Keeping teenagers drug free seems like an insurmountable task. With the various pressures that teenagers face and the peer pressure that every parent understands their teen goes through, drugs id one of the scariest five letter words in the English language.
Teenagers who drink are three times more likely to experiment and turn to the chronic use of drugs than teenagers who don’t drink. Teenagers whose parents use any type of recreational drug are 80% more likely to use drugs, and teens who smoke are 45% more likely to use drugs as a coping mechanism than teens that don’t. Teenagers are likely to try drugs for a variety of reasons including, peer pressure, curiosity, rebellion, and a desire to feel grown up. The leading cause of teenage drug experimentation is curiosity. The leading cause of teenage drug use is depression.
So as we as a society are trying to teach young men and women how to grow up into responsible young people and take over the world, how do we keep them from caving into their curiosity and trying drugs? In confidential polls, over 85% of teens ranging between the ages of 13 and 18 have tried at least one recreational drug or used someone else’s prescription medication to get high at least one time. Only 13% admitted to using drugs in any form continuously. These numbers show that kids are willing to try mind altering experiences, but that most are not interested in making it a lifestyle. While it only takes one time for a devastating health effect to take place, it is still encouraging that the statistics show a much lower chronic use problem.
Kids often confess that they want to try it because it is so forbidden. A group of fourteen students from various ethnic, cultural, religious, and economic backgrounds were gathered to talk openly about their attempts at drug use. Most said they didn’t like it, but they wanted to try it because people make such a big deal about it. Does this mean we should stop educating our kids about the dangers of drug use? No, from their own mouths kids will admit that parents, coaches and teachers are still their biggest influential role models when it comes to drug use. Most kids confess that their parents don’t talk to them often enough about how they feel about drugs.
Keeping teenagers drug free is the responsibility of every adult. Parents, in particular, need to talk about how they feel about drug use, what their fears are and how devastated they would be if their kids turned to drugs instead of them to help sort out their problems. Parents need to be able to express to kids from an early age why drugs are so dangerous, and that it only takes once to end their life. Pot, speed, and other illegal substances are not the only drugs kids are getting their hands on. Huffing has increased, as teenagers don’t view this as taking drugs. Taking two or three of another teenager’s antidepressant is not uncommon either, as it does make an experimenter high, usually for longer than street drugs.
Thus, when parents do speak to their kids about drugs, they need to be inclusive about all forms of mind altering substances and the importance of keeping these ideas from becoming a teenager’s reality. In many ways, these substances are much more dangerous than street drugs, as society in general does not give these substances nearly as much attention as we do street drugs. Kids are able to justify in their own teenage reasoning that they are not doing drugs, and that they have found a “safer” alternative.
Bored children tend to get into more trouble. Children who have no interests, hobbies, sports, or social activities and interest in the world are much more prone to being comfortable with the notion of sitting around high and altered than kids who have made commitments to the swim team or the 4-H club or any other activity that keeps them occupied and gives them goals. Kids who are completely unsupervised after school are also more likely to dabble in drug use or substance abuse.
Keeping teenagers drug free is an effort that every adult in society needs to take responsibility for. Providing teenagers with the right attitude starts in the home. Maintaining a good attitude takes the constant reminder from role models that drugs and mind altering substances are plain and simply, not cool.