Teenagers: Contemporary Issues & Potential Future Effects - Essay Sample

Introduction

There are very many contemporary issues that teenagers face today. Some of these issues include body image, bullying, depression, alcohol and drug addiction, peer pressure, teenage pregnancy, underage sex, internet addiction, pornography, stress, obesity, academic issues, eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia, and abuse. If these issues are not adequately resolved, they may have some adverse effects on the lives of teenagers in the future.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

For instance, alcohol and drug abuse at an aearly age may lead to things like death, addiction, or even stealing (Bücking A et al., 2017). This paper will address the issue of alcohol and drug abuse and explain the external stressors associated with it. The paper will outline the strategies used to identify this issue during an adolescent patient assessment. Lastly, the paper will address the issue of ethics and support options for adolescents encountering external stressors in this matter.

Alcohol and drug abuse is a significant problem that affects teenagers in society. They often lead to addiction later in life, which is not a good thing as addiction may result in further problems. For instance, a drug addict will likely steal from other people in order for their addition. The result of these actions will often result in breaking the law and, thus, jail.

. Alcohol and drug abuse in teenagers live usually start with experimentation (Bücking A et al., 2017). The teenager will identify the drug of their choice. The drugs popularly abused by teenagers include codeine, marijuana, Xanax, OxyContin, and synthetic marijuana. The are various reasons teenagers give for alcohol and drug abuse. These are the stressors that may influence a teenager to take alcohol and drugs. They are external stressors and internal stressors.

Examples of internal stressors include things like boy image and mental issues. These things may lead to a teenager engaging in alcohol and drug abuse. Various external stressors contribute to this issue. Firstly, there is parental abuse and neglect. Parental abuse and neglect is the worst thing possible that a person cannot see which on their child. A teenager who is living with a parent who abuses substances and fails in their parental obligations is likely to fall into this as a coping mechanism.

Remember that parental abuse and neglect destroys the physical and emotional development of a child. This problem is made worse as teenagers are experiencing all kinds of hormonal changes in their bodies, which they do not understand. Thus a combination of these two issues is often detrimental to a child’s life. Thus alcohol and drug abuse is the best way to escape from these problems.

Secondly, there is peer pressure (Foo et al., 2020). It should be noted that the term peers infers to people of the same social strata. Furthermore, thus peer pressure is the influence these people in the group have on each other. People in the same peers will either impact each other negatively or positively. Teenagers are influenced positively by their peers into joining activities like sports and debates. These people may also influence each other negatively.

For instance, teenagers may influence each other to take alcohol and drug abuse. Since looking ‘cool’ is everything to them in this age group, most of them end up partaking in these activities. The sad part is that they innocently do not know that these activities may lead to other adverse long term effects (Foo et al., 2020). For instance, addiction is likely to be a problem among teenagers who take alcohol and abuse substances.

There are various assessment strategies used by health physicians to screen for these issues among teenagers. In this scenario, the most effective strategy is the use of structured or semi-structured questions. Administering questionnaires to teenage patients will help in the identification of this problem. The patient will clarify if they have ever abused alcohol or substances in the last twelve months leading to the screening. It is essential that the teenager to clarify if they have ever been driven by a person who is high on drugs or alcohol. Teenagers who do not answer these questions are likely to have no problem with alcohol and drug abuse.

There are some additional questions, which should be taken into consideration in this strategy. Firstly it is essential to know the reasons for the teenager’s actions. Secondly, a doctor should know whether the teenager takes this issue by himself or in with their friends. Though a teenager is still a child, the doctors must observe patient-client confidentiality.

The patient-client confidentiality rule protects all the information the doctor has on the patient. The doctor can only release this information with the consent of the specific person. The particular law is rule 42 CFR in the health regulations ("Final Rule: 42 CFR Part 2", 2020). The medial fraternity has identified several mechanisms that can be used to support adolescents facing these external stressors. Firstly, in the case of parental abuse and neglect, they should tell their school counselor about it. The school counselor will talk to the parents themselves or even report the matter to the authorities who will take action.

Secondly, in the case of peer pressure, teenagers should purpose of having friends with whom they share the same ideology and beliefs. Lastly, in order to effectively deal with drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers, society needs to propyl educate teenagers. Recently, this duty has been left on the internet, which is not the right teacher. Educate the teenagers on the benefits of living a life free from alcohol and drug abuse.

References

Bücking A, R., V.S, •., J.B., D., C., G., & J, S. (2017). Karger.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020, from https://www.karger.com/Article/PDF/485031.

Final Rule: 42 CFR Part 2. Psychiatry.org. (2020). Retrieved 19 May 2020, from https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/practice-management/hipaa/42-cfr-part-2.

Foo, Y., Tam, C., & Lee, T. (2020). Family Factors and Peer Influence in Drug Abuse: A Study inRehabilitation Centre. Internalmedicine.imedpub.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020, from https://internalmedicine.imedpub.com/family-factors-and-peer-influence-in-drug-abuse-a-study-inrehabilitation-centre.php?aid=6072.