High School in a Psychological Nutshell

High school is one of the few times in your life when your friend group is entirely dependent on your schedule. Disagree? Think about last year and chose someone you got incredibly close to and now no longer have a class with. Now tell me you're still at the same level of intimacy. I'm not saying this is bad or detrimental in any way, friendships grow, evolve, and sometimes dissipate. Its the nature of social interaction. What's interesting though is how entirely dependent we are on our cliques and the acceptance of others in high school. There's a prodigious list of potential reasons. Perhaps it's because we're still developing our identities and need the support. Perhaps people will always crave acceptance.
I guess to a certain degree this need for social belonging has kept us alive for years, after all even primitive ancestors had a lil squad to protect them from the various predators and whatnot. The ability to blend in is definitely a useful one In high school, its crucial and that's sort of pitiful. We value labels so intensely, measure our worth in our friends, and most high schoolers are terrified by the notion of being alone in something. Its an interesting phenomenon because it's not the pressure you're raised to fear. There's nothing about all the kids in one school dressing more or the less the same that frightens anyone. Or us all sharing similar vernacular. Or there being overwhelming amounts of preapproved popular opinions out there. High schools a weird place and I don't think we'll notice just how powerful of an influence it is till we're gone.
It's run on a strict schedule, unlike most workplaces, in fact the most prevalent societal insitution high schooler has the most similarities with is prison. Set schedules, questionable lunches, having to ask permission to go to the bathroom, write ups, dress codes, cliques. Its all there.
I've digressed so much I don't think I even remember my original point but that's alright. Im sure I came to some sort of conclusion in this little rant. I guess what I want to be taken away from this hot mess of a post is although it's lovely knowing you have a support system of people who share your interests and beliefs, its not everything. There's something incredibly important about neglecting social faciliation, impairment, belonging, all of it. About not labeling everyone instantaneously because thousands of years ago it was useful. As great as belonging is, we can't keep going as this hive mind.
I know everything in this us insists on conformity, on saying yes when we're asked to shock someone, on accepting the role we're handed, but we're not participants in Milgrams or Zimbardo's experiment. We're people living our lives and it's gotta be for us.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/valley-girl-brain/201003/you-dont-have-be-popular
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-modern-teen/201011/jocks-brains-populars-crowds-effects-you