Fitting in is a huge issue. Many older high school students said they evolved out of the super strict clothes-inspecting crowds and become more fluid and relaxed by their senior year. Shantelle Wagner, a senior at Horizon, noted that progression in her four years, especially after spending last summer at a student government camp. There, she met lots of people not traditionally part of her usual crowd. 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.