Drug-abuse puzzle not child’s play
Putting together the clues as to why children get involved in drugs is often compared to putting together the pieces of a puzzle so you can see the entire picture.
The drug puzzle is complex, and professionals in the field of substance-abuse counseling often have to work hard to fit all the puzzle pieces together in order to help understand young people and their drug problems.
I would like to mention a few components, or pieces of this puzzle, in order to help parents better understand the issues they are facing when they are talking about substance abuse in young people.
First, but no necessarily the most important, is the fact that young people have a natural rebelliousness and yes, even an antisocial streak in them at this age. Taken in its most benign form, we find young people at 13 or 14 wanting to “paper their friend’s house” or “let the air out of their bicycle tires at school.”
This period of rebelliousness and negative behavior should diminish as the child matures. By the age of 17 or 18 there should be little or none of this behavior present.
However, children who are having other problems such as with authority figures at school or in the community, or even at home, begin to go further than playing simple pranks. They can get into real trouble in society. These are the children most likely to fall prey to substance abuse.
Another important factor in the development of the young substance abuser is peer pressure. Extremely strong, perhaps peer pressure is one of the strongest motivators in a young person’s life.
Being a part of the “in-crowd” and being “accepted” is so important that even children who come from close-knit families with genuine parental concern that provide support and plenty of love can fall into the trap of being misguided by peer pressure.
Most of us can remember our adolescent years and times when we deviated from normal acceptable behavior because of a dare from a friend. As a member of the ‘50s generation, I remember only too well the drag races.
At some point, almost every young man with a car was expected to participate. The races were dangerous and always broke a law. Fortunately for some of us who had old jalopies, the pressures to participate in this particular activity was minimal.
The last but extremely important piece to the drug puzzle is the self-esteem or self-concept of the child. T his extremely important variable is often the key to whether the child gets involved in the use of drugs or remains outside this pitfall of modern adolescence.
The ability to say no when offered drugs comes from an inner strength based on self-acceptance. There is no need to prove oneself by conforming to the norms of a group practicing deviant behaviors. There is a good feeling to know that life goes on without the acceptance of this group.
True friendship is based on more than simply meeting a dare. It takes years of character development that starts at a very early age and has its cornerstone parents who instill healthy personality growth in their children. Parents of these children begin providing unconditional love at an early age. That is to say, these parents don’t condone unacceptable or unhealthy behavior in their children but can separate the behaviors from their love of the child.
In future columns I will refer again to the elements of the drug puzzle and how we as parents can help our children deal with peer pressure and also promote a health self-concept in our children.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1986
