Most Students Don’t Consider Alcohol a Drug
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention completed a study in 2010 showing one in four high-school students partake in binge drinking. Counselor Curt Mace, with Lewis Central H.S., says many students don’t think alcohol is a drug but rather believe it’s socially acceptable.
Mace says the topic comes up repeatedly when counseling students. Counselors at the school say many students they talk with say that they use alcohol for many reasons but their number one reason is to be socially accepted, not because of peer pressure. Some of those same students tell counselors they use alcohol to cope with or escape from their troubled lives at home or to deal with certain at-risk situations when they are anxious, confused or depressed.
Sadly, according to an article in the Southwest Iowa News, teenagers who begin abusing drugs or alcohol by age 15 have emotional and social delays. Even in adulthood they will continue to handle problems and social scenarios as if they were still 15.
The counselors pointed out that the most common signs of substance abuse or alcohol abuse show up in problems at home, school, in relationships and on the job. Other signs are withdrawal from friends and family, falling grades, lack of communication and sometimes financial issues where money disappears from a parent’s purse or wallet. Teenagers will show changes in personality and behaviors, cutting school or classes, and may also stop activities and hobbies.
A website for the University of Iowa Health Care says that over 60 percent of seniors in high school drink at least once a week and alcohol is the most common drug of choice.
