Maybe I’m just innocent and naive. Ever since I was little, I've always had this mindset that everyone must have a good side. No matter how crude or impolite people were, I always felt like they were still kind and caring. I took this mindset with me into high school, and it's held up pretty well. Until recently, I encountered an unfortunate situation that made me realize all the people I thought I knew actually weren't who I thought they were. I learned that many of the people who I interact with in school on a regular basis frequently vape, possibly take illegal drugs, drink underage and deal drugs and alcohol to others as well. I also learned the real reason why several people skipped school frequently; they were high. To be honest, I still can't believe it, even though many of my friends confirmed it's true. In fact, when I asked, they were extremely shocked that I had no clue this was going on. They weren't completely wrong. I was well aware that some people do drugs in my high school, but I never expected it to be people that I knew well.

I thought about helping these people change their ways. I wanted to help them realize that there are other ways to relieve the stress of high school. I wanted to tell them they don't have to resort to drugs to "have fun" or "make friends." There are other ways, and someone just needs to tell them. But I've also come to realize that someone who doesn't want to be helped cannot be helped.

No one cares what you have to say. If someone doesn't genuinely wan to correct their wrongs (or even think of their behavior as wrong to begin with), they will continue to do it, regardless of the fact that others are aware of it. It's true. Once, I questioned a friend why she kept skipping school on a frequent basis, and she shrugged it off. She just didn't care about what others thought and oddly enough, embraced it.

And what is the cause of these terrible habits? Bandwagon and peer pressure. At the end of the day, it all depends on who you hang out and who is in your friends group. For me, my friend group is fairly straight-laced, just like me. We have never done anything considered legally or socially rebellious. In fact, you could even consider us the "good kids" — the ones who go to school every single day, who show to class on time, who participate in school activities and help their classmates. That used to be how I defined what an "average student" is, until I found out otherwise.

Some people aren’t like my friends and me. Their friends may make some bad decisions frequently. Their friends drink underage, swipe smokes from God knows where, slip into frat parties when they're not even college students and call getting wasted and high simply "having a good time," every single time they do it. And the rest is history. Friends see their friends doing something, and they want to do it to just for the heck of it. Some do it because their friends tell them that doing those things will lessen stress.

Just the mere thought that people who I thought I knew do things I would never saddens me. But that’s the harsh reality of life. I’ve always knew that this world wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t realize how flawed this world was. Despite the fact that our school teaches us that doing drugs is wrong, people still choose to do it. Why? Because their friends are doing it? I just don’t understand.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to always believe in the best of people, especially since some people may be going through a hard time in life and turned to the first outlet found. I still believe that people can still change their ways. However, believing that people can be changed despite the fact that they are traveling down the wrong path may be unreasonable. It’s the harsh reality of life. Not everyone is perfect. Not everyone is kind and innocent like you may believe. I had to learn this the harsh way. But I hope you all can realize this without finding out about it the same way I did.