What can you say about Teenage Addictions.
Question
I used to be a teenager back in the days, I hangout with friends and they smoked weed and drank. I later was found myself doing this without my parents knowing.
So my question is how many parents know that their teenagers are not into one addiction or the other?
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2022-11-04T09:55:14+00:00
2022-11-04T09:55:14+00:00 2 Answers
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Answers ( 2 )
Teenagers and Addiction.
The Oxford dictionary meaning of Addiction is the fact or condition of being addicted with a particular substance or activity. With the above mentioned definition we will now understand who is an addicted teenager. let’s look at who is a teenager? A teenager is young girl or boy between the ages of 13-20 years of age before transitioning to an adult . It has been researched that this age range has the highest statistics of addictions. So why is this increasing by the day and what can be done about it? Our teenagers cannot continue live as addicts neither can we continue to watch them turn into addicts, that is why this article is here to educate you the as a parent or guardian. We will be looking at in particular drug abuse , but let’s also be reminded that this article is not limited to that subject alone. This subject of addiction has become a topic of debate around the world today. Therefore for the purpose of this article we will look at types of drugs, reason why teenagers engage in drug abuse and also proffer solutions and preventive measures that can be adopted. So let’s start with types of drugs it will be important to note that we have legal and illegal drugs. Let’s look at their definitions.
a. Legal drugs are drugs that have been approved to be lawfully used and can be prescribed over the counter they can be found in pharmacy shops, clinics and hospitals. Examples are: Alcohol, Nicotine and Caffeine, Anabolic steroids the list not limited to the above.
b. Illegal drugs are drugs that are not approved and their use is unlawful. You don’t find such drugs over the counter. Examples of illegal drugs are Cocaine, Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, Marijuana, Khat, etc. So why are our teenagers engaging themselves in such illicit abuse of drugs? Can anything be done to curb these situation? That is why you need to keep reading this article don’t skip any of the details mentioned.
Some of The Reasons Teenagers indulge in Drug Abuse
This drug abuse has led to uncontrollable addictions which has resulted in mental disorders, emotional stress and even untimely death of these some of this teenagers. You might have asked yourself what is behind the reason of making them addicts? Let me enlighten you on not all but of the key reasons.
1. Every Teenager is at the stage where they want to explore everything, be it good or bad. These stage is when they are curious about many things. So the company of friends they keep will either influence them by mounting pressure on them which in turn will make them want to get approval or have a sense of belonging.
2. These teenagers get hooked on drugs to escape reality temporarily which is driven by depression, and a depressed teenager will look for what will make him/her feel happy or feed their desires in that moment. Thereby making it a repeated action which will lead to addiction.
3. Low-Self esteem. These also is one of the reasons teenagers indulge in drug abuse, when they feel less of themselves, classmate always making fun of them and also having Identity crisis. These makes teenagers to become an addict.
4. Sexually abused teenagers. These amongst the few mentioned is predominant with the female gender as a result of these traumatic experiences they opt to drug, sex and pornographic addiction.
The list is endless, but with these reasons we now know why these teenagers become addicted either to drugs or some particular activities.
Preventive Measures and Solutions
Now what are the preventive measures or solutions we can proffer? You might need to write this down in your diary if you have one.
1. As a parent or guardian you need to draw this youths closer, become their friend allow them to trust you with everything with you. At every point in time know what’s going on in their daily lives at school, work etc. Become their counsellor where they can be confident to run to for advice, not being scolded.
2. Evaluate their friends try to know who their friends are even down to their various homes . You can also teach them on the Importance of choosing friends that are serious with their studies and are also visionaries.
3. As a parent or guardian you must learn to always commend your teenagers either on their performance in school, when they handling chores at home or even dressing to go for a birthday party. These will boost their self esteem and confidence and give them an identity.
4. Attend therapy sessions with the teenager if he/she is already an addict. These will help to bring healing gradually on the long run to the teenager.
5. Take them to a rehabilitation center, where they can receive intensive care from professionals to cure or get healed from such addictions.
6. Finally always remember to pray for them, because prayer can go a long way to revive an addicted teenager back to living a normal life.
Conclusion
These I believe will help you as a parent , intending parent and guardian. Always be in touch with your teenagers so they too can live a fulfilled life when they become adults.
Article by David Akamagwuna.
Hmm indeed there are lots of kids that into addictions without the knowledge of their parents which is just so sad..
However I believe it has to do with the upbringing of a child considering the fact that there are a lot of other children who got mixed up with bad friends but were principled enough not to get involved. A part of them would not just let them do it.
So as much as parents should try not to get over protective of their children, the should give them enough attention and love, create time to teach them the the things that matter right from a very tender age and they’ll hardly go the wrong way, even if they do while growing up? They’ll find their way right back on track, for those who are religious, with God’s help, provided they teach their children wrong from right.