Problem of Drugs Usage in School - Research Paper Example

Thesis ment Formerly, college represented some of the most energetic, lively and ambitious population in the United States of America. However, in today’s society, this image has been severely tarnished and replaced by teenage drug and alcohol abuse. Introduction Today’s college students’ attitudes toward the society have undergone transformation beyond recognition. In some college campuses as well as high school facilities, the abuse of drugs by teenagers has arrived at epidemic proportions, with many teenagers seeing college as just one big party to be enjoyed particularly now that they are all on their own at school. For a period of 8-9 months every year, children spend their time at school five days every week, around 6-7 hours daily. School therefore gives children the opportunity to be away from their parents/guardians. It also gives the younger children a time where they can try being like the cooler children more and more. This opportunity to appear cooler, more mature and older in older teens’ eyes makes many pre-teens and teens trying and abusing alcohol and drugs. The children also believe that this is a time when their parents/guardians are not watching over their shoulder what these children are up to. Some time ago being at school was concentrate on education but that focus is many a times being directed to the social atmosphere that a child can acquire while at school (Selectown.com, 4). Most children, especially teenagers, do not believe when told that they possess all the qualities that the adults they live with see in them. Most do not accept as true the fact that they possess the skills to be anything in life. They may therefore resort to drugs and alcohol abuse in order to do away with many of the expectations and pressures they believe are there – most teens report having the knowledge of how to use drugs during school hours while others report having the knowledge of where they could obtain them. Rather than using bathroom breaks, hall passes, and lunch time for their name sake, some school children spend this time popping a few pills, taking a few drags or having a few drinks (Selectown.com, 3). Considering the fact that high school and college life is among the most stressful of all periods in the life of a person, school children maintain that taking away their capability of blowing off steam is even more harmful compared to the drinking-caused activities. School children get pissed off when someone denies them the right to have fun. It is similar to taking some people's purpose in life away. Thinking that this is the only thing that people do is very sad. However, that is what is important to them and they are ready tight for it (Teendrugabuse.us, 3). Reports from the Partnership for a Drug Free America indicate that according to a national study, 73 percent of teens testify that the major reason as to why they use drugs is to deal with school pressure. This is a vast discrepancy with the only 7 percent of parents holding the view that their children may make use of drugs to cope with stress (Selectown.com, 2). Nyhan notes that although signs announcing drug-free zones may ring middle schools and high schools a national report revealed that more school children are coming across booze, blunts, pills and other illegal drugs in their playfields, lockers, classrooms and bathrooms. According to a report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse of Columbia University, the percentage of children who attend middle schools where drugs are used, sold or stored jumped 63% from the year 2002, and rose 39% at high schools. Put differently, 80% percent of high school children said that they witnessed students who were using, possessing, dealing, drunk, or under illegal drugs’ influence. In actual fact people in the modern society do not care about school laws or rules and drug use among students is pretty much common (1-4). The school environment has become a haven for drug dealers to deal and sell drugs to children, find market from younger and younger children every year as well as to look for prospective long term customers and perhaps even make some children into dealers themselves. Although selling drugs near a school attracts heavy penalties, drug dealers find the benefits of having many ‘clients’ in one area being too sweet to resist. As soon as he/she sets a ‘clients’ base at a school, the dealer uses the children as the dealers thus covering him/herself with no ties to the drugs in the school (Selectown.com, 1). A very disturbing tendency is the fact that school children are using drugs earlier, as Jim Vollendroff, the drug and alcohol program coordinator King of County found out. Approximately 10.5% of youths who seek treatment confess to have begun using alcohol or drugs before the age of eleven (Nyhan, 9-10). The drugs that school children abuse are both legal and illegal.  Legal drugs include prescribed medications, alcohol, over-the-counter sleep, diet, cold and cough medications and inhalants (fumes from solvents, aerosols, and glues).  Alcohol is the most common among high school students and its use has become a great problem. Teenagers get access to it from friends who are of legal age to purchase it, from parties or from the liquor cabinets of their parents. Moreover, in most adult social circles, the temperate use of alcohol, unlike other drugs, is deemed absolutely permissible. Teenagers watch their parents drinking and emulate them. The most common illegal drugs include marijuana, heroin, stimulants (speed, crack, and cocaine), PCP, LSD, designer drugs (Ecstasy) and opiates. Illegal drugs use among young high school teens is on the rise with the average age of first use of marijuana being 14 (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 3&9).  The use of drugs among school children is very perilous. It has adverse effects, one of them being the fact that it severely impairs the academic performance of the user. The child can also not perform well in sports and other school activities. Additionally, it adversely affects the user’s level of responsibility. For example, he/she may start failing to finish assignments and he/she may start skipping class, among other behaviors that portray a general neglect of a student’s scholastic responsibilities. The child may also develop improper classroom behavior, such as impulsivity and aggression, as well as poor social coping skills (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 10). The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry adds that the use of drugs brings various negative outcomes such as poor judgment, which may put children at jeopardy for accidents, unintended and unsafe sex, suicide and violence. There is also increased danger of serious drug use later on in life (4). Controversy regarding drug testing There has been controversy regarding drug testing within private and public schools for students. This controversy stems from the question regarding whether random drug testing effectively deters drug use, as well as the basic concerns of individual privacy under the law. In reality, the controversy exists more with the intrinsic privacy violation than with the dread of testing positive for drug abuse. The legal, ethical and moral controversy over obligatory drug testing in students is a valid argument; many school administrators and legislators are cautious about enforcing random drug testing for the reason that it contravenes upon the right of the student to be free from unwarranted and unreasonable searches as well as the right to the presumption of innocence (Kaufmann, 2-5). Conclusion Apparently, incidences of the use of drugs by school children have remained alarmingly high, thereby raising great concern. As Nyhan points out the rise is not only about children being rebellious. The blame lies on parents, school boards and authorities, who do not demand drug-free schools. In the same way parents would never send their children to lice or rats-infested schools; they ought to raise hell about the situation of drugs abuse in schools. There is also need to adopt comprehensive community/school-based strategies for the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse in schools. Among others, these include programs steeped in research and have shown an impact on student behavior modification. Works Cited American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Teens: Alcohol and Other Drugs. 2010. Web. Kaufmann, Kelly. Pros & Cons of Drug Testing in Schools. 2011. Web. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescents. (1997). Web. Nyhan, Paul. More Kids are Seeing More Drugs in School. 2007. Web. Selectown.com. Teens Using Drugs at School. 2004. Web. Teendrugabuse.us. Teenage Drug Abuse - Effects on Schooling. N.d. Web. Read More