But underneath the clothing are some similarities to other generations. There is, and apparently always will be, the jock clique. Kids today may be a bit more specific than in days gone by, and they have fairly elaborate subgroups. There are the preppy jocks, party jocks, girl jocks, soccer jocks and so on. Jocks can become kind of local heroes, leading their teams to victory and gaining popularity in a way that math stars do not.
Cliques also form around certain clubs or activities.
The theater kids hang together, just like the pompon squad and the computer nerds. The band kids band together, as do newspaper staff and chess club members. There's the crowd of kids who ditch class and smoke legal or illegal substances. Even kids who are most vocal about being outcasts often hang out together in a sort of anti-clique clique. Cliques have long been viewed as negative, with some justification.