Hey
there, welcome back to my blog!
In case you haven’t heard, I’m in
the middle of a series called #HowISurvivedHighSchool. If you clicked on this post and saw the
title, you should already know. So this
is going to be part 2, but if you haven’t read part one, you can read that post
here.
In the last post I made some “rules”
about this series. I’m going to post
them again in every post just so we’re all in the same understanding. Today I’m going to talk about some pretty
heavy stuff so feel free to click out at any point.
1. This
is a 6 week series and a new part will be posted each Wednesday (so mark your calendars.)
2. I
am NOT here to call anyone out or speak poorly of anyone I’ve encountered
throughout my High School career. That’s
not my vibe and my intentions of writing these posts are to encourage; not to
bring anyone down.
3. I
will be talking about certain people I’ve encountered and things I’ve
experienced, but please know that NO NAMES will be mentioned; if a name has to
be used it will be changed.
4. All
the things I am going to tell you are true and are my stories that I have a
right to tell.
5. Please
read/listen with open ears and hearts.
6. Some
of the topics I will be discussing are mature and very series at times so if
you can’t handle the intensity, please feel free to click out at any time.
Today I want to address something
that is becoming a huge issue in our society: the fact that teenagers are
gaining such a bad reputation in society and how I avoided being “one of those
kids”. I want to speak mostly to my
younger audience, but I want the older ones to listen with open ears so that
maybe you’ll understand that we aren’t all the same.
So one time I was at
work and just to give you a little background of this story, it was pretty
early in the morning and I hadn't had enough coffee yet to get me going. It was
also the day after the 4th of July and the night before I was up late working
at the county fair so you can imagine how tired I was. Anyway, this lady
sitting at the counter says to me “you look like you were up late partying.” Now keep in mind I did know her and knew she
was only joking, but it got me thinking. I thought, “Well that's probably what
most people my age did last night so no wonder someone would assume something
like that.”
I think the reason my
generation has such a bad reputation these days is due to the small fraction
that do choose to go down the wrong paths. Those are the ones who you see in
the news stories. “Local teens vandalize park equipment”, “a group of teens
were found guilty in a drug case”, and so forth. You rarely ever see people my age make the
news for something good. It’s
depressing, really. While we’re on the
topic, just a small piece of advice: don’t read the news. It really puts a damper on your potential to
live care free.
So what causes kids to
go down the wrong path? There are many
answers to this question and it all depends on the case you’re looking at. Some possibilities can be mental health,
physical health, bad influences, and family.
Now I’m not a psychologist or anything but I can tell you almost every
single person I know personally who has had drug/alcohol problems also has
family issues at home. Which actually
makes sense if you think about it; compare the divorce rate (40-50%) to the
percentage of teens who have misused drugs (50%) and alcohol (63%.) This is certainly not the case with every
teen, but there is clearly a relationship between the two.
Enough statistics
though, I want to tell you a little bit about how this relates to my life and
how it affected my High School career.
First and foremost, I want to say that I have never misused any type of
drug or drank any type of alcohol during my High School career. Period.
Why? The short answer is frankly
because it doesn’t sound appealing to me.
Now let me make it clear that because we’re talking about High School
there is ALWAYS the pressure to “do what everyone else is doing” and to “fit in
with the crowd.”
The devil is very good
at filling our minds and ears with tempting thoughts. I along with probably almost every single
High Schooler in America have struggled with temptation at some point or
another. It’s difficult when you’re
still growing up and figuring everything out and the people around you are
already dealing with adult issues. I
think one of the hardest parts is being in the middle and watching someone you
love destroy their life and their relationships because they gave into the
temptation.
One of the biggest
reasons that keeps me from being one of them is because I’ve seen this happen
over and over again to people I know and love dearly. It’s heartbreaking because they get so caught
up in being on this high and feeling good that they don’t realize how they’re destroying
their life until it’s too late. And you
can’t even help them because they’re so bound to this new lifestyle. I had someone one time trying to convince me
that smoking weed is good for you. You
have to be head deep in lies to believe that.
I suppose it makes people feel better about themselves if they try to
twist their addiction into something that “benefits their health.”
The best thing you can
do in your High School career to avoid being caught up in the same lies as
everyone else is to surround yourself with the right people. It only takes one unhealthy relationship to
develop the same habits as them and I think that’s what happens to a lot of
people in High School. Find people who
will make sure you’re staying on the right path and will hold you accountable
for your actions. It is much easier to
go to someone and say “hey, I’m struggling with temptation again. Can you help me?” Then to try to fight it yourself.
No one prepared me for
some of the issues that I had to deal with.
The thing was, they weren’t my own issues but they still affected me
nonetheless. People always taught me how
to say no to being peer pressured into it myself but no one taught me how to
help others who are struggling with it.
No one prepared me for the phone call I got one night from a friend
after a bad breakup saying they had one too many beers that night. No one prepared me to watch someone get
kicked out of youth group because they were high. The only thing worse than dealing with the
issues yourself is being a bystander and watching it happen to someone
else. That will always be enough reason
for me to say no.
I
have too good of a life to just throw it all away for a high that’s only
temporary. I’ve worked hard to be
respected in society and part of that is not involving myself in things that
could potentially ruin the reputation I’ve worked so hard to gain. And I hope and pray that this message opens
the eyes of someone who may be struggling with one of these issues. Because trust me, once you get to the point
in your life where you’re happier than any drug or drink makes you; you won’t
ever want to change that.
National drug/alcohol Helpline: 1-888-633-3239
