What class traits define your peer group? For example, what speech patterns or clothing trends do you and your friends share? What cultural elements, such as taste in music or hobbies, define your peer group? How do you see this set of class traits as different from other classes either above or below yours?

When people make part of certain groups, especially high school and college, but most importantly high school, they tend to adopt a way of acting, talking, dressing, speaking, and behaving in general that can almost become a commonality in the entire group. As such, teenagers tend to adopt the trends of the larger group in order to fit in.

When we are in high school, especially closest to going into college, people tend to acquire a form of language that reflects the patterns of the others within the group. As such, we develop linguistic forms, specific words, idiomatic expressions, and even invention of new words, that identify the group. This group may be a simple group o friends within a classroom, or a class in itself. When I was in school, most people wore the same uniform, but since we were all girls, no boys, we would all dress with knee length skirts, thigh-high socks of a green color, brown shoes, and white shirts. We all were the same. However, one definining trend for us was wearing our skirts as high up as possible. We would also use invented nicknames that represented us and made us part of the group.

We would all say that we loved merengue (a Latin dance) and rock. All of us went to the same parties together, and literally looked like a fish school. Where one went, all went. If there was a trip, all of us would take it at the same time.

These patterns of behavior in my classroom, because the group was the entire classroom, were pretty identifying for us, and we were even nicknamed by groups in other levels. That is because we all assumed the same behaviors that identified us and distinguished us as a close-knit family.