That attitude is part of what Allen calls older students seeing shades of gray. Most kids grow out of the strict clique structures. Some do not. Twenty years ago, we didn't have those gangs of kids,'' said Mike Faenza, executive director of the National Mental Health Association. Allen noted that kids who do not fit into a clique are not necessarily outcasts.
Many students float outside any particular group.
The popular cliques don't reject those students but just don't pay attention to them. They may be lonely but can still turn out just fine, Allen said. However, the problem comes when students are actively rejected, ridiculed and reviled, Allen said. Those students are true outcasts and become ripe candidates for drug abuse, violence and criminal behavior. Those fringe outcast cliques can eventually develop into violent gangs or cults.