Drug and Alcohol addiction in Teens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Drug and Alcohol addiction in Teens - Essay Example Moreover, currently, 46 percent of the students in high schools are steady and continuous users of these substances. Furthermore, more than 90 percent of the American population, who meets the medical criteria for addiction, started using drugs and alcohol well before the age of 18 years. Therefore, the point here is that drug and alcohol use within the teenagers of the US is amongst one of the biggest health concerns for the administration of United States (Park, 2011). One of the prime reasons behind drug and alcohol use within teens is peer pressure. It is basic psychological need for children to be accepted into the social groups of their surroundings and fit-in with their friends. Furthermore, teenagers which come from troubled families, divorced parents, lower income class families and other sorts of troubled backgrounds fail to get the right amount of attention that they desire from their parents, which puts them at greater risk of going to extraordinary lengths for getting attention from their friends. Furthermore, amongst other reasons, curiosity, history of health issues, being bored, and others are some of the reasons behind teens trying drugs and alcohol (Kleiman, et al., 2011, p. 382). Over the past few years, the society and the media has been sending mixed messages to children regarding drug use. Some parents and even educational institutions have adopted this attitude that, â€Å"they are kids and they will eventually try it at least once, what’s the big deal?† The most fundamental problem with this attitude is that during the teenage and adolescent years, the cognitive parts of the brain, which are responsible for judgment, decision-making, and impulse control, are not fully developed by then. Therefore, if the teenager starts using drugs during these early years of life, the brain might not get the opportunity to understand, completely, and grasp the consequences of