques. Has anyone here ever thought to talk to the goths, the emoes, the druggies, or the preps? You all say you hate cliques, yet you label and lump people together in with their clique and say they're all the same. They're not - everyone, even in a clique, is an individual in their own way. Complete conformity does not exist, and more often than not, cliques are a completely temporary part of ones life.

Cliques don't make people conform. Cliques don't seperate people. People do this, not cliques. Cliques are merely a label, a group - as Gem said, some cliques are completely freewheeling with their members and cover a diverse group of people. But, at heart, cliques are composed of people who either click with one another or admire one another.

Here's the thing: people try to conform, more often than not, to impress. Think about it - why do people conform? There's a reason in there. Social acceptance is a big factor in this; people want to be liked, and they want to present an image that they think will net them positive attention. Or, perhaps, you could be trying to impress. Say there's someone incredibly popular that you either like or wish to know because of their status - so thus, you'll begin to do things you think will attract their attention. It's not the cliques themselves that make people do this, but the people in them - and, of course, yourself.

[epicArt]

I think in this situation we really need to clasify the difference between a 'clique' and a 'social group' or a group of friends. A social group is a group of a people with common interests, or friends; a clique is a group of people that have had stereotypes imposed on them by other people.

Take me for example. I'm not on a single athletic team. I go to chess club, improv team and a crapload of other nerdy things. I spend my life here on the internet at home. Whether I accept it or not, I have been branded a 'nerd' by other people in my school.

Cliques are just groups of people who have been forced to fit a specific personality by other people.

And it sucks. Especially since you'll most likely be branded by this stereotype even after you leave school. It's not just high schools that do this.

Some people want to be in certain cliques to look cool as well, and as a result, no one ends up acting like themselves. Personally, I believe that's it's a simultaneous effort of the human mind to a) organize and sort people into different groups, since it's extremely different to remember all the personality points of each indvidual, and b) to make the stereoetyper feel better about themselves.

Since the human mind works this way, and since a lot of people are very insecure about themselves (thus making fun of/stereotyping others into cliques), they'll never go away.

Which really, really sucks. Oh well. Fact of life, right?