Gullible?

I've been feeling very stupid lately... I was so shocked at my sister's behavior, and really couldn't conceive of her doing what she did...
I can remember being amazed at the things my students would do... Just in complete shock that my wonderfully creative and incredibly smart students would be so thoughtless.
For example:
-race on the Seattle highway system (if you've driven there you know why that would be a little shocking, bumper to bumper traffic for most of the day, so they were zipping around other cars)
-get in a car accident 'cuz she was talking on her cell phone, fixing her lip gloss and trying to look at the map to find the party she was going to
-picking on the new student
-lie about reading their assigned homework (mostly I'm amazed 'cuz I'm EASY, you tell me you were too busy and I'll give you another chance, and I can tell they didn't read it 'cuz they can't answer the questions... Duh.)
-flaunting their sexuality in poetry and in comments made in one of my one-on-one english classes (and yes, she ended up dropping out, thank you God)
*****
In a conversation last night where I was asking Jake how I could be so stupid, he told me that I'm NOT gullible. That I just have high expectations.
I expect my students to cooperate and use their intelligence and want to do their best. I really expect my students to realize that driving is DANGEROUS and consider their driving choices based on the fragility of their lives and those around them.
I really expect other people to respect the things that don't belong to them, and not to touch them.

This means I get disappointed sometimes.
But it also means that when my kids would mess up, I'd be the one rooting for them to get themselves straightened out 'cuz I knew they could.
It also means I had students who discovered they could do a lot of things they didn't think they could. I gave them parts they didn't know they could do, and then they would discover they could.