I Did Not Experiment With Drinking, Smoking, And Drugs During My Adolescent Years

A way ethos is portrayed in this editorial is when adolescents are brought into the drinking, drug, and party phase at such a young age. More and more American children are smoking cigarettes, using marijuana, and different kinds of inhalants, at the youngest ages ever in the history of America. “Between 1992 and 1996, the proportion of eighth graders who reported smoking in the past month increased from 15.5% to 21% and from 1992 to 1995, the proportion of eighth graders who said they had used marijuana during or before seventh grade rose from 7.7% to 12.7%” these facts are used to make the reader feel creditable for these young people’s actions. Adults will look at this insert and think, “Wow! Kids are spinning out of control. What could

Adolescence is a time where adolescents grow and mature at a rapid rate. It is also a time where adolescents are more vulnerable to taking risks, such as using and becoming addicted to illegal substances, due to raging hormones. Whether or not an adolescent chooses to engage in drug use and abuse depends on their home environment and those they choose to associate themselves with. Adolescents are confronted with an enormous amount of pressure to participate in risky behaviors by their peers. According to Broderick and Blewitt (2015), “risky behaviors are behaviors that constitute a departure from socially accepted norms or behaviors that pose a threat to the well-being of individuals or groups” (p. 389). One such risky behavior is drug use and addiction. Some adolescents use cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs in order to get “high”. Adolescents who engage in drug use are likely to become addicted, and thus, their addiction will negatively affect their brain development.

I grew up learning everything myself and my mom never really listened to me and because of that now I'm used to keeping everything to myself and she wonders why but that is not her fault. I had to survive, that’s what I call it because you either had to hide the certain special things you wanted and expect the worst out of your older brothers. There were never any words of advice from my older brothers towards me and at the moment given I was only allowed to see my father on the weekends. When my father said specific things he said is using big words, and at the moment I was too young and he was very wise as he had been in my position. My two older brothers have a different dad than my older brother and I. The time my mom was struggling in working and not receiving help from no one and had to maintain 4 male children that fought for food as it was scarce and fought for clothing even if it was too big or too small. This has made me realize that the image a

According to current statistics released by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, “In the United States in 2011, there were an estimated 25.1 million adolescents aged 12 to 17. In the past year, more than one quarter of adolescents drank alcohol, approximately one fifth used an illicit drug, and almost one eighth smoked cigarettes” ("A Day in the Life of American Adolescents," 2013, para. 1). Substance abuse is major problem amongst adolescents. Some are experimenting, but some adolescents may become dependent on a particular substance. If one becomes dependent on a substance as an adolescent it could be detrimental to their future health and success as an adult. Spear (2003) stated in an article titled Alcohol’s

Perkins and Wesley (2014), found that a handbook should be used by educators, counselors and clinicians for understanding and implementing an alternative to traditional methods for preventing substance abuse among young people. the social norm approach present in the handbook focuses on the phenomena beyond the individual’s personality and personal values which are important determinants of behaviors and offers information about how these influences can be changed. The handbook consists of a variety of specific techniques, programs and field-tested results of the application which can be used in various schools and

According to (Hayes et al. 2004, p32), strong values developed in adolescents have indicated lower alcohol abuse and dependence at age 21. Without pre-existing values in IY to avoid alcohol assumption, the enforced restrictions will not be as effective.

Subject A was a man around his early 50’s who had his first drink at age 7. He got addicted quick and often compared alcohol to soda. The reason he started so early was due to peer pressure from his peers at school as well as his older brothers and dad. By age 14, he was drinking alcohol regularly and not going to school as often. Rather than have a couple drinks with friends in a social setting, he would drink to get blackout drunk. The sooner he got to that state of mind, the better. He ended up not finishing high school and turned to narcotics. Even though he started to drink from the pressure of everyone around him, he attributed his continuous drinking to society’s expectations and influence of

In today’s American society, the consumption of alcohol is commonly practiced. It is quite uncommon for one to attend a social event where the presence of alcohol is obsolete. However, society has deemed it fit to tell our youth that they are not allowed to participate in the traditional social pastime of drinking until they reach the age of 21. Hence, when they encounter methods around this predicament-and most of them do-young adults often participate in the reckless consumption of alcohol in large quantities.

"Students who had been tested showed much smaller increases in perceived and actual use of alcohol—but not drugs—year-to-year," the study says”. Throughout my years of being in school i noticed that most of my friends didn’t start using drugs mostly marijuana or start drinking alcohol until about there junior year in high school Now this can be avoidable for some but for most it’s just unavoidable due to peer pressure. I hung out with the cool kids,the nerds,the skater guys and even the pot heads because i never hungout in just one set clique so i’ve seen my fair share of drug use amongst teenagers so i know when it starts and it doesn’t start in middle school. The main reason i believe that drug use doesn’t start among the middle school crowd is because of lack of peer pressure and freedom. Most middle school students are between the

Adolescent substance abuse is a major problem in society. There are many risk factors that can contribute to adolescent substance abuse. One of the main risk factors is peer pressure. When adolescents start at a young age there is an increase in health problems, addiction, and over all poor social outcomes. Parental influence has substantial effect on adolescents because the adolescent sees their parents and they learn by their example. Media plays a role in the use of drug and alcohol use among young people. Many school systems have implemented programs that teach adolescents about the problems of substance abuse that is funded

Unlike others, my high school days were filled with homework and going to the mall with friends. It was not until I entered college did I “experiment” with illicit drugs. I began smoking marijuana with my roommate and a couple of “cool kids” I met in my dorm. Thinking back, I believe that I started to smoke marijuana only to build a relationship and “fit in” with these people who years later names I can’t even remember. At that time smoking marijuana was “cool” an escape, adjust to being away from home for the first time, a different experience.

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

Every problem has a beginning, where the domino effect starts. In most cases people get started drinking not because they like it, but because it is illegal and it gives them a chance to rebel. The so-called “rebel” becomes bored of drinking alone and eventually seeks “company” when they are drinking. The only catch is that the “rebel” can not be the only one drinking so the “company” has to drink. This is where the problem with peer pressure and teenage drinking begins and the first domino starts the chain reaction. There are two types of peer pressure. There is direct peer pressure where a subject’s peers actually force him into having a drink. There is also indirect peer pressure where the subject enters a setting and his peers are drinking so he decides to have a drink to fit in with the rest of his peers (Articles-Teenage Drinking 2). Surveys show that alcohol abuse is related to teenage activities such as going on dates and going to parties (Teenage Alcohol Misuse 2).

I was in the band in college and my sections drank and smoked a lot. There are many people that I went to school with that started smoking and drinking because they were pressured by their friends. I was one of the people that was pressed to drinking alcohol. I turned to drinking alcohol when things went south with one of my best friends. Also during that time I continued to have father issues, and I was doing an internship that was not going well. So I turned to alcohol as a way to help me get through my problems. I later discovered that drinking did not help with the issues that I was having; it only made it worse. Later on I got kicked out of my internship because of my alcohol abuse and went back to school to finish my

Teenagers face many difficult decisions in their lives and have many people in their lives that influence them. One of the major groups that influence teens is their peer group. “Since teenagers are not yet comfortable with themselves, they have a strong need to be accepted by their peers. And to be accepted, they feel they have to be just like their peers” (Ruth Maxwell, p. 24). From Maxwell we learn that teenagers will use alcohol to be accepted by a group. As age progresses the number of alcohol users progress 73 percent of kids that are from the ages of 16-18 are drinkers. In addition, around 90 percent of high school seniors have experienced alcohol at least once in their life.