my paper

 Negative Results of Adolescents Behavior

Adolescents can be affected from the society around them because human systems are learned.  Perhaps most people know the phrase, “sooner or later, everyone stops abusing drugs.” This is both funny and sad because it says that people will stop abusing either by themselves or by continuing until they die. Researchers know how hard it is to stop using drugs, so why do people become addicted to drugs? Is it because of outside influences? Is it because of insecurities? Researchers say that a lot of drugs users agree that they want to stop. People know that using drugs is one of the greatest risks to the human body, and it is the main cause for several major health problems. In fact, the news tells that there are a lot of people who are dying because of drugs and more people who are suffering from serious health problems because of using drugs. Huge number of teenagers have lost their behaviors and started acting illegally because of some society affectations.

The effects of drugs on teenager’s behavior

In fact, there are many things that affect adolescent behavior, but drugs are one of the most important roles in that.” The brain goes through rapid development and "wiring" changes during the ages of 12 to 21. Teenage alcohol use can damage this development that is essential to brain growth” (Califano, 2007). So, the improvement of their minds will get worse and will not improve if they continue using alcohol “The prefrontal area is responsible for thinking, planning, good judgment, decision-making, and impulse control.  Damage from alcohol during teen years can be long-term and irreversible” (Califano, 2007). 

Drug Abuse

 Drug abuse among adolescents is one of the biggest issues in the world. The etiology of substance abuse has become bigger, and according to Dryfoos(1990) “almost 5 million (17%) of the nation’s 28 million 10-17-year-olds smoke, 9 million (32%) drink fairly often, about 3 million (11%) use marijuana, and more than 800,000 (3%) have already tried cocaine. Of these youth-at-risk, many already established smokers and heavy drinkers: almost a million smoke regularly and 2 million drink frequently and in large amounts. These estimates are not additive, since much of substance use involves multiple substances” (Dryfoos, 1990, p.57).

People do not want to see adolescents with mental or physical problems or see their death from using drugs. According to Dryfoos( 1990) “among 11-to 17-year olds, 28 percent of serious delinquents reported mental health problems”(99). Parents should be a tough watcher for their children’s behavior because when child take a drug, he/she will feel high and that is why they take it”… the family will reduces the chance that the child will leave the family for more risky living environments” (Sobsey, 1994, 357). According to Better Health (2012), a lot of teenagers use drugs to change their feelings because they want to feel better or different. There are more problems when teenagers use drugs frequently” … frequent users of legal substances may fall into a high-risk category” ( Dryfoos, 1990, 49)

Violent Behavior

Fighting 

Violence is not a natural behavior but adolescents learn violence from several things such as fighting in the street, their family and these examples start to influence their behavior. Adolescents are going to be adults, and some of them misunderstand the responsibility of being an adult. They think that in order to be an adult, you have to be strong, and to be strong is to be violent; the following are some factors which increase the risk of violent behavior in adolescents:

• Being the victim of physical abuse and/or sexual abuse,

• Exposure to violence in the home and/or community,

• Use drugs and/or alcohol, and

• Combination of stressful family socioeconomic factors (poverty, sever deprivation marital breakup, single parenting, unemployment, loss of support from extended family. (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2001).

Fighting is everywhere in our society; some fight by their hands; some fight by using a knife. The most dangerous one is using a weapon. Scientists made their survey findings to see what percentage of their subjects had adolescent violent behavior. They found, “48 percent had been in a serious fight at least once, 14 percent had held a weapon against someone at least once, seven percent had cut someone with a knife at least once, and six percent had shot someone at least once.” (Dryfoos, 1990, 124). Based on this huge percentage, many teenagers believe that fighting is the only acceptable solution.  

Crimes

The numbers of crimes are huge, and most of the homicides are done by adolescents.

 “Violent crimes are committed by teens every year (Teen help, 2012):

• In 2000, about 1,561 youth under the age of 18 were arrested for homicide,

• In 2000, nine percent of the murders in the United States were committed by persons under the age of 18, and

• One in ten teens arrested has been engaging in a violent activity that could have resulted in the serious injury or the death of another person” 

These crimes affect the economy of the country and cost the government a lot of money, According to Teen help (2012), “Total direct and indirect costs of teen violence are more than $158 billion per year”. The first years of the teen’s life are tough and hard to control because there will be pressure from different things such as friends and family. So, educating teenagers from their tough years until they become an adult will reduce a lot of things such as crimes and violence. Teenagers who use drugs could have an accident and kill someone one because of their drug use.

Treatment solutions:

• Medications

In fact, medications are one of the important solutions for both drug abuse and violence. Some teenagers will be depressed because of the excessive use of drugs. “Although psychiatric medications don't cure mental illness, they can often significantly improve symptoms, whether you have depression, schizophrenia, an anxiety disorder or another condition. In fact, psychiatric medications can help to make other treatments such as psychotherapy; more effective” (Mayo clinic staff, 2011). Therefore, medications can be used to help cure something that results from drug abuse.

• Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy can be a good solution to drug abuse. In addition, there are a lot of specific kinds of psychotherapy which are cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, dialectical behavior and acceptance/commitment. “Psychotherapy is a general term for the process of treating mental illness … Psychotherapy can take place one on one, in a group or along with family members”(Mayo clinic staff, 2011). Since, drug abuse can cause mental illnesses; psychotherapy can help treat that drug abuse. Therefore, psychotherapy provides a solution to drug abuse.

• Support groups 

Support groups offer another solution to violent behavior drug abuse. There is a chance for teenagers who are addicted to drugs to meet with people who have similar struggles. Sometimes they can meet on a regular periods. So that they can discuss their problems in order to find solutions. Many groups use programs to overcome addiction. According to the Mayo Clinic (2011), “the message is that addiction is a chronic disorder with a danger of relapse and that ongoing maintenance treatment … is necessary to prevent a relapse”. Therefore, support groups provide an ongoing solution to the problem of drug abuse.

Summary of the Answers to Sub-questions

There are a few important questions to address about drug abuse. First, are drugs more dangerous for teenagers than adults? Research has shown that teenagers have more negative effects from drugs than adults. According to Dr. Frances Jensen,” brain development is actively transpiring even in the teen brain, and if you throw in a drug on top of that, you could change the trajectory of brain development” (CNN Health, 2010). Second, how does it affect their life? Drug abuse has negative effects such as increased anger, withdrawal from friends and lower grades in school. Therefore, parents should be more protective of their children and should try to prevent them from becoming drug users.” Family members can do a lot to protect one another from abuse, Parents especially, play an important role in the lives of infants and young children” (Sobsey, 1994, 357). 

Conclusion 

All in all, many teenagers abuse drugs and suffer consequences as a result. Unfortunately, knowledge of the negative effects of drug use does not prevent many teenagers from using them. As mentioned above, there are a lot of negative effects on teenage behavior such as brain damage, increased anger, and withdrawal. There is a high percentage of teenagers who abuse drugs. So, it is a big problem which leads to violent behavior such as fighting and crimes. According to my sources there are also three possible treatments to solve this issue: medications, psychotherapy, and support groups. These treatments should be used to fix serious problems with drug abuse. People should address this issue before it gets worse. 

Bibliography

1.  American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2001). The impact on children and adolescents: opportunities for clinical interventions. Retrieved June 2, 2012 from: http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/developmentor/the_impact_of_media_violence_on_children_and_adolescents_opportunities_for_clinical_interventions

2.  Better health (2012). Drugs- teenagers. Retrieved June 2, 2012 from:

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/drugs_teenagers?open

3.  Califano (2007). Alcohol and teen drinking. Retrieved June 2, 2012 from:

http://www.focusas.com/Alcohol.html  

4.  CNN health (2010). Teen brain more prone to drug, alcohol damage. Retrieved June 2, 2010 from: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/15/teen-brain-more-prone-to-drug-alcohol-damage/

5.  Dryfoos, J. (1990). Adolescents at risk: Prevalence and prevention. New York: Oxford University Press. 

6. Teen help (2012). Teen violence statistics. Retrieved June 2, 2012 from:

http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-violence/teen-violence-statistics.html