Although not a disease, we thought it important to talk about this subject, since is is so prevalent in our society. The use of drugs has increased over all in our society, but the prevalence among teenagers is alarming. The teenagers have no need to indulge in these activities, yet they somehow end up being a part of this act and often get addicted to drugs at a very young age. The most common reasons why teenagers use drugs include:
-
Peer Pressure
One of the most common reasons why teenagers firstly try and then get hooked to drugs is due to peer pressure. The constant pressure from their friends, seniors, and other people of their age often leads many teenagers to try drugs just so that they can feel included. Many times bullies involve younger teenagers at schools to try out drugs as a challenge. Out of the fear of being left out and ridiculed, teenagers try drugs out. And this develops into a continuous habit in many cases.
-
Seeing Others
Teenagers often see other adults trying out a drug which gives them a feeling of thrill or excitement and they want to try it on their own. Many times, this is done out of curiosity as well. If parents openly smoke, drink alcohol, or abuse other drugs in front of their children, the children eventually follow the footsteps as observed in many research studies as well. The influence of the social circle and neighborhood that the teenagers are a part of also plays a very important role.
-
To End Boredom or To Express Rebellion
Many teenagers adopt drugs as a sign of rebellion against their lifestyle, family life, social norms, or environment in general. Being considered a taboo, drugs are prohibited in such a young age. As they say that “forbidden fruit is the sweetest”, hence, teenagers often try drugs to stand against the general norms. In some cases, teenage try drugs out of boredom or just for the sake of trying. This turns into drug abuse in most of the cases.
-
Repetitive Promotion in Media
Drugs are portrayed as attractive substances and often deemed to be cool in various media channels, especially music. Many Rap songs are actually promoting the use of drugs, and this is establishing a drug culture in a way. Young minds, without understanding the consequences and only blinded by the pseudo attractions, end up using drugs.
-
To Boost Self-Esteem
As we just mentioned, drugs are often perceived to be ‘cool’ by many teenagers. The ones who have low self esteem or do not have much confidence, they use drugs to feel good and improve their perception about themselves. This also gives them an excuse or safe way out in case they do something to embarrass themselves.
There are many more reasons that add up to the list. Many of them can be addressed through better research and proper educative awareness programs, especially in school.