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    Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

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    Autumn Nichole
    The document summarizes statistics on teen substance abuse and factors that influence it. Over 60% of high schoolers and 28% of middle schoolers attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold. Youth are less likely to use substances if they believe their parents strongly disapprove. Parental influence, peer pressure, and media portrayal of drugs can encourage or discourage abuse. However, having a positive parent-child relationship and monitoring teen activities and friends can help teens avoid substance abuse.

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    Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

    Uploaded by

    Autumn Nichole
    119 views3 pages
    The document summarizes statistics on teen substance abuse and factors that influence it. Over 60% of high schoolers and 28% of middle schoolers attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold. Youth are less likely to use substances if they believe their parents strongly disapprove. Parental influence, peer pressure, and media portrayal of drugs can encourage or discourage abuse. However, having a positive parent-child relationship and monitoring teen activities and friends can help teens avoid substance abuse.

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    The document summarizes statistics on teen substance abuse and factors that influence it. Over 60% of high schoolers and 28% of middle schoolers attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold. Youth are less likely to use substances if they believe their parents strongly disapprove. Parental influence, peer pressure, and media portrayal of drugs can encourage or discourage abuse. However, having a positive parent-child relationship and monitoring teen activities and friends can help teens avoid substance abuse.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    119 views3 pages

    Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

    Uploaded by

    Autumn Nichole
    The document summarizes statistics on teen substance abuse and factors that influence it. Over 60% of high schoolers and 28% of middle schoolers attend schools where drugs are used, kept or sold. Youth are less likely to use substances if they believe their parents strongly disapprove. Parental influence, peer pressure, and media portrayal of drugs can encourage or discourage abuse. However, having a positive parent-child relationship and monitoring teen activities and friends can help teens avoid substance abuse.

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    Keep Your Friends Close And Your Enemies Closer When it comes to teen substance abuse, it seems that

    we, as parents, are always playing catch-up. A new drug explodes onto the scene, skyrockets in popularity, and usually dies down before parents can fight it or are even aware of it. While most parents agree on the detrimental effects of substance abuse, few actually realize the prevalence of drugs among children. Three separate surveys (SAMSHA National Survey on Drug Use, CASA National Survey, and CDC) conducted in 2005 reported the following statistics: Sixty-two percent (62%) of the nations high schoolers some 10.6 million and 28% of middle schoolers (2.4 million) will go to schools where drugs are used, kept, or sold. Nationwide, 25.4% of students had been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug by someone on school property during the 12 months preceding the survey. Youths ages 12-17 who believed their parents would strongly disapprove of their using a particular substance were less likely to use that substance than were youths who believed their parents would somewhat disapprove or neither approve nor disapprove. While these statistics are shocking, what exactly can be gleaned from them? The answer is that there are many factors that encourage, or sometimes discourage substance abuse. These include parental, peer, and media influence. While many parents worry about the influence of friends and media on adolescents where drugs are concerned, research shows parents are the single biggest influence on whether teenagers will or will not use drugs. As supported by the statistic

    referenced above, the simple act of a child knowing the position a parent takes with regards to drug use, is a major influence. Conversely, when children think parents have no opinion, or even worse, see parents using drugs, it sometimes gives them a mental green-light that substance abuse is acceptable. The next major factor that contributes to adolescent substance abuse is peer influence. Teenagers have various peer relationships, and they interact with many peer groups. Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, to fit in, or because they worry that other kids may make fun of them if they don't go along with the group. Others may go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing. The idea that "everyone's doing it" may influence some kids to abandon good judgment or common sense. While parents can't protect their children from experiencing peer pressure, there are steps they can take to minimize its effects. Another major influence that can contribute to adolescent substance abuse is the portrayal of drugs in the media. Today, unlike ever before, the reach of the media (t.v., movies, and internet) is ubiquitous in our childrens lives. The images of substance abuse teens witness in songs, movies, videogames, and celebrities can have a huge influence on the decision to do the right or give in to a detrimental behavior. There is no guarantee that a teen will use a dangerous substance just because of exposure, but research does suggest it increases the chances. While there are many factors to contend with concerning adolescents and substance abuse, it is important to realize that there are a great many things parents can do to help a teen avoid substance abuse. Have a positive relationship with your teen. When parent-teen interactions are characterized by warmth, kindness, consistency,

    respect, and love, the relationship will flourish, as will the teen's self-esteem and social skills. Become genuinely interested in your teen's activities. Parents, who together, with children, set firm boundaries and high expectations, may find that the children's abilities live up to expectations. Finally, get to know your teens friends. Learn their names, invite them into your home so you can talk and listen to them, and introduce yourself to their parents. This allows parents to know their teen's friends and to monitor behavior, which is crucial in keeping teens out of trouble. It is truly a fight for parents to counter the enemy of substance abuse. The key is educating ones self as much as possible. As the Chinese general Sun-tzu said, Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.(400B.C.)

    References

    Committee on Substance Abuse, American Academy of Pediatrics (2001). Alcohol use and abuse: A pediatric concern. Pediatrics, 108(1): 185189. SADD Statistics. (2007, February 8). Welcome to SADD. Retrieved August 22, 2010, from http://www.sadd.org/stats.htm#druguse

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