Introduction
At the adolescence level in human growth and development, behaviors begin ensuing and may define a person’s life for a long. Unhealthy traits such as addiction to substance use are rampant in society and have posed challenges to public health. When addicted to alcohol and drugs, a person’s physical and mental health may be affected adversely, making the individual have permanent deformities that may limit their life. Adolescents are characterized by substance abuse due to insufficient parental monitoring and a lack of interaction between children and their parents.
Abuse of Substances and Addiction in Adolescence
Abuse of substance is a major issue affecting many young people. The current research shows that alcoholism, taking marijuana, and smoking are the top addiction behaviors for many adolescents in the US (Wong et al., 2021). By the time one reaches 12th grade, 66% of them try alcohol, while 50% of 9th-grade students have been reported to have used marijuana (Wong et al., 2021). The resilience scale is low in that when children get introduced to substance use, they take long before stopping the behavior. Generally, 90% of the people who meet the clinical addiction category start abusing substances at adolescence (Wong et al., 2021). The interventions that may counteract this behavior among adolescents include community, policy, incentives, and multicomponent intercessions. For example, community-based measures include controlling children by punitive measures and warnings for behaviors that reflect alcoholism or smoking (Randall, 2019). Additionally, digital intervention sensitization programs are meant to caution about addition by showcasing the adverse impacts of the matter to the affected group.
Healthy spiritual development affects the likelihood of abusing substances in adolescent years. Children who grow in religious backgrounds are trained not to abuse substances since it is against the holy teachings. If children are not shown spiritual direction on this matter, they may take the subject for granted and get exposed to it hence, addiction. For example, Christian-centric teachings prohibit individuals from disobeying God, which serves as a reminder whenever one is tempted to get into substance abuse (Randall, 2019). In the Washington Post, Dvorak (2022) discusses overdosing of fentanyl by teenagers despite drug use falling. The author says that the adolescent population number is worrying since 1146 overdoses among children between 14-18 years in 2021 (Dvorak, 2022). That shows there is an addiction to fentanyl among adolescents, thus, making the matter to be a public health issue in the US.
Based on the readings and new stories, the prevalence of addiction among children is alarming. For example, Randall (2019) shows a high rate of adolescents who abuse substances, more so those in high school. Most children are reported to have abused drugs when they get bodily desires that result from hormonal changes while one is growing. The worrying part is that the matter has resulted in mortalities (Randall, 2019). The differing viewpoints such as association of substance abuse with liberty to personal choice are considered, analyzed, and treated. The reason is that the matter has been on the key plan for the US Department of Health and Human Services. The department has employed clinical and evidence-based practices that combat the issues from data from various studies in the country.
Conclusion
Substance abuse and addiction are rampant within the adolescent age. Children abuse substances due to peer pressure, poor parenting, and lack of sufficient sensitization. The most commonly abused substances among US adolescents are alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco. More than half of the children who fall prey to this issue start at the adolescent level. Spiritual development can help curl the issue through religious teachings. Current articles show increased fentanyl abuse among teens as of 2021. Interventions include communal and digital programs to help the children avoid the vice. The US Department of Health and Human Services is working tirelessly to contain adolescents’ issues. There is a need to control the matter to prevent deaths that may result from addiction to substance use among adolescents.
References
Dvorak, P. (2022). The college checklist: Bedding, reading lamp, and fentanyl test strips? Washington Post. Web.
Randall, J. (2019). The potential usefulness of technological interventions to improve community-based clinicians’ implementation of contingency management with fidelity for adolescents with substance use disorders. Journal of Child &Amp; Adolescent Substance Abuse, 28(4), 282-290. Web.
Wong, D., Hall, K., & Wong Hernandez, L. (2021). Counseling individuals through the lifespan (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.