What Are Cliques?

What Are Cliques?

Cliques are groups of friends, but not all groups of friends are cliques.

The thing that makes a group a clique is that they leave some kids out on purpose.

Usually one or two popular children control who gets to be in the clique and who gets left out.

Children may act much differently than they did before they were part of the clique.

They may even act differently today from how they were yesterday.

It can be really confusing.

Everyone feels left out by friends once in a while.

Friends are people just like us — they make mistakes and usually we can forgive them (after all, we make mistakes too!).

Sometimes friends fight and make up again.

But sometimes children form groups that they won't let other children belong to.

A clique is a group of kids who hang out together and won't let others join in.

Sometimes children  in the clique are cruel to children they think are on the outside.