It is amazing how fast things can change; how pure innocence can turn to arrogance and adventuresome. It seems up until your first year in high school, you feel safe from anything. You are preoccupied with life as how you knew it from the start, when in school you’re intrigued to hear rumors in junior high, they're usually about who likes who, and who broke up with who. It just seems so naive. But when you stepped into high school, it becomes an entirely different ballgame. Somehow you seem to have been stripped of all your innocence. Suddenly you become vulnerable to the evils that you knew nothing about before. It seems the only thing people talk about is either sex or drug use. We all know of so many personalities who have so much potential to do great things in life, but threw it all away when they started to use drugs. This is the daunting scenario that we have today. We are aware of it, the government is aware of it, law enforcers are aware of it but still the nagging problem persists and threatens the fragile future of our youth today. Numbers don’t lie. Nearly half of all high school seniors in America have experimented with illegal drugs and about three quarters have tried alcohol. A study conducted on the drug use prevalence among high school seniors in the US revealed the following: 41.8% have tried marijuana and at least 5% uses it everyday; 7.8% have used cocaine; 1.5% have tried heroin; 72.2% have used alcohol and 3.1% take alcohol daily; 6.5% have tried ecstasy; 8.4% have tried using hallucinogens (LSD, Magic Mushrooms, Peyote); and at least 15.4% have reported having used prescription drugs (Vicodin, OxyContin etc.) to get high. These are alarming statistics but equally disturbing is how easily high school students can get hold of these prohibited drugs. The dilemma that we have today is worse than what our parents had to deal with; and at the rate things are going it is quite likely that by the time you have kids, the situation will be ten times worse than what it is today. The problem should be addressed now with more stringent measures and from different fronts. It should be a collective and conscious effort from the government, school administrations and more importantly the parents. Parents should be educated about the dangers facing their teens today because they are for real and are likely to stay if nothing is done to stem the problem. The government should make laws with much more teeth in them so as to deter drug dealers and manufacturers who are selling these substances like pancakes. Schools must have more effective screening and monitoring systems to keep drugs away from their vicinity and thus give their students a good shot for a productive college life. Illicit drugs seem to fall in and out of favor with experimental youths. But one thing is constant, more and more teens are experimenting with it. The perils are great and more threatening than ever, but studies consistently show that teens whose parents talk to them about drugs are at a much lower risk to experiment.
August 26, 2009
August 24, 2009
Teens of the 90s vs. Teens of the 00s
Only a decade apart, striking differences are glaring between these two batches of youth. We can say that the past two decades brought dynamic changes in cultural touchstones, social reactions, career and familial outlooks, as well as world views. In short the teens of the last two decades are pretty much different from what they used to be more than twenty years ago, yet striking differences separate the two “batches.”
The 90’s teens still carry with them some semblance of trust and high regard for adults and people of authority. This is in contrast to the 00s teens who are suspicious of everyone in a position to help. You have to show them that you care over an extended period otherwise they‘ll never believe that you do care. This is due to the fact that the present day youth experience greater autonomy in today’s fast paced world.
Teenagers from the 90s experienced the start of the technological boom, the Internet was starting to get more traffic, cellular phones began to be part of daily commune although they were still mediocre in size and the most of the displays were in black and white. Desktops started to become ubiquitous and hybrid cars were starting to be conceptualized. These are all welcomed changes, as the teen became more hip an sleek. Present day teens are quite the same but they see no negatives in technology and technology symbolizes change. They grew up with one hour photo processing, high speed Internet, PDAs and any new device that hits the market is cool until the next great invention pops up. This is potentially dangerous because they might not realize that these emerging technologies may isolate rather than connect people and diminish their privacy rights as citizens; and reinforce the sense of autonomy to the extent that it destroys family and cultural ties. What I’m trying to say is that teens of the 90s are less exposed to the perils of such rapid boom in technology compared to today’s youth.
Teens of the 90s have a strong sense of personal identity, they knew who they are and stand up for what they believe in. They don’t easily get rattled and jump into the band wagon of what is considered “in and chic” at any given moment. The teens of today revel in all available choices and dabbles in innumerable varieties. Thus, we have amusing hybrid teens whose music reflects one value, their academic dreams another, their friends something else, and their religious belief system yet a different twist. There is so much going on around them that they lose touch about their identity and become confused about their wavering interests.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that teens of the 90s are better in all aspects than the teens at the turn of the millennium. I’m just trying to drive the point that the environment to which the two groups were exposed to are strikingly different. Each day the world becomes increasingly complex and young people today are as complex as the environment that they live in.
June 27, 2008
Important questions to ask
The following are important question to ask when looking for a prospective substance abuse treatment facility or service.
1. Why do you believe this treatment in this program is indicated for my child? How does it compare to other programs or services which are available?
2. What are the credentials and experience of the members of the treatment team, and will the team include a child and adolescent psychiatrist with knowledge and skills in substance abuse treatment?
3. What treatment approaches does this program use regarding chemical dependency; detoxification; abstinence; individual, family, and group therapy; use of medications; a twelve-step program; mutual-help groups; relapse prevention; and a continuing recovery process?
4. Based on your evaluation, does my child have other psychiatric problems in addition to the substance abuse problem? If so, will these be addressed in the treatment process?
5. How will our family be involved in our child’s substance abuse treatment — including the decision for discharge and the after-care?
6. What will treatment cost? Are the costs covered by my insurance or health plan?
7. How will my child continue education while in treatment?
8. If this treatment is provided in a hospital or residential program, is it approved by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)? Is this substance abuse treatment program a separate unit accredited for youngsters of our child’s age?
9. How will the issue of confidentiality be handled during and after treatment?
10. How long will this phase of the treatment process continue? Will we reach our insurance limit before treatment in this phase is completed?
11. When my child is discharged from this phase of treatment, how will it be decided what types of ongoing treatment will be necessary, how often, and for how long?
12. As my child’s problem improves, does this program provide less intensive/step-down treatment services?
Where to get help?
Many children and adolescents use alcohol and other drugs. Some develop serious problems which require professional help to control. Such as inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, twelve step programs, and dual diagnosis units for individuals with emotional and substance abuse problems.
There are a variety of substance abuse treatment programs. The decision to get treatment for a child or adolescent is difficult, and parents are encouraged to seek consultation from a child and adolescent psychiatrist when making decisions about substance abuse treatment. Other psychiatric disorders often co-exist with substance abuse problems and need assessment and treatment.
Severe substance abuse and chemical dependence in adolescence may be a chronic relapsing disorder. Parents should ask what treatment services are available for continued or future treatment.
June 6, 2008
When teens make treaths
Children and adolescents are probably the most emotional, dramatic and vocal creatures on earth. They often over react and express their emotions verbally by making threats, cursing and sometimes they even resort to violent behavior, either hurting themselves or others. But how can parents know when their children’s threats mean something else, something serious that demands attention?
It is important to know why teens make threats in the first place in order to determine if they are just being overly dramatic or if they are on the verge of exploding. Here is a list of potentially dangerous threats that should at least be taken seriously.
* threats or warnings about hurting or killing someone
* threats or warnings about hurting or killing oneself
* threats to run away from home
* threats to damage or destroy property
It is very difficult to predict teen behavior based on what they say alone, thats why it is important to review and reflect on their past behaviors. There are a few predictors that parents should look for. Past and current behaviors and other factors that can increase the risk of violent and dangerous behavior include:
* past violent or aggressive behavior (including uncontrollable angry outbursts)
* access to guns or other weapons
* bringing a weapon to school
* past suicide attempts or threats
* family history of violent behavior or suicide attempts
* blaming others and/or unwilling to accept responsibility for one’s own actions
* recent experience of humiliation, shame, loss, or rejection
* bullying or intimidating peers or younger children
* a pattern of threats
* being a victim of abuse or neglect (physical, sexual, or emotional)
* witnessing abuse or violence in the home
* themes of death or depression repeatedly evident in conversation, written expressions, reading selections, or artwork
* preoccupation with themes and acts of violence in TV shows, movies, music, magazines, comics, books, video games, and Internet sites
* mental illness, such as depression, mania, psychosis, or bipolar disorder
* use of alcohol or illicit drugs
* disciplinary problems at school or in the community (delinquent behavior)
* past destruction of property or vandalism
* cruelty to animals
* fire setting behavior
* poor peer relationships and/or social isolation
* involvement with cults or gangs
* little or no supervision or support from parents or other caring adult
The best course of action to take when a teen threatens to do something violent or dangerous either to himself or others is to not dismiss or ignore it. They have something to say and it maybe caused by their reaction to something that is worth checking into like bullying or abuse. Most of the teens who make threats need the attention and love and if that doesn’t work, there are interventions and programs that can help them.