Dear Students,

Remember when health class was all about addiction and consumption?  The average student tends to forget all the videos in class about teenagers slowly falling into the nightmare of addiction. Most people don’t remember these warnings because their attention was elsewhere. Perhaps they were far off on an island with their bestfriend, or just daydreaming about their latest crush. Hence, they believed that avoiding drug addiction required only basic common sense. Listening to their teacher was a dreary waste of time

I believe humans unintentionally create illusion that bad things, such as drug addiction, would never happen to them, just like they hear about kidnappings on the news but still sneak out at 1 a.m. to see friends. By convincing themselves that tragic events would never visit them, they make themselves more vulnerable to serious trouble. They convince themselves that they are just having fun and it’s no big deal. However, if they listened to those videos in health class, they would know that that is precisely how addiction starts. By tuning out that 45 minute lecture in class, we may be leading ourselves unknowingly into that first experiment with drugs which can easily lead to a vicious cycle of regular use and denial of a growing problem. I know what most people are thinking, that health class isn’t what prevents people from abusing a substance. But in reality, it’s the little things that leave an impression on people. But I am not here to tell people to listen in class; only they can really do that. Instead, students need to ask themselves, how does drug addiction start?

The first reasoning that came into my head is that people try drugs first for fun, and then to cope with problems and stress. Eventually occasional use grows into a dependency on the substance. But we need to think outside of the box. Some people believe they are privileged and that drug addiction only happens to lowlifes who are unfortunate. Even while abusing a drug or/and alcohol, they do not believe addiction will ever be a problem. But in fact, “The genes that people are born with account for about half of a person's risk for addiction” (DrugFacts). So they continue to do it for fun, thinking that they can handle themselves. But after awhile, “As a person continues to use drugs, the brain adapts by reducing the ability of cells in the reward circuit to respond to it” (DrugFacts). That is the beginning of a very complicated and terrifying drug addiction. Peer pressure has a lot to do with this. People our age make themselves believe that they have to do it or they aren’t cool. I know it’s hard to say no in a way where your friends won’t think you’re “lame.” With the up and coming trend of the Juul, peer pressure has come upon many teenagers who would normally not be tempted, I being one of them. As my friend group begins to experiment with vaping devices, I have been put on the spot continuously. I am living proof that peer pressure is avoidable. You could simply say that your sports team is doing a check-up very soon, or that you are going to the doctors the next day. But truly, the best solution is to find a new group that respects your wants and especially your limits. And pay attention to those videos in health class; they’re not as silly as you might think.