Lauren
In Mean Girls’ famous “cafeteria map scene,” a new student is introduced to the different subcultures that exist at her high school. She learns about “the preps,” “the desperate wannabes,” and the “sexually active band geeks” among other groups, and eventually falls in with two students who deem themselves “the greatest people [she] will ever meet.”
Although these groups may not be exactly like the ones you remember in high school, practically every high school has subcultures that most people would find familiar, like “the jocks” and “ the nerds” and “the stoners.”
While everyone knows about these groups, there are many other high school subcultures that some people do not even realize exist.
Here are some lesser-known subcultures that also influence the high school ecosystem.
VSCO girl
Step into any high school in the United States and you are bound to spot girls sporting scrunchies, oversized t-shirts, and sticker-covered Hydro Flask water bottles. This youth subculture deemed VSCO girl, gained popularity in 2019, and it is marked by girls who embrace a laid-back and relaxed style from their head to their toes. Named after the VSCO, a photo-editing app geared toward young adults that typically features casual, easy-going content, this subculture is common among teenage girls in today’s society.
Debaters
Some people go through their entire high school career without knowing that their school has a debate team, which is sad because contention #1: debate is awesome! The debate subculture is made up of dedicated students who are willing to give up their weekend to compete against different schools and argue resolutions on topics from politics to economics. From spending countless hours building cases for upcoming tournaments to practicing silly speaking drills to improve their ability to speak quickly and clearly, this subculture is full of hard-working students.
Speech kids
Those kids standing in the hallway talking to their lockers may not have lost their marbles. If they are on the speech team, chances are they are just practicing their dramatic interpretation or humourous interpretation piece for their next speech competition. Speech kids are like a combination of theater kids and debaters, and they are a subculture that is often not well known in many high schools across the nation despite their hard work and creativity.
Subcultures don’t just exist in high school. All too often, we interact with people from completely different subcultures without even knowing that said subcultures exist. From gamers to influencers to athletes to arthouse film buffs, there are a wide variety of subcultures that exist in America.
Whether you are in high school or you are gearing up for your 20th reunion, it is important for us to notice and embrace people who float in entirely different subcultures than our own. They may just end up being the greatest people we will ever meet.
