Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Drug abuse among teenagers essays
Drug abuse among teenagers essays
Teenage drug use trends essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Drug abuse among teenagers essays
Kevin Browne-Gretzinger Student #: 5219704 February 3, 2017 Addiction: The World That Everyone Should See – Featuring Crank by Ellen Hopkins The novel Crank by Ellen Hopkins follows through the eyes of a 16-year-old girl named Kristina who simply refers to herself as “Bree”. The novel continues with the pathway of her life as it leads into substance misuse and addiction. Through her work, Hopkins creates a genuine look into the progression of an addict from a very personalized point of view. The style of writing, being very poetic, allows readers to understand the story at a deeper, emotional level. Some components of the story I disagree with. However, Hopkins still succeeds at challenging many norms regarding addiction, …show more content…
Often times individuals see the end result associated with addiction, unable to see how they were before the addiction took hold of their lives. Through Crank, readers are able to experience how a successful high school student with high academic aspirations leads to abandoning these goals due to substance abuse. Hopkins makes excellent use of common knowledge of teenagers being especially vulnerable in their attempt to find a place of belonging. Kristina found this belonging with Adam, leading to her meeting him in the back room of the bowling alley where she first used methamphetamines: “Somehow I didn’t care about back-room parties. It was my turn. I’d been invited.” (p. 82) This allows readers to empathize with Kristina, even though they may not have used drugs in the past, as they remember that similar need for …show more content…
I was able to draw from my own experiences as a teenager, filled with feelings of needing to “fit in”, and applied it to Kristina’s situation. This allowed me to relate to her story and generated compassion for her choices. In high school, I volunteered at an organization called Start Me Up Niagara. Working during the meal program on weekends, I interacted with many individuals who were suffering from addiction. Only seeing the end result, the negative consequences resulting from their addiction, it was very hard to understand how an individual can lead to this path. One man I met spoke about his bachelor’s degree in psychology, which made me wonder how someone who was relatively successful ended up in their current position. It was easy to judge them for their choices, with my immediate thoughts wondering how they ended up making such poor decisions leading to their current
The novel Go Ask Alice written anonymously tells the story of one girl’s struggle with drug addiction. The conflict in this novel is person versus self. The protagonist is struggling against herself trying to overcome addiction. The mood is depressing. The main character reveals how drugs ruined her life, which evokes depressed feelings in the reader. The point of view is first person. This is a publishing of a teenage girl’s diary and she wrote in first person. The conflict, mood, and point of view make this book a work of realistic fiction.
She dedicates this book to her “..family, and all the families whose lives have been touched by the monster.” Kristina talks about what a horrible person her mother is; a wannabe writer who never spends enough time with her daughter. A step dad who always has a stick up his butt. A brother who is spoiled and is too caught up in sports and video games to notice any change. Her sister is wonderful, but recently came out as a lesbian and caused distance between them so she moved away. Kristina was alone, until she met “the monster”. “The monster” is just a metaphor Ellen uses to describe the drug Methamphetamine, better known a Crystal Meth. Crystal meth can be eaten, snorted up the nose, or
In David Sheff’s book “Beautiful Boy” he utilizes descriptive diction, allusions to other works, and vivid imagery to recreate the experiences he’s gone through during his son’s addiction, times in recovery, and relapses.
In the end it seems as though there is no real moral or lesson to be learned. She wasn't really an addict; she just liked to drink. No long recovery, no epiphany. No treatment, no withdrawal problems. No lasting health issues. No real permanent problems in the end.
But the fight for a better life won't stop just because you aren't ready. What we're doing is not something you decide to do when you feel like it. Whether you're ready or not, this struggle will go on.” Pg. 159. The drug issue is relevant in the world today because kids, especially teens, use it as a way to escape the reality they are living in. Some use it to have fun but others to forget of what they are living in and to relieve the “stress” they might have. Reading fiction can teach students the harm and danger of certain things, like drugs. It can show what it does and how it can affect you in the future and even though it may take away the hurt you are feeling, it will only come back when that feeling is gone.“When you win we win but when you go down you go down alone” Pg. 159. The author shows by this quote how not everyone is willing to go down when you go down, but only succeed when you do. This is relevant in the world because when you are doing good everyone want to be surrounded by you, but once you fail no one is there to help you. This relates to the thesis because it can teach students the harm drugs can cause when using them for a temporary
Sally Satel, author of “Addiction Doesn’t Discriminate? Wrong,” leads us down a harrowing path of the causes and effects that lead people to addiction. It can be a choice, possibly subconscious, or a condition that leads a person left fighting a lifelong battle they did not intend to sign up for. Mental and emotional health/conditions, personality traits, attitudes, values, behaviors, choices, and perceived rewards are just a few of the supposed causes of becoming an addict.
I have first hand seen the childish ways of a drug abusing parent and my overall standpoint is everyone has a weakness, you just need to find a light to bring you out of the dark hole which the monster and sends you down and see what's worth living for. “I believe if you want to write a memoir, you have to tell the entire truth (yes, I understand it will be colored by your personal lenses), and that means truly opening yourself and those around you to public inspection” (Par. 15) said Ellen Hopkins displaying that she takes informing teens as a serious role. A prediction i could infer based upon the parallel relationship between Kristina and her father is if her son is exposed to drugs he will most likely fall in the same path if her she does not tell him the danger of these substances. This novel is a great tool to get the word out there that hard drugs will hurt you, hurt your family and make you a whole new
...s how great it felt being high. Later on she writes about how easily she became addicted to the drugs and how hard it was for her to stop using them. She writes about how running away and cutting her ties with all her drug user friends didn't help her stop. It also taught me the extent of what drugs can do to you by her getting so high to the point of imagining maggots eating at her body.
Raymond is an eight-year-old Hispanic, of Dominican heritage, first grade student residing in a domestic violence shelter system. Raymond and his two older sisters, eleven and thirteen, share a room with their thirty-six-year-old mother, Mrs. Ruben, who has a long history of drug addiction. Raymond was born addicted to opioids and as a result has impulse control and anger problems (Broderick, & Blewitt, p. 9). Raymond has discussed seeing his mother choked by his father, his sisters thrown across the room and parents fighting over drugs.
In the article, The Fantasy of Addiction, Peter Hitchens talks about his views on the addiction to any substance. He believes that to even use the word addiction in relation to someone with a substance abuse problem is weakening the free will of people. Telling drug abusers that their body is to blame, rather than letting them deal with the consequences of their decision only reduces the chance of them making a true effort to stop using. It gives the abuser something to blame other than them. He also believes that places that are put in place to help people get over their addiction only weaken an addict, making the addict believe their addiction is a disease. In the article, Hitchens also talks about consciousness. If consciousness has no role
The purpose of my paper is to evaluate the reasons as to why Whitney Houston began to use drugs and how it played a professional and personal role in her life. I have utilized th...
Sahira’s drug use can be explained through the biopsychosocial model of addiction. First, she began to use drugs as a form of relief. She was suffering emotionally from the bullying that happen to her at school. For Sahira using drugs was self-medicating. This helped her cope with her anxiety. Unfortunately, her drug use led to many destructive consequences, which in turn harmed some of her relationships. The physiological tolerance and dependency drew Sahira further into her addiction (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). As a counselor it is important to recognize all of Sahira’s life experiences. Understanding these experiences will allow me to know how Sahira came to be in this position. When talking with Sahira it is important not to take
Chloe was a ten year old girl with a trauma background. Whilst Chloe idolised me, I found her repulsive. She was dirty, unhygienic, and stood too close. Chloe was often in a daze and would masturbate without even realising. Both parents were drug addicts, and Chloe’s father had died from a drug overdose when Chloe’s mother was pregnant with her. Chloe was raised in an abusive environment. At one time her mother’s boyfriend kidnapped Chloe’s younger brother. Consequently, Chloe’s mother moved her and her brother to Canberra to get away from the abusive environment.
All of the children attend private schools and are given practically whatever they want when it comes to anything that can be bought. Along with all of this elegance that the teens, main characters, are born into, they also are driven to many dirty addictions and habits. There is drug addiction,
The novel Go Ask Alice is a notably controversial piece of literature in modern society. It captures the darker qualities of civilization as many know it—explores the concepts of illegal drugs and psychological conflict that society has deemed [improper]. The novel is—more often than not—categorized as a coming-of-age story centered on “Alice’s” moral journey as she learns to reject the temptations imposed upon her by addiction and societal pressure. However, the novel’s strong undertone that illegal drugs should not be taken is overshadowed by the world built around “Alice.” At every twist and turn, “Alice” faces a darker aspect of society that she has not faced before, and the frequency of these events—and perhaps even how quickly they happened