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Cliques: High School and Social Structure Caste

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Cliques: High School and Social Structure Caste
Cliques: A High School Social Structure

Caste Systems are common wherever there is a society. If you are at the top of a caste system, life is good. As a normal person, one cannot find the way to the top of the pyramid, but can fall into the depths of the outcasts and untouchables. If one is an untouchable, they’re stuck. One cannot go down any further, as one is at the bottom, and one most certainly cannot go up. Things have changed since then, but groupings haven’t. People have been grouped for superiority, but not all groups are negative. Cliques are groups that blur individuality, prevent members from mixing with members of other groups, automatically labels people, and determines who they will be in the future. Movies based on high school events always have some type of social segregation and society. In the Breakfast Club those boundaries were broken when the leaders of the groups came together in detention. The Breakfast Club showing these images of jocks, nerds, and other type of classified group individuals made it seem taboo. Being popular also takes away a person’s individuality. When you join a clique you are silently agreeing to the clique’s rule and traditions. In a way a clique is like a cult, in the sense that you conform to the group rather your own personal needs. In a clique, there is always someone telling you what to do. There is a certain way you have to speak or certain clothes you can wear. You make one slight mistake and you are criticized for it by your peers. Being part of a clique determines if you are truly are leader of follower.
Humans have a tendency to want to classify, rank and order. High school students create labels to help separate and arrange people into groups or cliques. These high school labels are used to make assumptions and judgments about people so others can decide whether to aspire to be like them, ignore them, or try to date them. There are various factors that affect a person’s status in a group. The

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