Every little kid wants to be accepted; to be loved and wanted.
Sometimes, against their upbringing, kids will do anything to lessen the peer pressure put on them to "fit in."
They'll do what the popular kids are doing - drugs, sex, drinking, or whatever.
All I can say is thank GOODNESS I let myself "fit in" only during fourth grade - where "fitting in" meant cussing every other word and mocking the teachers behind their backs.
Who knows what it would've been like if I was in high school.
I would've been lost. Absolutely. Lost.