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The Question Of Teens And Drug Abuse NeedsOur Adamant Attention
Drug abuse among teens has reached tragic levels. It Doesn’t matter how vigilant you are, your teens are going to be introduced to drugs at school, the very place you believe to be a safe environment. Mrs. Reagan’s ‘Just say no to drugs’ campaign was a complete failure. The truth is that teenagers view adults as old fuddy-duddies that don’t know their head from a hole in the ground. Parents, try as they may, face an uphill battle in protecting their kids from the devastating effects of drugs.
The battle is made tougher by the fact that most of us have prescription drugs in our bedroom drawers. When confronting the issue of teens and drugs, you have to give them a sound argument that differentiates between necessary prescriptions and street drugs. This isn’t easy. Some common prescription medicines are being sold at school as a way to get high. Kids don’t realize that these medications are issued in duplicate or triplicate, as a way to control the use of specific narcotics. Without having experienced a real need for such drugs themselves, they could well come to the conclusion that their parents are experiencing and liking some high that they are somehow being denied.
Another problem with teaching children about the issue of teen drug use is that this society does not differentiate between drugs. Some pharmaceutical drugs have a place, but when it comes to teens and drugs, we say that every drug is bad. This is patently false. Some children need specific drugs for actual problems. Used improperly, that medicine can child who doesn’t need it. Sometimes, that medication can have disastrous consequences when taken as a ‘recreational’ drug.
Children are not able to make those distinctions. For example, a patient with unbearable pain because of arthritis or cancer, could be prescribed codeine or another opiate to manage the pain. Children don’t comprehend that this patient doesn’t get high. That pain killer only eases the pain. However, in the world of teens and drugs, this potentially dangerous drug becomes an opportunity tocatch a buzz. They don’t realize the difference.
One huge deception that encourages teen drug use is the fable of weed. This street drug is posited as the first step to drug addiction, thrown in the same bag as lsd and ice. The same hour that middle school child tries marijuana, the kid sees that even though it gets them high and they like it, they can keep this new habit from their parents and it doesn’t make them crazy. They conclude that the rest of the warnings about kids and drugs are deceptions. That’s the reason why they fall into the trap of the invidiously dangerous drugs.
As a nation, we need to educate our children. Teach them the effects of drugs. Lsd, crack, heroin and drugs like ‘ecstasy’ can destroy their lives or kill them. Be honest. We can protect our kids.Addiction is a terrible problem in our society today but with the “proper” education we can lead our Teens away from the truth and consequences of addictions and drug abuse.
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