As steel slammed against steel, the haunting echo of the jail cell closing rattled through Jane Doe’s head. She wondered how she was going to survive the next 18 months staring at these bars. She was sorry for hitting her mom, lying to her friends, and stealing $28.98 from the convenience store. All this and Jane was only 15. How could this happen? “It’ll be fun,” they said. “It's harmless” they added. Not so harmless now is it? Unfortunately, this story may happen more commonly then we may hope for. Teen drug abuse is getting more common each year and what are we doing to help? All the anti-drug propaganda on television and social media is not making as large an impact as like we would like. We need a solution before it's too late. There
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Some people resort to the use of drugs to attempt to feel better due to a mental health disease. This issue needs to be identified early on. Civil institutions, such as schools, need to have a system for aiding these teens and meeting their needs. As the first line of defense, education of teachers and parents on signs of mental disorders should be a priority. If the adult notices anything that could be suspicious they should refer the teen to their guidance counselor. Anything suspicious could be a withdrawal from their social life, a loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy, or changing in their schedules. Once the adult notices the student's distance the student could then be referred to the guidance counselors. If school guidance counselors become more involved this may also help identify problems with the students. There should be frequent mandatory meetings between the counselors and every student to check on them and their mental state. If the counselor notices that the student does not seem at their finest for a long period of time they should be referred to the pediatrician. This pediatrician should perform screenings to diagnose the child during the check-up. After the physician had properly diagnosed the issue, the
Some people resort to the use of drugs to attempt to feel better due to a mental health disease. This issue needs to be identified early on. Civil institutions, such as schools, need to have a system for aiding these teens and meeting their needs. As the first line of defense, education of teachers and parents on signs of mental disorders should be a priority. If the adult notices anything that could be suspicious they should refer the teen to their guidance counselor. Anything suspicious could be a withdrawal from their social life, a loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy, or changing in their schedules. Once the adult notices the student's distance the student could then be referred to the guidance counselors. If school guidance counselors become more involved this may also help identify problems with the students. There should be frequent mandatory meetings between the counselors and every student to check on them and their mental state. If the counselor notices that the student does not seem at their finest for a long period of time they should be referred to the pediatrician. This pediatrician should perform screenings to diagnose the child during the check-up. After the physician had properly diagnosed the issue, the