Summary: What Ever Happened To Cool Kids

A few of the many reasons why people begin to take drugs is because of sensation-seeking, social conformity, or the fact that they are just curious. Substance abuse has been a common concern among specifically, the younger population. Adolescents and young adults are more easily influenced by society and other factors because their brains are not fully developed yet. Science explains, “By 18–20 years old, most of the subcortical white matter and association pathways have reached a plateau. Risk-taking behavior and novelty-seeking may provide, with an appropriate feedback, a mechanism to optimize brain development in adolescence” (Adolescent Brain Development, Risk-taking and Vulnerability to Addiction). By the early twenties, people will begin to realize the consequences that follow while engaging in risky behavior and will less likely do it.

Stress and weight control among teens are some other reasons why they use drugs, smoke cigarettes, or drink alcohol (Teen Detox, 1). “Younger Children, at eight-grade level and below, are at a greater risk, because their personalities haven’t developed well enough, and the aren’t mature enough to know how to handle altered states of consciousness. As with any drug, the younger the age of first use, the higher the risk” (Dr. Larry Chait, Teen Addiction, 64).

Brain chemistry can affect different addicts more then others. Drugs and alcohol are more of the main addictions that brain chemistry affects. Once taking these addictive substances your internal natural drug dopamine is lowers causing you to seek more external addictive substances. This causes craving and makes it a lot harder for the addict to stop. In Olds and Milner’s later experiments, they allowed the rats to press a particular lever to arouse themselves, to the effect that they would press it as much as seven-hundred times per hour. This region soon came to be known as the "pleasure center". Using drugs and alcohol stimulates the pleasure center in the brain that makes your brain think, “feels good- want more“. This can make it increasingly harder for an addict to stop using, until they hit a point called “rock bottom”. This is where choice comes back into play.

To understand addiction further, it is important to look at how drugs have neurological effects in a human body. Drugs can be ingested in various ways; while some are taken orally, some are smoked (cannabis) while others are injected directly into the blood stream (Heroin). Once in the body, they mainly affect the reward pathway in the brain, known as the dopaminergic pathway, which in turn gives pleasure. Even though all drugs affect the reward and motivation pathways in the brain, their speed depends on the way the drug has been consumed. Over constant use of drugs, the cognitive functions are impaired as the effects become more prominent in learning, memory

Today’s teenagers are more prone to drug abuse because they see it as a way of rebellion. Author Tiana Rosenberg stated on 2012 that more and more teens are smoking each year because it is considered cool. It’s a form of teenage rebellion, the carelessness and disobeying adults. Teens think they are invincible and overweigh the pleasures of doing drugs over the risks. Part of the brain dealing with making decisions are still developing (Moore

Opioid pills flood the body with chemicals to give the user pleasure and pain relief (Triffin). To many, these drugs seem safer than other drugs. However, this is far from the truth. Right now, the opioid epidemic is the fastest growing drug problem (Volk). Teens’ young age makes them especially vulnerable to addiction. John F. Kelly, Ph.D, associate professor of psychiatry in addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School explains, “The brain is in a critical and vulnerable period of growth during adolescence.” Kelly added that “early exposure to drug misuse increases your risk of addiction by 5 to 10 times, independent of other factors” (Triffin). Simultaneously, studies show that when rewarded, teens’ brains have a strong reaction. This, combined with the impulsive nature of the teen brain means that teens are attracted to thrills. These weaknesses are manipulated by drugs, as observed in animal research. Young rats tend to work harder than adult rats to get drugs, which implies that the teen brain is more attracted to drugs. The thrill of taking a drug is pleasing to teens (Teen Brain Vulnerability Exposed). In fact, When someone takes a painkiller,

In his research Jay Macleod, compares two groups of teenage boys, the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. Both groups of teenagers live in a low income neighborhood in Clarendon Heights, but they are complete opposites of each other. The Hallway Hangers, composed of eight teenagers spend most of their time in the late afternoon or early evening hanging out in doorway number 13 until very late at night. The Brothers are a group of seven teenagers that have no aspirations to just hang out and cause problems, the Brothers enjoy active pastimes such as playing basketball. The Hallway Hangers all smoke, drink, and use drugs. Stereotyped as “hoodlums,” “punks,” or “burnouts” by outsiders, the Hallway Hangers are actually a varied group, and much

According to Getting Stupid the reason why so many adolescent kids binge drink is because when they are drunk, dopamine is released in the prefrontal cortex, which gives you a feeling of pleasure. Teens want this pleasure to reoccur, so they drink again. After a long period of usage a tolerance is built and more alcohol is needed to receive the same pleasure, which leads to binge drinking (Wuethrich, p.62).

Teens are more likely to be addicted to something because of heavy peer pressure, pain such as depression, or the

Addiction is formed by an initial choice fueled by external beguiling factors. From the time we are born, we know absolutely nothing, our minds are a blank slate. In fact, according to Jean Piaget’s cognitive stages of development, the mind does not begin to think abstractly from concrete ideas or reason until the final stage (formal operational), which lasts all the from age twelve and on. Because of this, we can deduce that at any age in our development, we are susceptible to external factors influencing our behavior. With that being said, a person’s decision to participate in the use of any substance is influenced by much more than their knowledge that it is “wrong”. Peer pressure, stress, curiosity or even medical practices can ignite the choice to abuse substances. The majority of addictions that begin in the pre-teen and teenage years stem from their exposure to drugs and alcohol in the media, many even claim that

Your brain has fully developed and you are emerging as a teen into a world of pressures. There are many addictions and disorders that begin at this stage in life. There are addictions to cocaine, pot, and alcohol. The main disorder that is discussed in the video is schizophrenia. Looking back to the pressure of teens to use psychoactive drugs such as cocaine , amphetamines , and even caffeine , it is seen that they are easily abused and have negative effects on the brain. The film taught us about a group of teens that had experimented with different substances and have become addicted to them. As many of the teens explained their addiction had taken over their lives, and they didn't want to do it anymore but because they had been doing it so long they were unable to function without it. I personally can't relate to this strong of an addiction, I have gone through phases in life where I really want something but never to the point of not being able to function. There are people that I personally know that are caffeine addicts where their days don't start until they have had there cup or two of coffee from Starbucks. What many people may not realize is that when you start taking a drug you get an immediate high, but after a

This response will create a sense of curiosity and may convince the person to try drugs themselves. Many teenagers today believe that their first use of drugs is safe. However even though there is no instant addiction with the first try, youngsters tend to experiment further. Soon a person could actively seek the euphoric effects of drugs. The final and the most disastrous stage is when a person needs drugs in order to function adequately. Therefore availability, curiosity and experimentation could result in drug addiction among teenagers.

These children will often act out through pseudomature behaviors in order to fit in. In the article, “cool at 13, adrift at 23,” the author Jan Hoffman writes about three pseudomature behaviors in which most cool kids participate, in order to fit in and how they can affect these children later on in life. According to Hoffman the three characteristics of pseudomature behavior displayed by the “cool kids” that often predict troubles in the future were that they sought out physically attractive friends, had numerous romantic experiences and committed crime and wrongdoing. While most children may participate in some of these behaviors at some point in their lives most will stop after they become more mature. However, most of the popular kids will never reach this maturity and will continue acting out in order to be popular throughout their adult lives, in order to preserve their feelings of

For Erikson (1950) adolescence is a period during which individuals seek to avoid dangers of role diffusion and identity confusion by establishing a sense of personal identity. Individuals have to find answers for two major questions “who am I?” and “what is my place in society?” Identity is a “conscious sense of individual uniqueness” and an “unconscious striving for a continuity of experience” (Erikson, 1968, p. 208).

Have you ever witnessed a teenager taking a risk? Adolescents are taking more risks than ever, such as drinking, vaping, texting while driving, having unprotected sex, and participating in extreme sports. Research suggests that there are, in fact, specific reasons why teens take risks. Three important effects of the drive to take risks in young people include dopamine, peer pressure, and a parents influence on their children.