Teen Substance Abuse Causes

There are three main causes that lead to teen substance abuse. To begin, frequent boredom play’s a huge role in teen substance abuse. “More than 52 percent of teens who have too much stress, frequent boredom, or spend lots of money are at risk for teen substance abuse” (Peterson 1). The percentage shown tells us it is an issue because if teens are getting that bored and that’s what they do instead of something that won’t affect their life later on, it is and issue and can cause them to get into worse things later on in life. Next, the easier the substance is to get the most likely of an issue it is likely to become. Alcohol is the number one chose substance among teens and that reason is simple, it is the easiest to obtain (Trawick 1). In conclusion …show more content…
To begin, kids using substances that are illegal can lead to other kids using them. “Kids who attend a drug free school are at roughly half the risk of substance abuse than kids who attend a school where drugs are either used, sold, or kept (U.S. Newswire Washington, page 1).” Having that said it tells us that the more that drugs are in school the greater the chance of a student suffering from substance abuse is. Another reason teen substance abuse impact others besides the user is the reason to fit in because others are doing it. Nicole Noble said “You want to fit in” (Dalton Melinda “Staying within the limits …”) With her saying that, it tells us that it is basically monkey see monkey do for those who never once thought about trying illegal substances for those under age. Finally it impacts people if a close friend dies or passes. Nicole said that one of her friend passed away from an overdose and it was a serious wakeup call and those weren’t good people to be around and hanging out with. (Dalton Melinda “Staying within the limits …”) With that said people having something like that happen to someone can either be a serious wakeup call or can cause them to spiral out of control and begin using substances. Everyone says it’s just a cigarette I’ll be ok and I won’t us anything else, but what they don’t realize it that is just the beginning of a bad …show more content…
Scientific research is starting to come up that kids/teens that suffer from substance abuse have a mental illness. According to the National Alliance for the mentally Ill people who suffer from substance abuse have diagnosable mental illness that can be treated. (Steves Gus “school treats troubled teens…”) With that being said we now know that people you suffer from substance abuse can be helped once doctors find out what mental illness they have. Solution two, offer teens that have been in trouble with substances a school to go to that is drug free and they don’t have to see there dealer or supplier while they recover. Special schools in Boston and Springfield are going to offer students who suffer from addiction a school that will be a drug free environment and they also believe this will help better inform treatment organizations. (The Boston Herald “Healy pushes schools…”) With that happening soon that could be a major turning point in the fight against teen substance abuse. Finally, giving parents tips or tools to help see if there kid abuses substances. A mother in Fairfax County was worried her son was using drugs, she placed a wiretap on his phone to find out that he was. (Squires Sally “Detecting teen substance abuse….”) It is something like that will help us end the epidemic of teen substance abuse. All of these solutions can be useful and will help