One major contributing cause of drug abuse in the teen population is low self-esteem. In this moment of their life, the adolescents are more sensitive to the impact of drugs, so they take more risks and don’t think about the consequences. The drugs make them feel powerful, teens who starting to use drugs sometimes believes that will make them better them other, and they will get everything. Besides these points, the combination of drugs and low self-esteem, in a negative way, contribute to teenagers escape from the reality, it’s an option to supress the problems that they are passing through.
Another main cause of teen drug abuse in Canada is lack of parental guidance. In many families, both parents work outside the home, so the kids stay a lot of time alone, and also the parents often don’t have time to pay attention to their children’s needs, so parents may not be aware of the warning signs that their children show, even when they are clear and obvious.
As well as low self-esteem and lack of parental guidance, desire to be accepted by peers often leads teenagers into drug abuse. They want to be seen as “cool”, because that way they can fit into a group, and don’t feel alone or less important. This make them want “instant” friends, so they can feel part of something.
In conclusions, a lack of self-respect, negligent families, and influential peers are all causes that contribute to expansion of using drugs in an abusive way by Canadian teenagers.
The best way to stop teens from using and abusing drugs is to address all these causes. Only then will there be a decrease in the number of teenagers who use drugs.
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