A High School Teacher Is Going Viral For Her Hot Take On Every School Clique

High school kids tend to fall into friend groups based on the way they look and dress or what kind of activities or hobbies they enjoy. As you probably know, unless you were homeschooled under a rock, these are also known as “cliques.”

While some of the most typical high school cliques have morphed and changed over the years, they definitely still exist. One high school teacher went viral for her take on high school cliques as they stand today and dished on what she likes about each of them — as well as what would surprise an outsider about how different cliques actually function and behave.

Ms. C (@stillateacher) broke down a few of the quintessential high school cliques, revealing some surprising observations from a teacher’s perspective.

“Here's what I enjoy about teaching each of the high school cliques,” she begins. “Are cliques a problem? Yes. Do they still exist? Yes. Are there genuinely great, sweet kids in every clique? Yes. So this one's all love, no slander.”

First up, she spills on the goth clique. While on the outside kids in the goth cliques may present themselves as dark and moody with scowls on their faces, Ms. C swears that they’re actually some of the sweetest kids.

“When I was in high school I was scared of goth kids, so I didn't talk to them. Now that I'm a teacher and I talk to everyone, I've realized that goth kids can be so nice,” she explains.

“A common interaction between me and a goth kid is throughout class, they're just kind of like giving me a death glare, but it may just be the way their eyeliner is drawn on.”

Though goth kids may present a certain way, Ms. C says that they often surprise her by being the sweetest kids.

“And then after class, they just like linger around by my desk and I'm like, ‘Hey, what's up?’ And they'll just like lightly knock over something on my desk and be like, ‘You're a really good teacher. This is my favorite class.’ and then just walk out. And it means a lot coming from that really hardened exterior. You're like, ‘I know you mean this,’” she continues.

Next, she moves onto the theater kids. Often rambunctious, outspoken, and eccentric — theater kids can be a lot. However, that’s what the OP loves about them.

“They really don't care what anyone thinks,” she says.

She goes on to explain that she often allows her students to add their favorite songs to her classroom playlist. Theater kids will sneak a musical song in there, much to the chagrin of other students.

“When kids are like, ‘What are we listening to?’ They're just like, ‘The best musical of all time!’”

She also credits the theater kid clique to have “really strong literacy skills from reading and memorizing all of these plays.”

“They can just like, quote Shakespeare off the cuff. Oh, and if you ever need anyone to read aloud something in class, they'll like go up to the front of the room and do a dramatic reading. It's great,” she explains.

Ms. C prefaces, that when it comes to the jock cliques, there’s sub-cliques within the clique “depending on which sport you play.”

“Like football is so different from basketball is so different from baseball is so different from volleyball ... But one thing in general that I really like is if they have a good coach,” she says.

Ms. C says that when her students have a supportive coach, her relationship with said student tends to be more nurtured.

“I've literally before picked up my phone and called the coach and then like be like, ‘So and so is having a tough day,’ and they come and talk to them in the hallway and the student is like immediately changed, inspired, transformed,” she says.

She also credits jocks for their passion.

“A lot of the kids are just like die hard for whatever sport they play. That keeps them coming to school consistently. It keeps them having something to do,” she says.

After the TikTok went viral, Ms. C posted two follow-up videos, focusing on band kids and art kids.

Her comments have been flooded with commenters asking for her to give a “teacher’s review” on so many other different types of high school cliques like cheerleaders, unpopular kids, dance kids, and STEM kids. Hopefully, she keeps this trend going!