OCTOBER 8, 1971
Westerner Takes Student Poll
To find the answer, we asked 100 students what they feel the ratio is. We tried to vary the students questioned so that we could get an approximate number of the three youth groups in Des Plaines. Their estimates averaged out to 37 per cent freaks, 49 per cent straights, and 14 per cent greasers.
Then we asked the same kids what group they feel they are in. And the actual statistics proved to be 20 per cent freaks, 70 per cent straights, and 10 per cent greasers. Consequently, the students underestimated the number of straights, which still seem to dominate.
Many papers in the area have included a feature on the suburban teenagers. So we thought that we would devote this informative editorial on studying the teenagers at Maine West. The majority of the kids are divided into three stereotyped groups known as the freaks, the straights, and the greasers. Some overlapping exists among these groups; for example, there are part-time freaks.
It is extremely difficult to pinpoint the definitions of the three subcultures, but they were explained to us by various students in this way.
"The average freak (boy or girl) wears old jeans and a shirt that doesn't match."
There was some confusion as to whether the term "freak" meant that the person took any drugs. Generally, the label of freak was associated with people who wanted change.
"A straight doesn't experiment with drugs."
"A straight might dress like a freak, but not really be one."
The cheerleaders and athletes who last year were labeled as rah-rahs are included in this straight group. But not all straights are rah-rahs.
"A greaser wears a black leather jacket and makes wisecracks in class."
"A greaser usually has a hopped-up car that is raised off the ground."
Greasers and straights are groups that have been with us for many years. They have gone through name changes, but have remained basically the same. The freaks are a new group of kids who have dropped these two traditional styles and picked up something new.
.Naturally, this is not a complete reflection of student opinion but perhaps it has helped to explain youth on a local level when the words freak, straight, and greaser are used.