Substance Misuse and Changing Drinking Behaviour - Essay Example

Substance misuse: Devise your own media tool (poster, leaflet, video, speech, website, etc By Introduction Alcohol has several uses, for example, it can be used in medical, social, cultural and religious settings. It has been a common belief that adults can use alcohol responsibly for social and religious purposes, however, excess use of alcohol, results in health, and social, legal and other problems. The presentation mainly focuses on the effects of alcohol on teenagers. It shows how teenagers get into alcohol addiction and the effects of these addictions. There has been conflicting messages about alcohol from the news media, school, friends and even parents that teenagers hear about alcohol. At times they get that the moderate use of alcohol is acceptable, in some cases they are told alcohol is the drug that an individual only need to abstain till age of twenty and above. In most advertisements and media images, alcohol has been presented as a means to success and enjoyable life. Statistics indicates that many teenagers begin consuming alcohol at an early age. The effects of teenagers drinking involve both the health and the safety related problems; this includes domestic violence, and suicide (Kroll & Taylor, 2004, pp 45-115). Alcohol abuse among teenagers has been compared to problems associated to the behavior such as taking risks and acting out of emotion. I intend talk the dangers of consuming alcohol to  teenagers and human behavior through series of inquiry based classroom lessons. Naturally teenagers are scientists, they are curious about things that surround them and even about themselves (Pycroft, 2010, pp123-234). Owing to their little experiences in life, they view themselves as invincible, when teenagers are cautioned against getting involved in behaviors that seem risky, such as drinking alcohol. They think the warnings are not theirs but for other people. I intend to give teenagers the opportunity to construct their own understanding about alcohol and the risks involved in drinking alcohol (Keene, 2010, pp 235-276). I have also designed inquiry based lessons to help teenagers increase their critical thinking skills. The teenagers will know the dangers of alcohol drinking. I believe with the enhanced understanding and skills, they will make informed decisions about real life situations involving alcohol use (Goodman, 2009, pp 146-189). I also intend to sensitize parents on ways of preventing their children from indulging in alcohol drinking. Several factors have contributed to use and misuse of alcohol among teenagers. Most societies are undergoing rapid change such as parents working longer hours, changes to family structure, having more single parents. Societal institutions such as child health care and education are also not coping sufficiently with the changes (Pycroft, 2010, pp123-234). The main reason  of  using drugs by teenagers is  lack proper guidance from parents, and the psychological problem of missing parents has made many teenagers engage in alcohol drinking. The belief that parents have that the alcohol is less dangerous than other drugs has led to teenage drinking of alcohol and addiction. Teenagers age is an experimenting age. As teenagers move from adolescence to young adulthood, they face a lot of physical, emotional and lifestyle changes (Goodman, 2009, pp 146-189). Development changes such as puberty and increasing dependence have led to alcohol use. In a nutshell adolescence, age is an age where teenagers are at risk of starting to drink and also drinking uncontrollably. Parents are only concerned when their children use other hard drugs and not alcohol, this has led to many teenagers using and abusing alcohol. Parents who should be role models to teenagers has led most teenagers to drinking alcohol, when those parents who take alcohol while their children watch them, only tempt them to taste alcohol (Pycroft, 2010, pp123-234). Teenagers try to taste alcohol when parents are away, this in the end results to addiction and heavy drinking among the teenagers. Parents can prevent this by diking moderately and responsibly or not drinking at all. In some families where alcoholism in not allowed, permissive attitudes about alcohol has led to teenagers using and abusing alcohol, those parents who drink have attitudes that encourage children to start drinking and to keep on with the drinking habit (Kroll & Taylor, 2004, pp 45-115). Older siblings whom drink can also influence the younger siblings to use alcohol; this is common especially when the siblings are of the same sex. Teenagers can also start to drink alcohol because of peer pressure from friends. Peer pressure is  the major cause of heavy drinking among teenagers (Pycroft, 2010, pp123-234). Another factor that can determine heavy use of alcohol among teenagers is celebrations that teenagers attend; in those celebrations teenagers can easily use alcohol since they are far from the watchful eyes of the parents. Another major contributor to influencing teenagers to drinking is the media, the advertisements made on the media have led to many teenagers trying to experiment what they hear and see (Goodman, 2009, pp 146-189). Some teenagers have entered into using alcohols as a way of releasing stress; this has led to addiction in the long run. Teenagers have numerous  complications in future because of alcohol use. The risk factors can be individual, family and community. Individual risk factors include mental health issue, having low self-esteem, poor grades in school, due to absenteeism, and poor social and coping skills. Family risk factors include poor communication between parents and children, chaos at home, poor modeling from parents. Community risk factors include the high incidence of alcohol abuse and availability in the community. Alcohol use among teenagers has numerous risks. Irresponsible drinking of alcohol among teenagers has lead too much drinking within the small span of time leads to intoxication (Keene, 2010, pp 235-276). Most car accidents and deaths of teenagers have been as a result of being under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol impairs judgment; teenagers who take alcohol are likely to engage in unprotected sexual practices, other risks associated with alcohol and sex includes, rape, having sex without the use of condom, exposure to sexually transmitted infections, possible pregnancy (Goodman, 2009, pp 146-189). Alcohol drinking affects brain development in people under the age of twenty five, area of development affected includes those associated with motivation, impulse control and addiction (Goodman, 2009, pp 146-189). Alcohol is a neurotoxin, it can poison the brain, excessive use of alcohol leads to interference with vitamin B absorption, and this prevents brain from working properly. Excessive long term drinking may lead to many disorders, collectively known as alcohol related injury, symptoms include, learning and memory problems and difficulties with balance (Pycroft, 2010, pp123-234). Teenagers are likely to take risks when drinking. Alcohol has contributed significantly to a range of risky situations including, fighting, drowning, drug overdose, and suicide. Devising an effective program of preventing alcohol use among teenagers requires identification of causes of alcohol use. Causes identification involves a combination of theory and research Preventing excessive use of alcohol increases chances of longer, healthier and very productive lives. Quality of life, performance in school, workplace is improved, there are reduced expenses on dealing with criminal issues, motor vehicle accidents are also reduced, health care costs are equally reduced since those with acute and chronic conditions are also reduced (Keene, 2010, pp 235-276). The following are measures put in place to prevent consumption of alcohol among teenagers, Maintaining and enforcing the age of twenty one to be the minimum legal drinking age; alcohol density outlet should be limited and prohibition of sale of alcohol to intoxicated persons. Policies that facilitate alcohol abuse counseling through teenager assistance programs should be implemented in schools. Teenagers should be encouraged to use these services (Goodman, 2009, pp 146-189). Training programs for both teachers and students should be implemented to build their knowledge and skills about alcohol usage. Institutions of learning are supposed to embrace feasible policies and corresponding programs that can be employed in order to eradicated drug abuse particularly alcohol  on campuses, they should also implement programs aimed at reducing alcohol abuse, for example, student assistance programs, parent networking and peer to peer support groups. The community and religious centers should de in the forefront of supporting the enforcement and the implementation of policies aimed at controlling alcohol and other drugs. They can also educate the teenagers about the risks of alcohol abuse (Pycroft, 2010, pp123-234). They can work together with the media outlets and retailers to reduce alcohol marketing to teenagers. Family should enhance a bonding and relationship among its members and this includes parents having skills of managing their children such as discussing issues relating to substance usage and abuse with their children, parents having good relationship with their children will increase the openness of their children to them, this will enable them manage any strange behavior they observe from their children. Parent child communication is very essential Conclusion The most difficult problem in teenagers is changing their drinking behavior since, in UK alcohol is almost everywhere and they can access it easily. Teenagers consume alcohol because it is easy to get and the community finds it normal when teenagers drink, hence it has become a daily routine and daily life. In the families where many youths come from many social and environmental factors has been the major source of their influence to alcohol, this can be inform of advertisements, practices in the community, friends and even adults. Intervention intended to help youths stop drinking should be put in place, messages that motivate teenagers not to drink alcohol should be encouraged, all religious leaders should also preach the dangers of teenagers involvement in drinking alcohol. Bibliography Pycroft, A. (2010). Understanding & working with substance misusers. Los Angeles, SAGE. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=396 525. Goodman, A. (2009). Social work with Drug and substance Misusers. Exeter, Learning Matters Keene, J. (2010). Understanding Drug Misuse: Models of Care and Control. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan Kroll, B. & Taylor A. (2004). Parental Substance misuse and Child Welfare. London, Jessica Kingsley. Schuckit, M. (2000). 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