Posts Tagged ‘Teens and Identity’

Teens and Identity – Drugs and Alcohol –

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I think as teenagers, we are pressured. We feel a need to fit in, to look good, and maybe even feel good. But, a lot of us fall through the cracks, find ourselves unable to find our place, who we are, what we are, and that can make you feel alone. When it’s as if the world is pushing you away, when you feel like you don’t even matter. You want an outlet, maybe you find yourself surrounded by people who suddenly want to be your friend, or maybe it seems like you have it all, and you choose this not as an outlet- but to look cool. There are so many reasons teenagers- we, chose to do drugs, or to drink, but really in the end, the only reason I think someone would chose to do this, is because they want something. Drugs and alcohol are shown as something “cool”, or just “normal” in so many movies. So, we inherently have attached a sort of normal to doing these things. You want to fit in, you want to look cool. I honestly don’t think that it’s always the people doing drugs who make others do them to. I think that we push ourselves into it. We see others doing it, so we’ll want to, to then. If somebody bought a shirt, and then suddenly what seemed like everyone else had that shirt, you’d probably want that shirt too, so you could fit in, and not miss out. I think that the fear of missing out is also a factor. You don’t want to be the one who got left out, or miss out on some experience that’s “so fun”, or “so cool”. We all have problems, curiosity, fear- happiness even. But we all have different situations, different problems, fears, curiosity, happiness even, and that’s what decides whether drugs or alcohol become a part of who we are or not- we choose, we decide.