DR. WALLACE: As a freshman boy in high school, I'm getting adjusted to attending classes on a high school campus and pretty much keeping my head down and out of everyone else's way.

Things have gone well enough for me so far. I like my classes and teachers, and I made a couple casual friends, even though I don't know any of them too well yet. My family moved here over the summer from another state, so everything is new to me here.

During the first week of school, I noticed some older boys destroying some school property late one afternoon just as I was walking home after having stayed in the quad to study for an extra half hour.

I carefully went in a different direction. They didn't see me, and I didn't say anything to anyone. Then yesterday I happened to notice the exact same guys destroying different things, this time on our campus. Again, I was able to avoid being seen, and now I'm thinking it's not smart for me to stay after school in the quad lunch area and study by myself anymore. I'm sure I can find a public library or somewhere where I can go. But the reason I'm writing to you is, should I say anything about this? I don't want to draw any attention to myself, but now that I've seen it twice by the same group of guys, I'm feeling guilty. I didn't say anything the first time. — A Reluctant Witness to Destruction, via email

A RELUCTANT WITNESS TO DESTRUCTION: You absolutely should say something, and I feel the first place you should go is to your parents. Explain to them what you saw, and have them arrange a plan where they can have you anonymously confirm what you witnessed so that the high school administrators can take the appropriate actions.

In today's world, now more than ever before, it's important to say something when you see something. This is especially true on high school campuses. Report any notice of destruction, bullying, drug or alcohol use, or threats of any kind to anyone. Allowing intentionally bad behavior to go unchallenged should not be something you feel you have to carry on your conscience.

THIS SCHOOL YEAR IS ALREADY MONOTONOUS AND BORING

DR. WALLACE: I'm now a sophomore in high school, and I'm finding this new school year to already be a grind. It's too early in the school year to feel this way, but I don't know a lot of people, and it just seems like every day is a monotonous trudge up a long hill.

People have told me in the past to not have such a negative outlook of life, to just "be positive" as if there's a light switch I can turn on that will suddenly make me positive.

Don't worry, I'm not severely depressed or thinking of doing any harm to myself, but I just feel frustrated and uninterested in the monotonous, long school days. I'm a bit shy by nature, and I don't know too many people at my school very well. I do know a couple people casually but we don't really hang out together.

Is there anything I can do to break out of the monotonous rut I feel like I'm in already? — Looks Like a Long School Year, via email

LOOKS LIKE A LONG SCHOOL YEAR: I do have some recommendations for you. Let's start first with how our subconscious affects the way we feel and even the way we act. For better or worse, much of life tends to run on "autopilot," meaning that once we start doing things a certain way, that momentum and mode tends to continue forward unless it is adjusted.

Studies I've read indicate that people with a negative outlook on daily life tend to feel somewhat depressed and often dissatisfied with their lives for the most part. It tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy once this type of momentum is established and familiar. The key is making adjustments to break out of the mode you find to be dissatisfying.

A good place to start is to do something as simple and innocuous as deliberately smiling at other people as you pass them by. Make brief eye contact, let out a small but noticeable smile, and then continue to look forward and go about your way. You can make it like a game to see how quickly you can get this down to the point where you receive small, light smiles back to you. You'll be amazed at how many people smile back, almost instinctively and reflexively. Doing something as small and easy as this is a mood lifter for you. It's a form of human connection, albeit brief, but one in which you know you have reached the other person.

There are studies that point out that those who intentionally smile at others find that they have an increased positive outlook and elevated self-esteem. Another thing that may help you is to look for good things and focus on them, and seek to ignore, dismiss or not react to anything bad that you notice going on around you. Now I don't mean that you shouldn't report something serious or dangerous, but just typical small things such as gossip or unkind small acts between individuals should not be focused on. But when you see someone stop to help another student pick up books that fell by accident, or to open or hold a door for another, this should be silently celebrated. Notice the small good things, and realize that there are some great things going on around you if you'll keep your peripheral vision open.

It's a gradual thing to break out of an entrenched habit of feeling that things are not going your way, but it can indeed be done, and it's well worth the effort to pursue it. Your subconscious is tremendously powerful, and that cuts both ways, so utilize your subconscious. Tell yourself that you're feeling better, you're enjoying yourself more, and you're noticing positive things going on around you. Find your own way to incorporate these ideas and become a person who alters their daily life to find that they like themselves better and find it easier to make and keep friends going forward.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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