Drugs and Alcoholism: Why are Teenagers Involved?

Adolescence is much like a midpoint in one's life; when a person is neither a kid nor an adult. At this period, teens have passed the age when they were called kids but are not yet qualified to be adults. Teenagers want to think like adults, behave like adults and also start to view themselves as independent beings in decision making. All these hormonal changes also come with the negativity of maturity such as drugs and alcohol. The statistics below show that the percentage of teenagers using drugs and alcohol in the last decade has increased. Why is this? The answer is that teenagers are under pressure by their peers, mass media and also the influence of parents.

8th-Graders 10th-Graders 12th-Graders

Marijuana 22.2% 40.9% 49.7%

Cocaine 4.7 7.7 9.8

Inhalants 15.4 17.0 19.7

LSD 4.1 8.5 12.2

Heroin 2.0 2.3 2.3

Alcohol 52.1 70.6 80.0

Cigarettes 44.1 57.6 64.6

Peer pressure plays a major role in the harmful behavior of teens.

English: Blotter

Possible physical effects of lysergic acid diethyl...

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Teens who want to fit in among their friends are most especially prone to this. They try to make friends and they get friends as much as possible. Of these friends there are the good ones who give them the knowledge and information you want need or inquire and there are the ones who give them information about not too good things like drug, alcohol, parties, e.t.c. This influential communication between a teen and his/her peer may be direct or indirect. Direct, such as conversations with their friends or indirect, such as listening to classmates discussing of a party which occurred a night before. Then they begin to mention alcohol, drugs and violence obviously from what have experienced they talk about it in a way possible. Then you would like to see how good it is the next weekend...