Having said that, one has to appreciate that there is a whole world of difference between ‘hanging around’ and just knowing them as detached friends. In real life, you cannot completely put a wall around you and become completely disassociate from all the ‘not so behaved’ group of students. To be wise in life, you need to know their side of story as well. To steer carefully in life, you need to know the life-stories of the ‘bad guys’. Not to emulate them, but to use it as a ‘inside information’. It is like your ‘counter-intelligence’ tactics. You need to know the tactics, the plots, the skills, the secrets from the dark side of society.
This is much like the saying, ‘a great detective would make a superb criminal’. This is because a good detective would know how the criminal thinks and acts. Such ability would enable the detective to anticipate the villain moves and therefore making the eventual arrest. Unfortunately, the best villains are also often the ones with police, detective or law enforcement background. This is simply because, having the knowledge of how law enforcers work, they know how to avoid captures. The point is, you need to know the other side of story if you want to be smart in life.
Life in a student community is by no means difference. You take your side, which group of students you are in and stand by it (hopefully the good kind of people). But do not shun the crook students. Befriend with them from a safe distance. I know this is easier said than done. But I have done it and so do many other smart students. That is why (you are probably wondering) there are some smart guys (who are well disciplined, doing well in study, dressed well, short haircut, does not smoke or drink) but pretty much very well accepted by the gangsters in schools.
While these smart students benefited from the good side of the community, they are also giving ‘high five’ and ‘hey man’ to the underworld students. I am sure you have seen these students. I was one of them. You do this far from being a hypocrite. You are just playing the game, and you play it well. Again, you got to know the stories. They provide you with tremendous leverage in your skills to face everyday problems at school. Life after school is not much different, so you may as well learn it now!
Let me give you an example. In Form Four, I was a monitor in school. Naturally after performing well in my form 3, I was appointed. While I was doing my duty as monitor, I also openly mix with all the troubled students. I joked with them, I played game with them, I shared stories and knowledge with them. I knew that they smoke, they drink and they play truants. But they have never done them openly in front of me. Out of respect as a friend and monitor, they did not want to do it while I was around.
They realized that, despite me knowing what they were doing, I still befriended them and not foolishly reporting them to the higher authority. I did not have concrete evidence to report and they were not about to sacrifice the friendship by defiantly doing it in front me. Beside, they benefited from being a friend of a monitor, less suspicion. And I did teach them some Mathematics and other wisdom in studying. The situation stayed that way. They were happy and I was happy. Other crooks saw me befriended the other group of crooks, so they dare not touch me. No bully! (to be continued ... )
This is much like the saying, ‘a great detective would make a superb criminal’. This is because a good detective would know how the criminal thinks and acts. Such ability would enable the detective to anticipate the villain moves and therefore making the eventual arrest. Unfortunately, the best villains are also often the ones with police, detective or law enforcement background. This is simply because, having the knowledge of how law enforcers work, they know how to avoid captures. The point is, you need to know the other side of story if you want to be smart in life.
Life in a student community is by no means difference. You take your side, which group of students you are in and stand by it (hopefully the good kind of people). But do not shun the crook students. Befriend with them from a safe distance. I know this is easier said than done. But I have done it and so do many other smart students. That is why (you are probably wondering) there are some smart guys (who are well disciplined, doing well in study, dressed well, short haircut, does not smoke or drink) but pretty much very well accepted by the gangsters in schools.
While these smart students benefited from the good side of the community, they are also giving ‘high five’ and ‘hey man’ to the underworld students. I am sure you have seen these students. I was one of them. You do this far from being a hypocrite. You are just playing the game, and you play it well. Again, you got to know the stories. They provide you with tremendous leverage in your skills to face everyday problems at school. Life after school is not much different, so you may as well learn it now!
Let me give you an example. In Form Four, I was a monitor in school. Naturally after performing well in my form 3, I was appointed. While I was doing my duty as monitor, I also openly mix with all the troubled students. I joked with them, I played game with them, I shared stories and knowledge with them. I knew that they smoke, they drink and they play truants. But they have never done them openly in front of me. Out of respect as a friend and monitor, they did not want to do it while I was around.
They realized that, despite me knowing what they were doing, I still befriended them and not foolishly reporting them to the higher authority. I did not have concrete evidence to report and they were not about to sacrifice the friendship by defiantly doing it in front me. Beside, they benefited from being a friend of a monitor, less suspicion. And I did teach them some Mathematics and other wisdom in studying. The situation stayed that way. They were happy and I was happy. Other crooks saw me befriended the other group of crooks, so they dare not touch me. No bully! (to be continued ... )
