I hear this expression pop up in conversation people have about their workplace or social groups. It points to this 70s-early 2000s motif that people have these super cliques and cast out or ignore those they don’t want a part of them.
However, my observations in a high school over the past fifteen years show something different.
High school, and the adolescent mind, has shifted a lot. Yes, some things will never change (and I don’t think we’d want them to), but the high school clique experience peaked around the time Mean Girls was released in theatres.
Yes, students still have their groups and there’s still bullying, but the number of students who feel close to their parents, or consider them a role model, would make the 70s adage of not trusting anyone over 30 a laughable ideal. Then there’s the athletes who show up to Math club, the packed classrooms of Dungeons & Dragons games and the group chats for all graduates to participate in.
On that note, the biggest drama that consistently happens revolve around prom dresses. Well, that and relationships.
High school is a much different experience and if we’re still feeling our current situations reminds us of our own experience, it’s probably pointing to the stunted maturity of the people involved.
If you really want to be insulting, you might want to tell those people to grow up and act like kids today. Either that or wear the same outfit as one of them.