Prevention of Adolescent Drug Addictions

Children, starting as early as elementary school, are being educated on substance abuse. As of 2013, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, D.A.R.E., administers a school-based substance abuse, gang, and violence prevention program in 75 percent of the United States school districts. Since 1983, 70,000 police officers have taught the D.A.R.E. program to approximately 114 million elementary through high school students in the United States alone ("Is the D.A.R.E. Program Good for America's Kids K-12?"). This program is aimed at preventing drug use in elementary, middle, and high school students. A needle-exchange program implicitly encourages the exact opposite message, condoning immoral and illicit behavior. Governments should focus on discouraging drug use, providing more productive treatment for recovery, and punishing drug users instead of supplying the materials to continue their addiction. Young children have the potential to take more risks and must receive a clear message on drugs, which should coincide with the no tolerance policy they are being taught in school with implementation of the D.A.R.E. program. A needle-exchange program is more of a hopeful harm reduction campaign that sends the wrong message to young children and society as a whole. If there is to be a positive change in America regarding intravenous drug use, then the government and school programs all need to be on the same page; we

Understanding personally that parents are consciously aware of the horrors of drug addiction; with determination and an education about the problems they’re facing parents can and will make a difference in their child’s life. The necessity for incarceration for drug addict can be a necessary step in the recovery process. At some point the addict must realize that his/her perception of control is flawed, and their ability to make rational judgements for

Within this article it expresses how drug control is one of the most important public policy issues in the United States. It explains how drug abuse has tremendous economic and social consequences in many countries. This article also elaborates how young people start drug use as early as age 15. Therefore, most drug prevention programs target young people while in school. Many researchers stress that the best way to limit drug abuse is to target children and stop them from initiating drug use at an early age before even getting in contact with drugs.

D.A.R.E. is “perhaps the most widely acclaimed ‘successful’ intervention of all ineffective delinquency prevention programs” (2003:130). Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) is a City of Los Angeles Government substance abuse prevention education program that seeks to prevent the use of controlled drugs, membership in gangs, and violent behavior. Founded in Los Angeles in 1983 as a joint initiative of the-LAPD chief Daryl Gates and the Los Angeles Unified School District as a demand-side drug control strategy of the American War on Drugs. Students who enter the program sign a pledge not to use drugs or join gangs and are informed by local police officers about the government 's beliefs about the dangers of recreational drug use in an interactive in-school curriculum which lasts ten weeks. (www.dare.com, 2005). According Howell, 2003 D.A.R.E. is deterrence and the notion that giving school aged children educational information on the consequence of alcohol and drug use by police officers will deter them from experimenting and using these substances (Howell, 2003).  This popular program spread wide throughout the United States public schools, but the D.A.R.E. program has been put through many evaluations. Critics of the D.A.R.E. program point to the many studies which find no statistically significant short or long term effects on the key outcome variables of substance use among those who do and do not participate in D.A.R.E. (Drulak, 1997; Rosenbaum and Hanson, 1998;

Drugs and alcohol have been used for medical and recreational purposes throughout history. With advancement of technology it has become easier and easier to access these substances. It is not only illegal drugs but prescription drugs that are being misused and wreaking havoc across the world. Even with billions of dollars being paid out to stop the war on drugs, the problem persists. People from all walks of life have been affected by drugs or are becoming drug addicts themselves. One particular group afflicted by the misuse of these substances is the children of drug addicted parents. According to Cattapan and Grimwade, “Drug use seen in one generation affects the lives of the next”. Children with one or both parents on drugs face huge

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program known as D.A.R.E has become a very widespread and popular program throughout the United States. The program appeals to all ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic lines, which is a large part of the reason why the DARE program has grown exponentially. The program’s basic premise was meant to introduce kids to the danger of drugs, before the drugs got to them. The implementation of the DARE program appeared to be what America needed to begin to put a dent in the war on drugs.

Prescription drugs are making parents more overwhelmed than ever before about their teenaged child! Why must they worry so much about their teenaged child? “When you can stop you don’t want to, and when you want to stop, you can’t…” (Davies). This quote signifies that adolescents and adults have the option to quit or not try the drug when being introduced, but when they get started on the drug and they are thinking abouting quitting, they cannot because of the addiction they have on the drug. Each day they try to stay away from the drug, but they are have really bad withdrawals. Middle and high schools should inform parents about the strategies for preventing, recognizing, and addressing prescription drug abuse.

The D.A.R.E. program was founded in 1983 by Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates and the Los Angeles Unified School District, and it stands for “Drug Abuse Resistance Education.” As of today, it is a K-12 education program that teaches students about drug prevention, violence, gang membership, bullying, and internet safety in the United States as well as 52 other countries. As an international nonprofit organization, it is also one of the most prevalent drug abuse prevention programs in the United States and allegedly the world. Curriculum consists of elements such as resistance, self-esteem and skills training, and workbooks. All of the D.A.R.E. classes and curriculum are taught by trained police officers.

Drug addiction is a serious issue in not only America today, but globally. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance addiction is a “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite the harmful consequences” (“What is drug addiction?”). Drug abuse affects not only the user, but those around the user as well. The actions of a drug user place a significant amount of worry on the people that are closest to them such as friends and family. Children with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol can be severely affected by the actions of their parents which can cause them much harm in terms of biological and

The D.A.R.E. program has become the national symbol for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs, which are partnered by experience police officers, parents and schools throughout the United States. All D.A.R.E. officers are those who are members of agencies that share the responsibility protecting the trademark mission that is D.A.R.E. This program has been taught in all 50 states and at least 49 countries. During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s there was an unparalleled rise with drug among our youth in Los Angeles. As a result, in 1983, the Los Angeles police department decided to form this program.

Doesn’t matter what age, drugs are going to be used and abuse. From the time we are born, till the day we die, prescription drugs are prescribed for doctor approved use. Most prescription drugs are given to help control a disease, an imbalance, sickness, etc. With teenage drug abuse on the rise in most US high schools, it has become a problem parents are facing amongst their children. Being a parent to a teenager who has meddled with prescription drugs has been an unbelievable eye opener. Teens know who they get these drugs from; fellow students, friends, their parents cabinets, etc. Educating parents and discussing the risks with teens about the effects prescription drugs can cause is important to helping

The existence of a myriad of social problems among teenagers that both parents and states have to deal with is a factor whose weight ought not to be treated lightly. The increasing level of drug use among the adolescents constitutes one of the ever increasing situations in the society and may, as a matter of fact, be a representation other underlying issues. The level of the situation in the contemporary world, though not discussed as much as it ought to be, has reached alarming levels. There seems to be an increasing predisposition among the use to take the drugs as it's reflected in the escalating trends of drug abuse among this generation of individuals (spooner, 1999). The ever deteriorating levels of this situation coupled with the widespread permissiveness in the society and the absence of attention from appropriate caregivers at different institutions only means that the need to address the problem is paramount. Different avenues of solutions can be applied in reducing the level of the problem and averting the massive negative consequences that come with the phenomena. Dealing with this issue is not a matter of instance as the different parameters of the problems, its causes and possible workable solutions have to be discovered. As such, research on these dynamics is a mandatory undertaking.

Research shows the young adolescents who are exposed before 14 years of ages are more likely to develop dependence or addiction to the substance used. Another primary protective prevention method is by good and strict parenting. Parents should be able to monitor their child’s activities or influences to prevent experimentation of substances and also strong close family bonds (Ford, 2016). Support from the family members is very critical in the preventive precautions of a child. Because again one of the major factors that lead to substance about starts at home. Parents must be present throughout the childhood years to guide and orient the child.

Drug and substance abuse among children, especially teens, is substantial. According to the most recent statistics available, (http://www.nationalyouth.com) 1.1 million of our youth age 12 to 17 meet the diagnostic criteria for dependence on drugs and approximately 1 million of our American youth (http://www.drugabusestatistics.samhsa.gov/) are being treated for

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.