Hannah and I visited her old highschool to talk with her little sister and make some observations. It was interesting to see so many social dynamics in play. One thing I was very aware of was the grouping of friends and acquaintances. Daily events like lunchtime and breaks in between classes led students to split off into different circles of friends. Hannah told me these are called cliques. While many may think that cliques are all stuck-up, rich girls, it looks more as if cliques are just groups of like-minded people who share similar intersests, tastes in fashion, backgrounds, and culture.
At the same time, there are definitely still a negative side of cliques. It's as if it is an organization of social hierarchies. You can see the groups in school that are "popular" and have more power and influence. Meanwhile, there are groups of kids who don't dress as fashionably or follow trends as well, and they form a band of friends at all. The hardest thing to observe were the students who didn't really fit into any clique at all. Whether they were shy or too "different", they were not accepted by any clique and even though they were not blatantly made fun, it was plain to see that they were a minority and they were not accepted.
I think the most interesting part of this whole phenomena is the concept of age. The group pictured above is composed of freshman. As such, these kids are not as socially stratified as their older peers and theystill mingle with other cliques and groups. But as students get older, they begin to develop an identity and a sense of who they belong with.
All cliques and groups aside, teenagers are very aware of social status. When asked, students talked about the different highschool stereotypes they see and how they judge them...Jocks, art freaks, preps, goths, nerds, etc. It seems that, even at such a young age, humans are very aware of human variation and social hierarchy. And as they grow, so will their perceptions of those around them.
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