Shelby SheppardMrs. MearsEnglish 1 HonorsMay 3, 2014Cliques: The Untold StoryDepression grips adolescents around the world. 11% of 18-year-olds have developed some form of depression (“Depression in Children and Adolescents (Fact Sheet)”). Depression can arise from a multitude of problems. Cliques can be a cause of depression at school or in the workplace. Cliques are a group of people who have the same interests or belong to the same social class (“Chapter Overview”). The diversity between cliques and students causes feelings of isolation and depression as well as loneliness in the adolescent. This can negatively affect a school or workplace if the cliques don't stop because their work/school ethics might change. These types of social groups can make a person feel excluded or humiliated. Some cliques will “make fun of others, humiliate people, or choose to exclude” others (“How Cliques Make Kids Feel Left Out.”). Excluding someone could make them distance themselves from the group and feel isolated. Cliques form and separate from everyone else for different reasons. They may separate based on race, gender, and class. This grouping can also be caused by a sense of homophily, of sticking around people who share a common interest, which affects the process of “peer selection and socialization” (Goodwin). Cliques could also differentiate themselves based on their popularity. A group of people may view themselves as “cooler or better than others” (“Friends, cliques and peer pressure | Barnardos Ireland.”). This type of judgment could affect how other groups view themselves and others. Adolescents belonging to groups different from each other "tend to inflate the positive qualities of their own group" while "exaggerating... middle of paper... making adult life easier for floaters." These “floaters” may not know it, but they are using a “more sophisticated form of adult socialization” (“Conquering the Cliques at School.”). Floaters can help by taking withdrawn or isolated teens and helping them become floaters. Withdrawn and isolated adolescents need to associate with others and not with people who have the same problems. Depressed adolescents who associate with other depressed adolescents tend to experience worsening depression collectively (“Chapter Overview”). This “floaters” solution can help the social system within the school. If "floaters" could be added to the school, the clique system could eventually subside until there were no more cliques but only groups. Groups tend to grow more through “relationship and communication skills” (“Friends, Cliques and Peer Pressure | Barnardos Ireland.”).