Drugs Amongst Teens
Amena Khatun
Bronx High School of Science / Health (Period 1)
Date: August 4, 2015
Instructor: Dr. Zach Lynn
Drugs Amongst Teens
Three decades from now, T.L.O., a student at a New Jersey High School was caught smoking in a school restroom, and was brought to the assistant principal’s office. The 14-years-old teenager denied smoking, so the assistant principal persisted in searching her purse and found cigarettes, and rolling paper which is associated with marijuana (T.L.O. vs. New Jersey). Nothing has changed since then. If you look a little closer, you can see teenagers lying around doing drugs here and there. They are no longer determined to succeed in life; instead all they can think about is where the next supply of cocaine will come from. What has our future come to? Research done by scientists and other professionals provide evidence that substance abuse by teenagers is an ever-growing problem due to teen’s poor judgement, it’s irreparable damage, and inability to compete with drug addiction.
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
According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, tobacco use in America starts during youth and young adulthood. 88% of adults who smoke tobacco said that they began smoking or using tobacco products before the age of 18. The use of tobacco products causes many deathly body affects such as lung cancer and heart diseases. Another substance that is popular among youth is the drug called marijuana. In America, over 10% of people ages twelve to seventeen smoke marijuana. Some of these users smoke almost every day. Although marijuana has started to become used for medical purposes, there are still negative side effects for people of such young ages. For example, since marijuana goes directly to the bloodstream it affects brain functions and learning abilities, coordination, as well as judgment. Despite the fact that the amount of youth using drugs is still higher than most Americans want it to be, in earlier decades it was much worse. During the 1980’s over fourteen percent of youth were using just marijuana. Those youth were also using drugs like cocaine, meth, and tobacco products. During the 1980’s, the percentage of youth in prison began to rise. A study was conducted to see how many of these children in jail used drugs before their arrests and from these tests, it was observed that over 56% of them used drugs. The reason for such a high percentage in youth is that drug dealers and drug users began to target schools. Students would be
During my extensive research, the very first statistic that grasped my attention was found on drugabuse.com. In an article entitled Popular Drugs by Demographic, the following statement was made: “Unfortunately, teenagers make up the largest group of drug users in the country.” (2016) Illegal drugs being used by young people include marijuana (including synthetic), inhalants (hairspray, markers, spray paint, etc.), and bath salts. It is also found that teens have also abused prescription medications such as: pain relievers, tranquilizers, and ADHD medications.
According to DiClemente, Santelli and Crosby (2009) “Adolescents, at risk: A Generation in Jeopardy”. A profound statement that depicts the climate that the adolescent is faced with today. Setting this aside; they went on to declare that adolescence is a period of rapid transformation which includes physiological, psychological, sociocultural and cognitive development. In addition, there are a myriad of activities occurring simultaneously that they must navigate; however, their goal is to establish a stable sense of identity. While most would successfully complete the journey; unfortunately, many of them fall prey to a number of social ills and do not achieve their true potential as productive members of the society. As a consequence, drug
Some might think that school was tough for me, maybe that I was bullied for being poor. I’d just say that no one was rich enough to be that bully. My grades were decent considering my math teacher had such a heavy Hispanic accent. Getting to the point, school really wasn’t as terrible a place as I thought it’d be. At least not if you were careful. Drug use was abundant, even I’d popped a few pills. It’s just… it’s just no one ever told me no. My dad smoked and I’ve found marijuana in my own house. I didn’t do drugs for the high like my fellow classmates. I did it to try to kill myself. I had failed twice, and both times I wasn’t allowed to have dinner for a week. My parents told me they couldn’t afford to keep pumping my stomach. I fear what
high school students than ever know how to buy alcohol, marijuana or prescription drugs within a day. (FitzGerald). Students in middle school and high school are buying drugs and alcohol being under age. They learn to buy all these things in just a day. Most of the students learn these things from their peers or elders in their home who are into the same things. Schools need to try to find and catch the students who deal drugs and try to prevent other students to fall into the same trap
Teenagers are influenced by drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products everyday, particularly at parties. A teenager who begins drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana can soon lead to abusing the products. Not only parties can take place during the dark of night, but delinquents roam the streets, also. A couple of evildoers could take a young teen right under their wing, and brainwash him or her into thinking it is okay to do drugs and drink alcohol. Soon after the teens who follow in the undesirable people’s footsteps can also lead to violence. It can risk a teen’s life and also the family’s
Students in each high school seek into trying drugs or they've already tried. Taking drugs in high school or anytime throughout your lifetime will affect the way you live,think about things, personal behaviors and the way you look. As a student you are supposed to succeed in high school, finish your homework and have a mindset about what you're doing in life but of course there are these negative object's or things that you want to try but you know that it will affect your life such as drugs. Students will try drugs with their so called “friends” and after they try a certain drug they get addicted to get that great feeling of pleasure. Getting addicted to the drug will stop you from having a great mindset and you will start having a negative
Becoming a teenager itself individually is a tremendous challenge to take on. For several years the substance of alcohol and drug usage developed into the main aspect of teengers. Commonly relationships,school, and also family issues encompass the life surrounding that are highly influenced by illegal drugs use. There is no specific stimulation of adolescent drug usage problem. Drug abuse can become a devastating inheritance overtime, it does not begin as a abuse or addiction. There are numerous pathways to the development of an teenagers illegal drugs use problem. Obsession with drugs can blow out important activities, and the conduct in which the teen views him or herself may change impracticable in inaccurate directions. Consistent patterning of drug consumption in adolescence are a warning that problems in that problem in that certain individual exist and need to be addressed accordingly in the correct manner.
Could you imagine coming home and your child not being there? Or getting a call from the police or hospital asking you to identify the body of a young child? Drugs can take a life instantly. Drugs can lead to death and in most cases people do not realize that they over dosed. Most teenagers freak out when they see someone tweaking from an overdose and they run leaving their friend to die. The only thing teens are worried about is getting caught. If it means they will get in trouble they are out the door. Drugs can cause a number of problems and losing your child is one of them.
Students who become addictive to these substances are more likely to drop out of school, as they lose interest for academic achievement. They miss classes, get poor grades and show discipline problems. According to research by Williams, Johnson, Williams T.R, Saunders, and Nebbitt (2007), “students with lower grades were five times more likely to report marijuana use” (p. 2). Once they are on drugs; they do not care about the academic opportunities. They do not aspire to graduate from school and go to college. The lose scholarship opportunities because “adolescents who drop out of school are more likely to be involved in substance use than are those who complete” (Williams et al., 2007). Also, they have difficulties with memory and concentration. Williams et al., states that “educational statistics report that 48.9% of all African American students entering ninth grade do not graduate on schedule or drop out” (2007, p. 9). Substance abuse ruins the lives of students. They take many wrong decisions and prefer the street and easy
Drugs at my old high school was something big. The school constantly did surprise inspections on random classrooms and lockers with trained dogs. When they conducted this procedure, they usually caught a couple of students. My school was considered a poor school, few were the students who didn’t face financial problems. So, many students would sell drugs in and outside of school, these students never forced you to buy they just went on to the next. This was a common practice at my high school. Luckily I don’t see this problem at UC Merced, in fact this is a tobacco-free campus that should speak for its self. If there are students who sell drugs at UC Merced they aren’t noticeable like in my old high school, but I doubt there is any. Having
The United States of America has been trying to deal with the problem of adolescent drug and alcohol abuse for a number of years. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a department of the National Institutes of Health, has made use of the Monitoring the Future Survey through the auspices of the University of Michigan’s Institute of Social Research since 1975. This survey measures high school drug use on a variety of different scales. Though a number of indices have actually trended downward since the turn of the twenty-first century (for example, lifetime marijuana use among high school seniors has declined from 49.7% in 1999 to 45.7% in 2004), there is still most certainly a problem
Although drug use among secondary school students appears to have leveled off during the late 1990s, US adolescents continue to use alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana at unacceptably high rates. Among eighth graders, 52% have tried alcohol, 41% have tried cigarettes, and 20% have tried marijuana. By 12th grade these rates are substantially higher, with large numbers of adolescents engaging in regular drug use (Ellickson, Bell, & McGuigan, 1993).
As human beings, we stay up to date with the most recent news articles and watch when statistics begin to rise. It’s great to see how many more young teens are graduating high school and college, and moving on with their lives. One of the most recent skyrocketing numbers however, is the heroin epidemic that we have going on. Is it becoming easier for kids to get their hands on the harder drugs? Are we going to being to see that after the legalization of other drugs kids want to experiment more and are now moving onto harder and more dangerous drugs? How are these young adolescent teens getting the drugs, and how are they finding out where to find them in their community? With this paper, I want people to think about what they can do to try
“I’m in love with the coco” (a song depicting a love for cocaine song by O.T. Genasis), just one of the most recent songs to have explicit usage of drugs. Referring to drug usage and sales is a popular trend in today 's hip-hop and rap lyrics. As a society where do we draw the line with censorship of this material? Not only are the lyrics being said, but the drug usage is also being portrayed in the music videos; all the way from marijuana usage to cocaine and popping pills. There 's no doubt that this type of music has a negative effect on today 's youth, but by censoring, this variety of music are we in effect censoring the culture and reality that sings it.