According to Jennifer Senior's essay "Why You Truly Never Leave High School" the majority of Americans did not even graduate from high school until relatively recently, specifically the Great Depression. Although the idea of "everybody" attending high school is relatively recent, I believe that the social dynamics and order developed in high school are not a reflection of an adolescent sub culture, but a result of more primal human nature.
Some would argue that the typical "jocks" or "popular" kids don't necessarily have power later in life. However, the traits the propel jocks or "populars" up the high school social ladder are the same traits that our society values, such as athletic prowess, good looks or even humor. Professional athletes, models and even actors and comedians reach super star status based on their athletic abilities, physical appearance or sense of humor. This is not any different from high school, just on a larger, more societal, scale. Perhaps high school is a recent development, but the interactions there are evident of larger human nature. Although adult society is clearly different from a high school environment, many of the social interactions and hierarchy found in a high school environment can be seen as a microcosm of the social order of society as a whole.
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