A Middle School With No Cliques
By Blake Staples
Presque Isle Middle School
A middle school without cliques is hard to imagine. Students have become obsessed with forming small groups of peers. Schools without cliques would be better because everyone would be included. People would have more friends and treat one another equally. We need to put an end to this negative behavior! There are several ways to stop cliques in middle schools.
Cliques are groups of kids that categorize people by who they hang out with, how they dress, and what sports they play. It may also be that kids just naturally group together with their friends. Little kids naturally model older kids. So as a result they try to form groups of peers. By copying older kids, younger children think that it is ok to treat others badly. Eventually the younger kids grow up, and they begin to develop cliques.
The impact cliques have on kids is overpowering! They make kids feel ignored and out of place. Cliques also make others feel abandoned. Cliques ignore kids because they do not feel that certain kids are not good enough to be in their clique. When other kids treat you negatively the impact can be horrible, and it can stay with you forever.
Stopping cliques can be easy. All you have to do is stay away from them. People should not give cliques positive attention. If you give cliques positive attention they will continue to develop. If students stop cliques there will be fewer fights on the playground, and people will not feel left out. Cliquing needs to be stopped. If kids try hard enough change may not come overnight, but in a few months people will see a whole new school.
There are many ways to avoid cliques. Kids could find something to do at recess, sit with different kids at lunch, or do something different after school. Its not like you can never sit or play with your friends again, but just do one thing different once a week. When kids sit at the “cool” table at lunch they may sit there just because they think, “If I sit here kids won’t make fun of me.” Deep down inside they think, “I’m really not cool. I just sit here so people will think I’m cool.” People should build up their self-esteem so they can make positive decisions.
If kids try hard enough they can find many ways to end the creation of cliques. Cliques are groups of kids who categorize people by similarities. The impact cliques have on kids is overpowering. When other kids treat someone negatively the impact can be horrible and it can stay with them forever. There are many ways to avoid cliques. People should work on their self-esteem so they can make positive decisions. My opinion is that we should do away with all cliques at PIMS. If we do then think of all the possible friends that kids could have. Most importantly even if someone is not in that one cool clique, and they think to themselves “I’m the worst person I could be, because I’m not cool like all the other kids.” To your friends and family you are the best you can be, and that is what matters the most.
