Drug and alcohol abuse among young children

Outline

Introduction
Availability of the drugs

Peer pressure/social environment

Lack of communication
Lack of supervision
Media exposure

Emotional relaxing and relief of stress
Natural enjoyment

A feeling of grown up
Some of the effects of drug abuse
Conclusion

Drug and alcohol abuse among young children

Introduction

Even though the dangers of excessive consumption of alcohol and drug abuse are well known, many youths are still involved in drug and alcohol abuse. Drug and alcohol abuse is using these substances beyond the stipulated required levels. Many reasons accounts for this continued drugs and alcohol abuse among young people. These include desire to feel as grown up, improve self-esteem, fit into social environment/ peer group presure, manage emotional problems and for natural enjoyment brought by narcotic effects, media exposure, lack of supervisor, lack of communication, availability of drugs among many other reasons. Therefore, drug and alcohol abuse is one of the serious problems facing young people.

Availability of the drugs

The easily availability of these drugs and alcohol has contributed to many young people abusing drugs. Drugs such as cigarettes, prescriptions medicines are easily available to young people in pharmacies and other drug stores. Others drugs such as methamphetamine, psychoactive and hallucinogens are easily available in pharm parties and homes. Many youths have learned the possibility of achieving highs through use of some legal drugs hence increasing the use of the drugs. Retailers and distributors also sell these drugs to minors hence increasing their abuse.

Peer pressure/social environment

Many young people abuse drugs and substances as a result of peer pressure. The companies that many young people join influence them to use these drugs in order for them to be accommodate in their social groupings.

Lack of communication

Lack of effective communication the dangers of drug abuse is also contributing to the increased in alcohol abuse among young people. If parents of guardians inform their children on the effects of these drugs, they can help in reducing their use among teenagers.

Lack of supervision

Young people who are not supervised have a high propensity of abusing drugs and alcohol. A good example is where a teenager is left on his/her own for a long period. Such teenager may resort to drug abuse if there is no person to counsel and advice him/her on the dangers of drug abuse.

Media exposure

This is one of the causes of drug abuse among many teenagers. Television and movies sometimes air contents that are not recommended for young people. For instance, ads that are aired on the television suggesting that using certain kinds of alcohol makes a person strong and relaxed may lead young people to engage in drug abuse.

Emotional relaxing and relief of stress

Many youths engage in drug abuse to achieve emotional relief because of the problems that they face. One example of a problem that my lead a teenager to abuse drugs is because of loss of hope in life. A teenager who has been looking for a job for many years without getting one may loss hope and end up abusing drugs as a way of absorbing his/her disillusionment in life.

Natural enjoyment

Young people abuse drugs in pursuit of enjoyment of life. They believe that they can get peace of mind by using drugs and substances.

A feeling of grown up

Many young people below the constitutional recommended age of using alcohol engage in their abuse because they want to have a feeling that they are grown up. The motivation or the driving force is to experience the privileges that adults enjoy.

Some of the effects of drug abuse

Many young people who engage in drug and alcohol abuse face many problems. These include, diseases, academic failure, and even are frequently involved in violence. Example of disease that results from drug and alcohol abuse includes kidney and pancreatic diseases.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is apparent that many young people are engaged in the abuse because of many reasons ranging from, peer pressure, media exposure, and emotional relief among many reasons. These causes have contributed negatively to the lives of the young people, with many engaging in obscene acts such as violence, while others succumb to diseases. Therefore, there is need for urgent measures to ensure that the root causes of drug and alcohol abuse are well managed to avoid its consequences.