I'm actually a Junior English teacher, so I feel compelled to respond. All teachers are completely aware that students avoid sitting near the teacher's desk. That's just teenagers wanting to maintain some sense of freedom in the room. I have never seen it as much of a conformity thing. They just like to huddle together because they are social animals and honestly, a large proportion of students are at school much more for their social life than for an education. That's okay. It's just the nature of the beast.

Not every student is comfortable socially though. Some prefer the seat away from the silliness around them. It isn't that there is something wrong with them; they just deal with the world differently.