It wasn’t that long ago I was in high school dealing with the same pressures students face today. This week, as we continued our series Real Life where we focus on real life situations teenagers face everyday, drugs and alcohol are still as much of a challenge today as they were ten years ago. When I hear a student say a good reason to drink is to help forget the pressures of being a teenager, it breaks my heart.
Students and adults alike attach themselves to coping mechanisms when things get difficult. Unfortunately, this includes alcohol and drugs. As a parent, do you remember the last time you needed a couple glasses of wine to help ease the day because of the pressures of being an adult? Teenagers are witnessing and experiencing pressures and finding the same comfort in alcohol to help ease the pain. Now listen. I’m not condoning or advocating for student drinking, nor am I advocating for adults not to enjoy an adult beverage on occasion. I’m simply connecting a similarity between the reasoning for adult and youth drinking.
According to a study done by CBS News, 78% of US teens have drank alcohol. Nearly 4 and 5 teenagers! And of the 78% of teenagers that admitted to drinking alcohol, 47% of teenagers said they’ve had more than 12 drinks in the past year. Even more dangerous than alcohol, 43% of teenagers have used illegal drugs in the past year. Teenagers have access to these materials and are finding real reasons why they are using alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms.
Luckily for us, we don’t have to use drugs and alcohol as coping mechanisms because we can cling on to God in challenging times. The bible is filled with individuals faced with very challenging times. Some clanged to God and found much success while others were faced with even more challenges (Remember Jonah and the whale?) The results are positive and long lasting when people rely on their faith in God and their relationship with Him to buoy them up. However, instead of looking to God for support, people choose a temporary buoyancy to prop them up, to cope with the struggles of life. Alcohol and other chemicals are chosen with all too familiar frequency.
I want to encourage you that if you’re dealing with the need to cope using alcohol or drugs, reach out to someone and get help. If you’re a parent and have a student using these types of materials to cope, then my hope is that you’ll approach them with understanding. Because they need you to understand their feeling are real and drugs and alcohol are only immediate fixes (if you can call it that). They need a rock on solid ground. You can help prepare them.
0 Comments