Drugs and Alcohol in the Adolescent Years Essay -- Influence Teenagers

Drugs and Alcohol in the Adolescent Years The years of adolescence are a very important time for both young girls and boys to make decisions that will essentially have the power to shape their lives. In life there are conflicts to be overcome from both the â€Å"evil† social world and also a young girl’s vulnerability can cause problems. Both have a huge impact on decisions she will make. Drugs and alcohol are both issues that almost any young person in today’s society is going to come into contact with. Then there is the issues of making decisions about how these substances will affect their life. It is interesting to study and compare the drug use among different ethnic groups as well as how the culture that one is brought up in has a big part in how they will respond to the same issues. This leads right into my paper topic which is girls growing up on the border. This is a completely different lifestyle as well as upbringing for these girls that are living so close to the Mexico. Drugs and alcohol are everywhere and are most likely intertwined into each of our lives in some way. For this reason it is apparent how likely it is that adolescents are exposed to these substances very often if not daily. Recent surveys that have been done, in particular the Ontario Health Survey, 1990, shows that initiation to drugs begins as early as 12 years old in an adolescents life. Twelve years old is considered the risk period for alcohol and tobacco and this phase does not end until about age 22. A sample of 4,364 people from this same study was on people from the ages of 15 to 35. Results showed that the major risk age for initiating with either alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco is over by age 22. Once again it is sh... ... are white or Mexican and live on the border or not. Works Cited: Leverton, Kate. Personal Interview. 25 March 1999. Phipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York, NY. G.P. Putnam Sons, 1994. DeWitt, David J; Offord David R. "Patterns of Onset and Cessation of Drug Use Over the Early Part of the Life Course." Young Adults-Drug Use- Ontario-Drug Abuse-Ontario -Drinking Alcohol icges-Ontario. Vol.24, pg. 746, 13p. Holck Susan E., M.D., Warren Charles W. Ph.D, Smith Jack M.S., Rochat Roger M.D., "Alcohol Consumption Among Mexican American and Anglo Women; Results of a Survey Along the U.S.- Mexican Border." Vol. 45: Pg. 149-154, 1984. Dassori Abana M., Neff James A., Hoppe K, Sue. "Ethnic and Gender Differences in the Diagnostic Profiles of Substance Abusers." Vol 15, Aug. 1993, pgs. 382-390.