NationStates Jolt Archive

we all know about those different social groups in schools - the goths and popular kids, skaters, geeks... whatever - and i was wondering how segregated it all is in the US, in general.
from the american tv shows and stuff i've seen, the UK isn't nearly as segregated, in general. for a start the groups, though recognised by the government (http://www.talktofrank.com/tribes/quiz.aspx), aren't really in our tv shows that much, and in my school, at least, there were just groups with no real label or attatchment to anything in particular.

curious...


edit: title should be "really as segregated as all that?"

Ha ha.

I remember that quiz from ages back. Absolutely useless. Though typical imo.

Though in regards to the thread, I have seen similar threads to this with Americans stating that US schools really aren't as segregated as TV makes out.

It's so insanely exaggerated.

First off, 3000 kids in my school. You can barely point out the different segregated parts but it is possible.

And it's not as if there isn't interaction between the groups. It's more of a lunchtime thing. They hang out over there, we hang out here, those guys go over there...

In theory, we do not have an "American school system" (ie: a "national" school system). Rather, the public schools are the responsibility of the individual states. That's why we have No Child Left Behind -- which should be called: "if you want federal money in your educational system, you have to play the game by federal rules."

People tend to hang around/like people who are like them. Kids crave acceptance. It's no wonder that kids like to hang around other kids who are like them and who do not criticize them for being "different" (birds of a feather don't know not to fly together).

So, yes, kids in American schools tend to bunch together with kids who look like them and/or who have similar interesets -- it's part of human nature. I wouldn't call it "segregation", at least not state imposed segregation.

no, that is exaggerated

yes there is some segregation but its not nearly that bad. its just a little bit, in my school anyway.

It's exaggerated to a point.

Well of course people hang out with others who share similar interests, that's universal. But TV is a totally warped view of reality.

It's not like there are giant blocks, each one a different social group, it's a massive spectrum. Open Paint, double click on a color square, and then click on "Define Custom colors". The 16 million color box pops up. That's kind of what American schools, and in fact life in general is like. There are a million shades of yellow, and they share some things in common, but are all different. They slowly blur into the green section, but where's the line? There is none, it's a gradual shift.

Don't believe what you see on American TV, it's bad for your sense of reality.

I can't speak for normal schools, I didn't pay attention to the cliques when I used to go to one. But at my school:

5% elitist
10% not politically liberal
15% preppy
15% academic geek
20% stoner
30% computer nerd
30% punk
45% artiste
60% indie
5% NOTA (none of the above)
93% MTOOTA (more than one of the above)

Of these people I've classified:

60% wouldn't give a shit whatsoever
25% wouldn't care where they were, but would tell me not to think like that
10% would only care as a curiosity
5% would actually want to know where I'd put them

Social groups seem to get smaller and smaller every year. This year at my school there are only three:

The Goths (Consisting of two members. ;))
The Rowers (Surpising this is the only one growing. I'm also a proud "member", because members include all those who row on the crew team.)
Everybody Else

exaggerated it is then :p


yeah we only really had 2 major groups in our school: the popular kids who were all the same, and the rest of us - about a 50/50 split. the 'rest of' lot were kinda subdivided - we were the metalheads and geeks - but we all hung out together n stuff. but by the time we got to 6th form the edges had blurred so much...

I spent 2 years in a US high school and it was very segregated. You had little cliques based on dress, music, and to a lesser extent hobbies. There were goths, stoners, cowboys, ravers, jocks, skaters, etc. There were other groups that werent as homogenous, but they were much smaller groups and not very visible.

Social groups seem to get smaller and smaller every year. This year at my school there are only three:

The Goths (Consisting of two members. ;))
The Rowers (Surpising this is the only one growing. I'm also a proud "member", because members include all those who row on the crew team.)
Everybody Else
Goths and rowers vs Everybody

Fair enough.

$10 on Everybody

It is exaggerated... In my school, there are the Goths (a very small group), the emo kids (an even smaller group), and then there is a blurry line between the popular kids and everyone else.

in my school its not as segregated its pretty blurred between some groups and the labels are different because drugs haven't come into the picture and no one joins the chess club. we have-

Nerds (me)
Populars
Jocks (at an all girls school these are the sports enthusiastics)
clowns
normal
drama people

Well, it is segregated to a certain extent at least where I live (Southern Texas). There is a group that most people fall into and it is kind of hierarchical based on popularity and such. Then there are two groups that almost exclusively keep to themselves as far as friendships go. They are the kickers (a.k.a.. Cowboys) and the purely Spanish speaking Mexicans/ 2nd generation Americans. Unfortunately, we have another group that I can only refer to as social rejects. They include Goths, Homosexuals, uber-geeks and anybody that dresses or acts weird. People in this group either stick to themselves or form small networks of friends.

I'd imagine it would be like any western school, kids hang out with their friends.

It's more a reflection of lazy writting than it is anything else, chasing The Breakfast Club. It's easier to write a high school drama (or comedy or anything) if you group up characters that way. You don't have to do any exposition, just have the dude show up on a skateboard or wearing black lipstick and that's all you have to know about him/her.

I would be hard pressed to say who where the popular kids in my school, and I'm going to guess that people wouldn't share the same answers. And I went to a small school (I graduated the year it finally hit 1000.)

It's definitely exaggerated. In my school, I know of at least 3 "bandies" who aren't even in band. People tend to associate more with people in the same clubs as them, but with the sheer number of clubs at my school, that means that most people can find some indirect link, and there are a couple of thousand students.

I'd say it depends on where you live in the US, since America is pretty broad. Where I live, and in the high school I go to, there is hardly any noticeable segregation. The 'cliques' seem to blend together, since I've seen a lot of socialization (the good type) between everyone. But I have noticed that the Micronesians usually separate themselves from the rest, and that's the only thing that stood out.

You guys must live on another planet.

I went to public schools in the urban south from elementry thru high school, (I moved around alot) and I seem to remember something about african americans, who always made up more than 50% of the student bodies. Now you want to talk about segeration?
In southern schools in the US theres this BIG LINE between whites and blacks and it seemed to be maintained by the majority. If you were black and interacted with whites you would have problems, if you were white and didnt act black you would have problems, and if you tried to keep to yourself, regardless of your race, problems would find you. Its pretty hard to try to learn something when the teacher isnt in control. Mabye thats one reason for white students moving into private schools huh? Luckly my stepdad was a schoolteacher from Austrailia I guess. So, anyways, so hows that for a dynamic? :)

This is only true up to a certain point. You can't believe everything you see on TV. Of course there will always be cliques in school, but I'd hardly call it segregated. Most people crave aceptance and being around people with whom you have somehing in common with you can be quite rewarding. =) Besides, even if it is "segregated", that's not nessasarily a bad thing. Cliques usually confine themselves to that clique, so it's not like anyone really wants to join another one but, "isn't allowed to". That's just my opinion. I guess some geeks/nerds/whatever would like it very much to be popular...but I love being different and not normal...whatever the hell that is.