So, what does everyone think of cliques? Good? Bad? They're everwhere you go in society, and there's really no avoiding them. Most people on this board probably belong to some type of clique, so what do you think is the good side and/or bad side of them?

There's nothing wrong with having a group of friends. What's wrong is if the group purposely alienates others from being a part of the group.

Originally posted by briandamage
There's nothing wrong with having a group of friends. What's wrong is if the group purposely alienates others from being a part of the group.

I agree, those are my thoughts excactly.

Originally posted by briandamage
There's nothing wrong with having a group of friends. What's wrong is if the group purposely alienates others from being a part of the group.

Agreed. In addition to alienation, some cliques treat other people like crap and are rude. I hate that.

I've had to deal with them all my life and I hate them with a passion. I've basically been a loner and I know how it feels to be left out. On here, I try not to get cliquey, although I have a feeling I have acted that way sometimes. If I did, I'm sorry :)

Umm, well, the question was lyke, to easy.
;)

its nice to have a close group of friends but cliques can be really cruel. ive always managed to avoid them because i have a pretty wide group of friends and "belong" in several groups. i hate seeing people excluded by groups but thankfully my school isnt too bad about that.

i have a close group of friends but we arent really a clique because we talk to everyone and everyone hangs out w us at times..but wen you get liek those snobby girl cliques i juss wanna pinch them all in the face

I think that it's really great to have a group of friends, if they are really your friends. I hate it when they're nice to you to your face, then talk about you behind your back. Maybe that's just girls in general, but I hate it.

I agree with all of you that said cliques are bad when they start to exclude people. Having a close group of friends is one thing, but when people start to treat others like crap because they're not "part of the clique", that's where they go wrong. But it's just one part of society that we'll always have to deal with.

Originally posted by Titania
its nice to have a close group of friends but cliques can be really cruel. ive always managed to avoid them because i have a pretty wide group of friends and "belong" in several groups. i hate seeing people excluded by groups but thankfully my school isnt too bad about that.

My thoughts exactly. Although some cliques in my school are worse than others when it comes to excluding people.

Originally posted by AliciaKeysForever
I think that it's really great to have a group of friends, if they are really your friends. I hate it when they're nice to you to your face, then talk about you behind your back. Maybe that's just girls in general, but I hate it.

I hate when people talk behind your back, too. I always hear my friends talking about someone and when that person that they were talking about is around, they act nice to them and talk crap about someone else in the group. In my psych class this week, we were talking about how girls complain about one friend to some other friend of hers and then call another friend on the telephone and complain about the friend they were just talking to. If someone has a problem with somebody, they should go right up to their face and say it. I think it's rude to gossip about people behind their backs. If anyone were to talk behind a person's back, what does that say about that person and who would want to be friends with a person who talks behind their friends' backs, anyway? And, why would anyone talk behind others backs, anyway? Do they for some reason feel better about themselves if they talk behind others' backs?
Talk about low self esteem. :rolleyes:

Groups of friends are awesome, but some people just associate because of class or whatever and I doubt they even like eachother.. they just look good together. Im out of school now, so thankfully I dont have to put up with it in school. Society is cliquey, but its easier to deal with than in school.

Originally posted by dawsongirl
Agreed. In addition to alienation, some cliques treat other people like crap and are rude. I hate that.

I agree. My thoughts precisely.

Originally posted by ¤MsConanOBrien¤
Groups of friends are awesome, but some people just associate because of class or whatever and I doubt they even like eachother.. they just look good together. Im out of school now, so thankfully I dont have to put up with it in school. Society is cliquey, but its easier to deal with than in school.

I know what you mean. High school has to be the worst place known to man for cliques. You still have them in college, but not as much. As people grow older, they seem to be able to grow out of excluding others so much. That's nice to know, at least.

Originally posted by ¤MsConanOBrien¤
I doubt they even like eachother.. they just look good together.

you are so right. i was in a group like that in middle school before i found out who my real friends were.
these girls just sat together at lunch and hung out and stuff because they considered themselves "the popular girls" if they thought you were like them, they made you their friend. Their was kind of a counterpart group of "popular guys" and girls in the group only would date guys in that group.

it was so pathetic.

Being part of a clique is dangerous.
When I was 14, 15, 16 years old I was really, really close friends with 2 other girls. We were like sisters, I'd never been that close to anyone before. We had a kind of 'us against the world' mentality and we wouldn't let anyone else anywhere near us cos we felt like they were a threat to our friendship.
It was perfect for about 3 years and then it all went tits-up! The 2 of them decided that there was life outside of the friendship afterall and decided to go off and get boyfriends. Needless to say, this wasn't my scene and, for reasons I still can't quite explain I felt threatened by their boyfriends. The fact that they didn't really need me in order to get by after all really shook me and this caused a lot of fights between the 3 of us.
Long story short - we ended up going our separate ways and because our friendship had been my entire life for almost 4 years I had nothing and noone to fall back on - I was completely alone.
Since the whole 'break-up' I've never really trusted anyone again. I loved and trusted those 2 more than I ever thought possible and they wrecked my life. I'm not gonna put myself in such a vulnerable position ever again.
Basically, what I'm trying to say to those of you who are part of a clique is this -

Don't build your entire life around the friendships within your group. Groups break up - it's inevitable - and when your group goes it's separate ways you're gonna find youself all alone with noone else to turn to. Make friends and have interests outwith your clique so you have something to fall back on.

I wish I had.