High school within itself is very overwhelming–any student could tell you that. The pressures of high school are definitely something that scare not only incoming freshmen, but everyone who has ever been a secondary student. One of the biggest fears of entering high school has been Hollywood-ized forever: fitting into the perfect clique.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that most people will not fall directly into the categories of The Breakfast Club, yet while knowing this, we as high-schoolers still try to fit everyone into their correct “social rank” among every other student. Sure, everyone has differentiating qualities that will place them more or less in one group or another, but that doesn’t mean that one should have to confine him or herself to stay with a singular group of friends.

To put it more plainly, we need to be able to broaden our horizons.

Stereotyping can lead to making one feel alienated or even rejected by their peers, causing more stress on top of just school work. Why would anyone want that?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, over 11% of adolescents under the age of 18 have depression, and that number is growing. In past years, depression was seen mainly in the older population of adults; strange, isn’t it? This might seem unrelated, but depression and stereotyping (a version of bullying) can very well go hand-in-hand. On top of the already rigorous schedule of a high-schooler’s day, feeling rejected by one’s peers can be disastrous.

Stereotyping reaches all over the board, reaching from the dumb, blonde cheerleader to the socially-awkward nerd. Words hurt, and as most have come to see, stereotypes can quickly be proven wrong. Not all cheerleaders are stupid, and not all nerds are loners. Come on, you know you’ve thought that at least once in your life.

With this in mind, high school could be a lot easier if we weren’t living it like another version of Mean Girls.