How should I act as a high school student?  My behavior is dictated
by the actions of two groups:  peers and authority figures.  

Authority figures include teachers, principals and parents --
essentially any adult who has been charged with the responsibility of
guiding my academic and moral development.  My peers are my fellow
students.  They serve to gauge the effectiveness of instruction handed
down by authority figures.  

When authority figures do a good job, my peers will behave
accordingly, and it is my responsibility to do the same.  If they do a
poor job, then my peers will also behave poorly.  When both peers and
authority figures underperform, then I am forced to underperform as
well.  In fact, it is my duty to do so.

If I strove to do well, regardless of the quality of administration, 
the only result would be calamity.  I would be alienated by my peers,
thus stunting my social development.  Moreover, my "good" example would
weaken any process of accountability on behalf of a failing system.
Lastly, it is not my place as a high school student to exert any
measure of autonomy.  The pressures of adolescence, combined with a
lack of experience impairs my sense of judgment relative to that of my peers
and authority figures.  Thus, in all decisions of my high school life,
I must defer to them.

Likewise, if I observe anyone not conforming to the group, it is
incumbent on me and my peers to ostracize and ridicule such persons.  
These individuals disrupt the harmony of our high school environment,
and if the authority figures are remiss in dealing with those who do
not belong, then that duty falls upon us.  If my peers and I are cruel
in our methods, we have only the authority figures to blame, who were
either negligent in their duties, or taught us to be cruel themselves.

I have often heard the phrase, "high school is a microcosm of
society."  I couldn't agree more.  When I graduate, my peers will be
my co-workers, and the authority figures will be my bosses.  By
learning to follow the group as well as the leadership of my
superiors, I truly prepare myself for the "real world."