Who spends so much energy on something so petty that only lasts for 4 years?
A lot of people, unfortunately. Every single high school based nostalgia movie does not help. "These are the best years of your life," the saying goes. Well, I'm glad that those did NOT turn out to be the best years of my life, because that would've set the bar pretty damned low.
Why is it okay to make up all these cliques and stereotypes in high school, when in any other context it would be considered grounds for a class-action lawsuit?
Maybe high schoolers don't have quality lawyers? Maybe because the ones on the top of the class hierarchy are minors, so there's probably not much that can done against them legally. It's a very good question, honestly. I hadn't realized how far I'd separated myself from that world until recently when I've heard several nears stories talking about extreme bullying of gay kids in high schools. I have several gay friends, and their sexual orientation is a complete non-issue with everyone I'm around, so I'd taken for granted that this was generally the case.
Why jockey for the top of the hierarchy when the only ones that even cared are the ones you are jockeying with?
It's a self-perpetuating system, because the other ones jockeying for position have to show some respect for you when you're on top, or their power will be meaningless when they are top. I think there's a "mob mentality" at work too--lots and lots of high schoolers think the clique systems suck, but no one feels like they can change it. If you do stand against it, you become an outsider and are torn down that much more. I'm honestly not sure how this could be changed--I'm not saying it couldn't be, but I have no idea how.
