On Social Norm

Freshman year i went to somersworth high school.
i learned a lot that year.
More than anything, i was able to put into perspective how "regular" teenagers see themselves, their surroundings, their friends... it was really my first time being able to watch people go about their lives around me.
One thing you begin to realize when you watch teenagers in action is that most of them are absolutely stupid.

The numbers for kids who drink on a monthly basis are pretty high... suggesting that a majority of teenagers think it's alright to go partying once in a while. And why not, right? Their parents probably did the same thing when they were kids, and don't see anything wrong with living a little. Heck, if you live in rochester, a whole boatload of parents still do dumb things.

Sometimes, just for fun, i like to imagine some of the adults i know as teenagers... but that's a completely different story.

Anyway, at somersworth, and most schools, the "popular" kids are always the ones who do the craziest stuff. They're the ones who aren't afraid to take risks for the sake of saying, "i did that... yes i did". But as a teenager, most of the "risks" we're talking about aren't the same risks that they told us to take on the 8th grade team-building ropes course. You know, all that stuff about "stepping out of your comfort zone" and the like. Those aren't the healthy risks that teenagers take. The risks that popular kids take are the ones like, "how many people can sit on the driver's seat at the same time before i can't reach the steering wheel anymore?" and random other stuff that i'm too exhausted right now to think up.
You have people who end up going to every party that anyone ever tells them about, because they have nothing else to do and because it makes them known around. People see the kid and go, "man, he goes to every party... i wish my parents were that dumb/i wish i didn't have a life/i wish i didn't care about my grades like he doesn't"
And eventually, you have a whole highschool full of kids who look up to people who do stupid stuff. And once again, we're not talking stupid as in, "think i can break through the ice on the salmon falls river?", we're talking stupid as in, "let's go find new drugs to try"

king David had something to say on that... psalm 52 says:
"Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man?
Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit.
You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!" [1-4, NIV]

Anyone in highschool can tell you that there is this social norm of bragging about the worldly things people have done. Be it girls, drugs, or assorted traffic violations, people see it as an accomplishment.
But it's not.
And people generally figure that out a few years after they graduate college and settle down... but hey, everyone does it, right?
what a shame.