Cliques who could be defined as just a group of friends are seen at PHS everyday. Photo by: Tailer Smerekanich
By Tailer Smerekanich
Some people say cliques are a bad thing. Some people also say that they are a part of high school no matter how one looks at it. A person may even say that cliques define some people and show who they really are, while some people would say it hides people’s personalities.
People may define cliques in different ways. Senior Briana Gantz said, “Cliques are different groups within a big group that people fit into according to their personality and way of life.” Although some may define it differently, Sophomore Ariel Myers said, cliques are “Something that divides society into stereotypical groups.” Something that Sophomore Ariel, and Senior Briana agree on is that cliques are, “ridiculous, and pointless.”
According to Junior Nadia Baca, “Cliques are a group of people that like to hang out with each other. Usually the people in the group are similar to each other in some way.” As Nadia believes , slightly different definition of cliques, all of them have agreed that sports factor into cliques. Junior Lisa Carnegie said “yeah, kinda. If you are in a sport it’s one thing, but you have that group of kids that grew up doing sports together and will always be that way.” Although some may agree, that sports factor into cliques like Lisa, senior Karina Contreras said “Not really, but some tend to think that the more sports you are in, the cooler you’ll be considered.”
Cliques are also described as groups of people who hang out occasionally, and socialize frequently. Photo by: Tailer Smerekanich
One answer to the question “Do you think cliques in PHS affect the way people act in school?” from Carly Berger was “Yep definitely I think if kids in cliques were more open to meeting, and hanging out with different people I think kids who lash out wouldn’t do it if they felt accepted.” Carly was not the only one to answer this question though. Senior Karina Contreras said “They make others think of themselves as out casts, because some of us not tend to fit into any. We don’t label ourselves, at least I don’t, I don’t know about others.”
Junior Matt Feece said in a reply to the question “How do you feel about cliques in PHS?” said “I have no feelings on them. I understand why people get in them, I can’t blame them I guess.” Nadia Baca said “It disappointing that people can’t come together and be friendly with each other.” Just about everyone who answered the question has agreed that they are uncertain about them or that they are unhappy about them.
Most students agree that the groups in lunch, sports, and after school activities have all been clique associated.