Primary Reasons Why Juveniles Use Drugs

A 2005 study conducted by Monitoring the Future shows that a frightening 17 percent of 10th graders in the United States have tried drugs and almost 20 percent of high school seniors use marijuana. If you are a parent, it can be scary to think that your child may be involved in drugs. It is important to understand the main reasons that teens turn to drugs so that you can educate and inform your child.

Peer Pressure

• Although technology may have changed a lot since your own youth, peer pressure remains. If your teen is hanging out with the wrong crowd, she may try drugs to fit in. Teens are still trying to learn who they are and what they stand for. Fitting in with a group of friends is very important to a teen. Your teen may try drugs because she fears being thrown out of her group of friends if she says no. Sadly, doing drugs may seem less scary to your daughter than having to sit alone in the cafeteria or having no one to talk to at the school dance.

Stress Mess

• Modern teens are under more stress than ever. Between the divorce rate of parents, fierce competition to get into a good college and financial trouble at home teens can bare a lot of burden. Your teen may think that street drugs such as marijuana can help him to relax and take the edge off. Your teen may also see you or your spouse taking legal, prescription drugs on occasion to deal with stress, and he may not understand that your prescription drug use is monitored by a doctor and believe that it is okay for him to sneak pills.

Bored, Young and Curious

• It is vital to make sure that your teen has access to healthy and safe after-school activities. Bored teens sitting around in a group can lead to trouble. When teens have nothing better to do their curiosity may get the best of them if one person in the group whips out a joint or a bottle of pills. Your teen might not realize the danger of one time or occasional drug use. If your teen is unfamiliar with a drug, it only takes one time to accidentally overdose. In addition, your teen is probably unaware of how easy it is to become addicted to drugs.

Is There an Addict in the Family?

• If your teen sees an older sibling, father figure or another person who he looks up to doing drugs, he may think that it is okay for him to do it too. If the addict in your life has a fun personality, your son may only see that side of the person and may not be aware of the serious financial issues and health problems that this adult is going through behind closed doors due to drug use.