I found it interesting that Hine thinks that the key process of Erik Erikson’s theory for adolescence – the search for identity – is being pushed aside for shallow tribe identification. I have to agree.
I remember some of the groups in my school – the stoners, the slackers, the dumb jocks, the smart jocks, the preps, the drama kids, the Slytherins (as they called themselves), the manga crowd, the goths of course, the passionate Latina girls, the soccer gangs, and my own group of the ‘vanilla freaks’. The vanilla freaks were not weird enough to be punks or Goths, but not mainstream enough to register as either preps or slackers. We were the weird, smart, quiet kids – tech savvy but not so much to be geeks or nerds. It’s interesting how everyone in highschool compartmentalizes themselves into one group or another in order to feel a sense of belonging. Even though my main crowd was the vanilla freaks, I associated with other kids in different groups outside of class, which was unheard of in my school. I never really felt a part of any group, never really identified myself personally as this or that. But most of my friends were vanilla freaks, so that was the crowd I hung with – and I thought hey, I like vanilla – I did all right.
I’ve always been very introverted, so I know myself pretty well. I think one of the reasons I felt a little more mature than my peers was because I already knew who I was, even if I didn’t know what I wanted to be.
This is what I talked about on mine! It is so true that these groups are still around. They are starting younger and younger each year. People assume that they can't talk to people outside their "groups" because they will feel left out or different, but if they do they can learn so much out of it! Once people learn about other clicks and groups there will be a better understanding of them. People want to be part of these “groups” so that they feel like they belong to a group and escape into a disguise. I can relate to what you are saying because even though I was in a certain group I still associated with those outside my group.
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