Judge Carefully

Everyone knows someone who's done it: Alcohol, drugs, sex. And every individual has their own view on it. Some will snarl their nose at it and others don't really mind it. Ellen Hopkins' view on it, as described in her author interview, inspires me. These types of influences are all around us. Some of us choose to take part in them, and others don't. But, what about the people who don't really choose it themselves, who are literally just forced into such a lifestyle?


When it comes to people with that kind of lifestyle, most of us just look down on them. Make no effort to make a conversation with them or even help them. How can we expect these things in our environments to get any better when we won't even try to help the people who are troubled with these addictions. A majority of these people who are addicted didn't just do it to rebel against some authority, the lifestyle just kind of fell upon them as if they had no other choice. Maybe they believed they needed it for acceptance, for love, for relief, for help. Or they use it to ease the pain of a troubled life. Or simply because they feel they are so low, that it couldn't possibly get worse.


And at this stage of depression, where they feel they have nothing or nobody to lean on but their choice of drug, we reject them. Yes, drugs are bad. But there's two sides to every story. And the story anyone ever hears mostly, is the one where individuals who chose this life are immature, rebellious, and ignorant. If everyone always rejects them and doesn't ever give them a chance, why should they want to give us a chance? When they have their addiction, that's always there for them and never judges them.


It's heard on the news all the time, a drugy teenager who commits suicide. Who ends his life forever. And according to the news, it was the drugs that killed him. He died by over-dosing on meth. Maybe it was the meth that finally killed him, or possibly, it was the cruel rejection and constant judgment from others that he just couldn't take anymore.