Society nowadays isn’t what it was a decade ago. People change and so does the society they live in. The problem is that society our grandparents experienced with our parents isn’t the same that our parents experience with us. Nowadays, young people are exposed to two major social problems that affect their life negatively. These social problems are drugs and violence, and these problems are thought of as common nowadays. Even though one doesn’t want to be exposed to these problems, it’s impossible because it is everywhere.
If one goes to a party, one runs the risk of meeting people doing drugs or fighting. People do this to rebel or fit in the society they live in, others do it to prove to others that they are “cool”. Even though these two social problems walk hand-in-hand, one can exist without the other. Drug use is an increasing problem among teenagers in today’s societies. Most drug use begins in the preteen and teenage years, these years most crucial in the maturation process. During these years adolescents are faced with difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are always there, adolescents are curious and vulnerable, and there is always “peer pressure” to experiment. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer pressure, curiosity, and availability.
Drug addiction among adolescents in turn leads to depression and suicide. One of the most important reasons of teenage drug use is because they want to fit in. No one wants to be the only one not participating. No one wants to be left out. So sometimes they make careless decisions, like taking drugs, to cover-up their insecurities. They don’t think about how drugs can isolate you from your friends and family. They forget to look past that one party to see how things could turn out. Or maybe they just don’t know people around them who aren’t using drugs, and cannot see how good their life is without drug use.
Teens who are surrounded by a friend group that do drugs and smokes, fall into the same path, and that increases the amount of drug use. The best method for a teen to deal with this, is to find another friend group. One that does not involve themselves with drugs, so that teens will not feel the need to do drugs to fit in. You become like the people you associate with.Another contribution to the increasing use of drugs with teens, is their curiosity and because they’re bored.
Lots of people turn to drugs for a little excitement because they have nothing else to do. But people who make these kinds of decisions usually find out that drugs are ultimately really a waste and painful. Drugs don’t change the situation, and they just might make it worse. They experiment with drugs because they are curious as to what they can do for them. It’s human nature to want to experiment. Trying things out helps you decide if they’re right for you.
Another major issue that has turned up in more recent years, is the unprecedented increase in violence among the youth, often lethal violence all around the world. Anecdotal evidence of increase in violence by young people against women, children and old people, of abduction, molestation, of road rage and other violent actions to get whatever they want is alarming. This epidemic has caused serious concern to parents, families and the public in general.One of the strongest influences on the young minds today is undoubtedly media which mainly constitutes television and cinema. The vulnerable youth today are constantly exposed to the media which has a lot to show by means of vulgarity and violence. Scenes of gory violence in films and some of the TV programmes provoke the youth to develop negative and dark thoughts which may, one day, turn into real life deadly scenes. Since media plays a serious role in influencing the youth, it can, in fact, be utilised in increasing awareness among the young.
The media has a tremendous potential to communicate, educate and enlighten the ignorant masses to guard against this terrible spread of violence among the youth. The media instead should be used as a positive channel to direct the energy of the youth in the constructive mould. Societies issues cannot just be solved with a snap of a finger. Dealing with increasing drug use and violence among teens takes the collective effort of parents, teens, and society as a whole. We as a society must do our duty to teach the new generation of the what is right and wrong in the world, and only from then can we progress as a peaceful planet.
