By Madison Dymond ‘16

We’ve all seen those movies about high school life that highlight social cliques. There are usually jocks, popular girls, nerds and all the other stereotypical groups. It goes without saying that Hollywood definitely exaggerates high school, but there’s one overall fact that films got right. Many people may deny it, but there are definitely cliques at Sherwood.

When high school students watch movies like “Mean Girls” and “The Breakfast Club,” they laugh at the cliques portrayed. They laugh at how mean and petty kids can be and how ridiculous cliques are. Then they go to school, act mean and petty, and stick to their own little ridiculous cliques.

Groups at Sherwood may not be exactly like the movies, but they are still a problem. Students are divided by culture, interests, music taste, style of dress, language, talents, morals and race. This is not the problem; the best friendships are often made by finding people with common interests. The problem is that these groups are extremely exclusive and close-minded. Each group has its own characteristics, and each group looks down on all other groups.

High school is a time to “find yourself,” so when people start figuring out who they are, they want to be around similar people. But here’s the problem: how are students supposed to discover who they are if they don’t stray from their comfort zones and talk to people who aren’t exactly like them? What about those kids that don’t fit the criteria of these predetermined social classes? Fitting in is so important for adolescents. They need to feel like they belong somewhere and are wanted by others. They need to feel accepted. If they don’t find this, then high school can be an extremely lonely time. This may cause a student to wonder what’s wrong with himself or herself, and why he or she doesn’t fit in anywhere. Where does that person go now? It’s not socially acceptable to try to join another clique, so that is not a realistic option.

This isn’t right. Students need to be able to learn from people who are different from them. The ignorance and prejudice of our generation is born from our fear of what is different. If we actually learned about different aspects of life—cultures, interests, religions—we would realize that there is nothing to be afraid of.

Cliques do not only hurt those who are not involved with a specific group. Drama happens within cliques and between cliques. If two people in a group start fighting, then everyone else is automatically involved, and, apparently, it becomes everyone’s business. What often happens in these cliques is that one person in the group will decide they don’t like another person, and will somehow convince others in the group to dislike that person too. Then the group will eventually have to break the news to that person: “We don’t like you. You can’t sit here.”

Eventually, people may find new friends, but it won’t be without a lot of hard work and pain. It is said that high school scars one for life, most likely because of pointless drama within cliques. The dream is that people could just be nice to each other without being judged.