Monday, February 14, 2011
Social Worlds
Where do you fit into your student population? Are you a member of a specific group or do you socialize with students of many different groups? Are you happy with your place in high school society or do you wish you belonged to a different group? Write a thoughtful and respectful paragraph and thoroughly explain your response.
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Through my experiences so far at Harrison High School, I’ve found there to be very distinct groups of people within the student population. Whether this is because people are so used to hanging with the same people or are just afraid to branch out, the different groups are definitely noticeable. Of the various groups that exist, I know that I fit into one of them, but I don’t like to focus on the name or title of my friends. Personally I could care less about my social position or my popularity. While there are definitely perks that come with being in the popular crowd, I really don’t think it’s worth losing true friends and my individual personality. What matters to me is having friends who I share common interests with, and can trust and enjoy being around. I’ve found throughout middle school and high school that the people who focus on their popularity rather than creating sincere friendships ultimately end up with few genuine friendships. While I feel badly for those people, I often remind myself that ultimately it was their decision to put themselves and their friendships on the line for what they believe is most important. My friends and I are all very similar in our interests, tastes, as well as behaviors and beliefs. We all take great pride in our schoolwork and friendships, and we are all into the same types of things. While we do remain as a group for many occasions, we still manage to branch out and invest in friendships with others. Whether this branching out occurs through sports, clubs, or other events, I have been able to maintain friendships with other people without feeling as though I’ve betrayed my ‘group.’ The fact that I am friends and able to branch out not only makes it easy for me to maintain friendships with other people and explore the various others groups of students, but it also allows me to broaden my horizons and thoughts about the various types of people in the school.
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ReplyDeleteIn high schools across the globe, Harrison High School included, there are social groupings also known as “cliques” that people tend to be categorized in. Whether it be jocks, cheerleaders, geeks, emo kids, etc. high school populations are often times split along these rigid lines. Personally, I don’t place myself or my friends specifically into any group with a clichéd label. Rather, I consider us to be friends with the majority of the student population and don’t believe that we can be restricted to one social group. I’m truly thankful that at our high school, cliques aren’t as severe as they seem to be at other schools, and allow every student to interact with whom ever they please. I enjoy how at Harrison, different groups of friends intermingle on the weekends, and even how classes are filled with a variety of people from all walks of life. This diversity gives each of us a taste of the real world, because we will not always be surrounded by a bubble of people with exceedingly similar tastes, values, and behaviors to our own. It is important to learn how to branch out in high school, and to learn how to break away from the barriers that bind us, seeing as we will be required to do so for the rest of our lives.
ReplyDeleteThrough out high school and middle school one must learn that these are critical points for evaluating the social structure inside a school. Although some people have difficulties staying with one group of friends they take time to learn which ones were genuinely interested in the same hobbies and past times. Defining a single group of friendships that determine their place in society is hard for me considering the fact that I am a cheerleader but do not fit the persona of the stereotypical cheerleader. Most of my friends are cheerleaders as well but not all of them in my group we are all concerned with the same value and me being a cheerleader does not drastically change those. The major difference is that cheerleading consumes a profuse amount of time. Despite my group of friends we branch out and create friendships with people who enjoy all different hobbies and activities. It is important for all students to be able to do this and see past the stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteMany high schools have cliques in their student body population. From my years at Harrison High School I have observed that we do have a diversity of different people within our student body. Even though, out high school has many types of people in it, it allows us to learn to get along with others. When we go off into the real world we wont have a choice of our college room mate or our co-workers therefore it is important to accept all kinds. I feel that when an individual focuses on being popular they often force themselves to be something they aren't, simply just to fit in with a group of people. This causes for one to become fake and therefore have fake friends. I think that this is a waste of time when one could be using their time to find the people who are similar to them. This why they can allow for this friendship to grow and how real friends who actually care about them. I would say that i do have my group of friends in which we all are similar and share some of the same traits. However i would not classify or give our group a name. Even though i a closest with these people i love to branch out and make new friends. I feel that everyone needs friends who are not technically in their group because it will allow them to branch out and have other people there for you if you ever get into a fight.
ReplyDeleteokay the last one was mine idk why this is a bunch of random numbers
ReplyDeleteOlivia
Many teenagers in high school are categorized into several different groups. People in each group have different personalities and interact with others differently. People are defined and often judged by the group in which they belong. In Harrison High School, students tend to be included into a few different groups or are friends with a variety of different people. I don’t include myself in any specific group because I am friends with people from several different groups. I am happy with my place in high school society because I have many similarities with my friends and I think that I have great friends. It is important to have good and trustworthy friends because friends and social groups have an important influence on individuals. The beginning of this novel shows how Melinda lost all of her old friends when she started high school because she didn’t maintain any good friendships.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the “cliqueness” of a school depends on the size of the student body. The reason why our school generally tends to be less “cliquey” is because our school is considered to be small when compared to other high schools. As more and more students start to come into the equation, it is easy for others to become closer and closer to where they feel most comfortable: with students that have similar likes and dislikes. Though we don’t have to like everybody, people still deserve the same amount of respect. Although I have a certain group of friends with whom I spend the majority of the time, I also branch out into other groups, as well. I cannot label myself or put myself into a certain group because there are many sides to me, which I’m sure it true for everyone else. Also, I believe that there were more cliques in middle school and as we entered high school people were able to become more mature and sort of mellow out.
ReplyDelete-Alli Fuerst
In high school there are many different groups of people that can be chosen to hang out with, depending on who you are and who you want to be seen as. These cliques can be characterized as jocks, over achievers, etc.....
ReplyDeleteI personally do not specify my self in a specific group, I try to become friends with a lot of people, but sometimes its hard to become friends with everyone and there is always people you will not like from the start. One thing that is definitely true in high school is that you can have lots of fun with all your friends no matter what kind of group or clique your in. It is true that after high school your life is what ever you would like to do with it and its smart to get use to the difference in surroundings compared to the settings of high school.
Kids can be “categorized” in many different ways solely based on who the hangout with and how the interacted with others. I am friends with kids from a lot of different “categories” but I have a certain group of friends that I stick with no matter what. I am happy with where I am in the student population. I don’t think people should change their image to try and be popular. You should just except who you are and move on with what you have. I don’t want myself to be tied down to one group. I like being friends with kids from a lot of different groups. I think that just because you have friends in one group and they may not be friends with a different group doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be friends with them either. I am friends with the people that make me happy and encourage me instead of putting me down.
ReplyDeleteStudents throughout middle school and high school are placed in different groups based on a couple reasons, the way they dress, what sports they play, and who they hang out with. I try to socialize with everybody i feel would be the right people to hang out with. I don't see A nerd as a nerd i see them as ether a nice person or a mean person i try not to worry about what they do how they dress and who they hang out with. I feel if they are nice to me i should be nice back and try to become friends with them no matter what group they are from. I cant say that i am happy on where i was placed in high school because really it was my choice on who i wanted to interact with or who i did not want to interact with. So i am happy that i figured out that it doesn't matter who they are or what they dress like or who they hang out with it only matters to me if they are someone i like and want to hang out with. So really i am friends with whoever wants to be nice to me and respect me and the decisions i make.
ReplyDeletesteven maldonado
ReplyDeletein high school people are categorized in many different ways, whether it involves gender, race,nationality, interest, everyone is part of a clique. my interest are playing soccer and watching sports so i tend to talk to people with the same interest. im pretty happy with the group im with now since were simialr and i dont really want to belong to some other clique but rather be friends with other people.
throught my highschool life ive been in and out of 4 schools and in ever school that i goto i always belong to that one single group....the gehtto kids from the bronx lol from cardinal hayes to mount st micheals to here at harrison the group has been the same and im really happy to be in this group because i just fit in and everyone goes through what i go through. Being the cool down to earth kid that i am i socialize with all student nerds,freaks,losers,morons, its all the same to me because im cool with everyone and every group execpt some of the stuck up kids that dont seem to like me to much here lol and i know most of you are thinking woah james did a blog? well yea i did it <3
ReplyDeleteThroughout high school, many people are stereotyped and artificially labeled as certain groups. Personally, I don't fit into a certain one type of group. I try my best to socialize with the people I like to be around. Although I may not talk to everyone in every group, I usually surround myself with the people I feel most comfortable around. High school shouldn't be about popularity, but who complements each other best. I am happy with my place in Harrison High School, as some where that I can branch out from old friends and make new ones despite the "social worlds" Last year I went to Ursuline, while it may not seem so but was extremely "cliquey." Only certain people talked to certain people, It was definitely your typical high school.I like that at Harrison High School, people can easily move throughout these undefined social groups and branch out from what they themselves believe they are.
ReplyDeleteI come from a completely different place than Harrison and know both how clans are formed with schools in the Bronx as well as Harrison High school. They're the typical groups that form. The jocks, the nerds, the preps, the band geeks, the tree huggers, the goths/punks, the skaters, the poets.. The list can go on and on and on. But these social words have cracks in them were othere flow freely to other groups. That the kind of person I am. I drift from group to group and although some people rather me stay with on clic I say no because evryone should get along no matter race, religion, how you speak, where your from or what you like to do.
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