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¶ … Teens Abuse Drugs
Peer pressure is not simply a phase teens go through. "It can be a negative force in the lives of children and adolescents, often resulting in their experimentation with tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs." (Preparing Youth for Peer Pressure) This report was written to advocate my thesis: Teens abuse drugs because of peer pressure. Peer pressure for this report should be defined as the influence of peers or friends.
Drugs are a serious problem for teens today. "In 1997, one in 10 12- to 17-year-olds reported using marijuana or hashish in the prior month. One in 20 reported having used some other illicit drug, including cocaine, crack, heroin or LSD. By the time our teens become seniors in high school, half will have tried an illegal drug." (Horn) The average age of illegal drug initiation continues to decline and the time between initiation and onset is also narrowing. Statistics show that if a teen makes it to age twenty one without having tried drugs, that individual most likely will never try illegal drugs. The problem is that peer pressure influences more to try drugs than it does to not try drugs.
Our twenty-first century teens therefore, have all new issues to contend with that previous generations...
For example, the drug dealers are now prominently placed in the white suburban neighborhoods of America and they are regularly serving up heroin, meth, Ecstasy, cocaine & crack, pot and LSD. And if the local teens find that the dealer's prices are to high then the kids can cop some cheap beer and combine a simple huff high with a can of whipped cream or airplane glue.
But those stimuli are rarely acted out unless there is some concurrence from the teen's friends or peers. "Teens get involved with illegal drugs in a number of ways, but the biggest risk factors for adolescent substance abuse include running around in a peer group that drinks and does drugs, depression, older siblings who model and encourage alcohol and drug use, academic failure, poor parental monitoring and permissive parental attitudes about adolescents' use of illicit drugs." (Horn)
Far too often parents, teachers and even the teens themselves do not comprehend the true impact of peer pressure in regard to drug abuse. That is because the word 'pressure' in this context is a bit misleading. It is rare for a friend to actually use direct pressure to compel an individual to do something. It is not like a gun is pointed at the head of the teen. Peer pressure is actually much more subtle.
Everyone in 'teen town' can be associated with one group or admonished for being in the wrong group. These groups exert peer pressure on both the members as well as the non-members. We know the smart teens called nerds, braincases, or the glee club. We also know the alienated teens known as the grits, metal heads, or burnouts. These pressure alliances and all of the…
Works Cited
Helping Your Teen Deal With Peer Pressure. Ed. PageWise. PageWise. 6 May 2004 http://ca.essortment.com/teenspeerspres_rkde.htm.
Horn, Wade F. "Drug Conversation an Eye-Opener for Dad." The Washington Times [Washington] December 15, 1998.
Morgan, H. Wayne. Drugs in America: A Social History, 1800-1980. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1981.
Preparing Youth for Peer Pressure. Ed. PRIMEDIA Company. PRIMEDIA Company. 6 May 2004 http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/peerpressure/?terms=positive+youth.
Today's Teen Problem. Ed. Troubled Teen Options. 2003. Troubled Teen Options. 6 May 2004 http://www.informaticaparatodos.com/girl_boarding_school.htm.
Peer Pressure define peer pressure describe how it can be positive or negative describe how negative consequences most important because of the problems describe what will be covered: causes, impact, solutions Causes of Peer Pressure normal part of growing up psychology of adolescence Impact of Peer Pressure describe it as a positive force deviance ( alcohol, drugs, crime, antisocial behavior) pressure is there but only impacts a few and then contributes, rather than causes Emotional Impact of
The findings of this study support the view that the effects of peer pressure are related to earlier processes in childhood. This has led to the recognized research imperative to "...include longitudinal data from both peer and family contexts in studies of trajectories leading to adolescent problem behaviors" (p.45). In other words, the study points to the importance of a more holistic approach to understanding the motivational impetus and
Other factors included family problems and family substance abuse. Two common aspects occurred in all three blocks: first, interaction between the individual and the collective perspective; and second, the relationship between the subject's interior (e.g., individual, family) and exterior (e.g., environment and peer pressure) facets (Alvarez, et all 2006)." One of the interviews revealed a combination of peer pressure and family problems as the catalyst for her drug debut. Female, 16 years
& Naugle, A. (2008). Intimate partner violence theoretical considerations: Moving towards a contextual framework. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(7), 1096-1107. Eckhardt, C.; Jamison, T.R. & Watts, K. (2002). Anger Experience and Expression Among Male Dating Violence Perpetrators During Anger Arousal. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17(10), 1102-1114. Eckhardt, C.; Samper, R. & Murphy, C. (2008). Anger disturbances among perpetrators of intimate partner violence: Clinical characteristics and outcomes of court-mandated treatment. Journal of Interpersonal
Accordingly, family-based prevention programs for youth have been developed, which significantly delay initiation of alcohol use by improving parenting skills and family bonding. During adolescence, peers play a large part in a young person's life and typically replace family as the center of a teen's social and leisure activities. But teenagers have various peer relationships, and they interact with many peer groups. Often "peer cultures" have very different values and
In conclusion, regardless of what the adolescent says about being fine or being self involved, parents need to be there to help them deal with the problems that come from puberty. They can also advice their children on issues they are facing and share their own experience as everyone has gone through puberty. They should also not ban the talk of sex as a lot of parents see it as