The Pros And Cons Of Cliques In High School

The definition of clique is a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them. The question at hand is why do people find niches within their school and stick to them? After interviewing several high school students, we identified several repetitive answers as to why students group up such as: comfort, stability, shared interests, and the pursuit of happiness. Next, we looked at the advantages and disadvantages of cliques. Advantages were very similar to why people group up in high school; sense of belonging, friendships, love, and relatability. Answers to disadvantages of grouping up were a whole lot easier to answer for our interviewees; drama, being closed off, jealousy, close-mindedness, and stereotypes. Once considering why people do it; advantages of it; and disadvantages of it, ask why is virtually everyone in a clique?
A niche in high school offers stability; a safe haven to go to and feel comfortable in the madness that is high school.
One interviewee said, “When there’s an assembly at school or a football game, stuff like that, I like knowing that I have my group saving me a seat and expecting me.” The student values the sense of belonging. We realized through interviews that students found their clique through similar interests, grades, and sports. One student saying, “I made my core group of friends in middle school through playing football with them.” A very common theme that brought people together was sports, with 67% admitting that they associate with fellow teammates throughout the day and outside of school. It is apparent that people hang out with certain people they have similarities with and their reason for doing so is to achieve a sense of
belonging. Whenever the question, “what are the disadvantages of cliques” came up in our interviewing process, you could see people’s facial expression change almost immediately. Drama is clearly within every group of friends here at Kankakee Valley, and that is the number one most popular answer to the downfall within cliques. Many people said that trying to veer away from their specific clique had led to jealousy and problems within the group. A student claiming, “My best friend got mad when I sat with my soccer team instead of with her at lunch.” There are many high school kids that are friends with a wide variety of cliques, they are considered to be “floaters”. The floaters cause a lot of discrepancies within cliques, because they open the doors between different groups of people. Another downfall of cliques are that people are secluded and not open minded. People may want to explore other groups, but may be intimidated to stay with what they know. When people go outside of their cliques they are able to see and enjoy life from a different perspective. People group up and form cliques, and the ultimate reason why is to feel accepted and like they belong. Cliques are an escape from loneliness and depression, which is necessary to maintain a happy life. Although cliques have their negative aspects, the world would be lonely without them. School’s should not get involved with eradicating cliques, because they are a part of life. Students naturally move into groups of people who share the same interests and make them feel as if they belong, so taking them away from that would only hurt them. Cliques are a way of life in high school, and will probably remain to be the way of life for the future to come.