Was it Worth it to Try to Fit in?

Never think that you have to do something crazy to just fit in. I often think of one of my former 8th grade Middle School students who returned to school after summer break. I recall him being an easy going, approachable, and very humorous young man. He would always find me and engage me in a conversation; I always looked forward to our daily interactions. As we left for summer break, I can vividly remember him coming by my office in between classes and joking around as he typically would do. I rushed him away so he wouldn't get caught in the tardy sweep before his next class. Little did I know, this would be the last time that I would see his bright personality. Summer ended and school began. While standing in the hallway and watching my students greet me on their way to class, I could see him in the distance walking towards me. As he walked closer, I was preparing myself to rush him to class in one of his many attempts to engage me in one of his funny stories so he could purposely be tardy to class. Interestingly, this time, he walked passed me as if he didn't know me. I called his name and he looked confused. After staring at me for a minute, he walked towards me with a look of confusion on his face. He spoke to me in a tone as if he didn't know me. I said hello to him and asked him how he was doing. He responded and I told him to go to class and we would talk later. Later that day, several of my students met with me to tell me that they saw my student talking to himself. They were confused because when they tried to tell him that he was talking to himself, he denied it and even became so angry with them that he threatened to fight them. They pointed towards my window and told me to look outside. I looked out the window and it was then that I saw him standing in the quad area in the center of a circle of other students talking to himself. Sadly, the students thought it was funny. I walked outside to ask him to come to my office. He obliged. While in my office I made small talk with him. He acknowledged who I was, but he definitely wasn't he same person that I once knew. After about 5 minutes, he started talking to himself. Immediately, he made eye contact with me as if he noticed that he was talking to himself. He then stated, "I'm not talking to myself." I kept him in my office and contacted his parents. They arrived about 30 minutes later. While conversing with his parents, they shared that their son started hearing voices during the recent summer break. At first, they ignored it and thought he was joking with them. As the behavior continued, they would tell him if they noticed that he was talking to himself. The father shared that they knew it was life threatening when one day their son left the house running, ran into traffic, and laid down in the street. When they asked him why would he do something like that, he replied, "The voices told me to do it!" The father then revealed that during summer break, his son started trying to fit in with a crowd of young men on their street. He repeatedly told him not to hang with them because this was a bad group of people. His son resisted his counsel and continued hanging with this negative crowd. One day, they offered him some marijuana. Wanting to fit in with this crowd, he tried it. Unknowingly, his so-called friends put some other chemicals in the marijuana. His son was never same. As I sat there listening to the parents share their pain, I noticed both his father and mother wiping tears from their eyes. I sat speechless. While clenching her bible, the mother looked at me and and in a low sad tone she said, "I thought that I was about to start living my life because he was getting older. Now, I am going to have to take care of my son for the rest of his life." The father shouted some expletives in anger as he again reflected on someone providing his son with something that ruined his life. His father's parting words would echo in my mind for years, "Was it worth it to try to fit in?" Always Think 5! It could save your life!