Responsibilities

It wasn’t that long ago that I was a teenager.  I’m only 31, so we’re not talking eons here.  But things have changed dramatically since then.  Drugs, especially prescription drugs, are so easily attainable.  Alcohol is also easy to get when you know who to ask or which store to go to.  We blame lawmakers, we blame store owners, and we blame parents.  But we overlook the fact that teens today are smarter than we realize, and that some of the responsibility must lie with them.  It scares the hell out of me when I think of how close my daughter is to her teenage years.  I can only hope that I’ve instilled what values I’ve held on to since my teenage years, and hope that if I give her a big enough boost, she’ll try to reach the stars. 

I was the product of a single parent home.  My mother was our rock, our constant, and the only one that we could always rely on for anything and everything.  We didn’t have much, and my mother struggled for every penny she earned, no thanks to my deadbeat father.  However, I can say that neither I nor my sister ever participated in underage drinking, underage smoking, or drugs on the whole.  I am proud to say that I’ve never picked up a cigarette, and never took any type of drug recreationally.  I’ve never been drunk in my life; I’ve never lost control of myself or my actions.  I’ve always been the designated driver, because to me, it’s just not worth it.  In addition, I can also say that my friends never did the whole peer pressure routine.  And if they did, I was smart enough to know it and to avoid it.

Why do teenagers, especially teenage girls, think it’s cool to binge drink and then pass out on a bathroom floor?  Do they think that it’s attractive when they are vomiting all over themselves?  It is a dangerous world for a young girl to drink to the point of intoxication, and many have been the victims of sexual assault.  I just don’t understand.  All I want to keep asking is “WHY, WHY, WHY?”  Is it because of the media and how they seem to glamorize underage drinking?  Is it because alcohol is so readily available, and so socially accepted?  Do these kids not understand that one night of partying can change their lives forever?  Drunk driving, blood alcohol poisoning, sexual assault, violence—does this sound like a good time to you?  It doesn’t to me.  Consumption of as little as four shots for a teenage girl is enough to cause blood alcohol poisoning. 

Most parents rely on their child’s school to teach them about drugs and alcohol.  There are DARE programs and health classes.  But for some reason, the teachings are not making their mark, not hitting the target.  Yes, the statistics show that the use of illicit drugs among teens has declined, but use of alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs has not budged.  Not to mention the use of ecstasy, methamphetamine, overdosing on cough syrup, and skittling.  That one might be the most disturbing of all.  Kids take their parents prescription medications, dump them into a big bowl at a party, and take a handful.  What are they thinking?  Do they realize that they are dipping their hands into a big bowl of death?  Again, I just don’t understand.

I guess that all I can really do is keep talking to my daughter; talk to her about these new fads in drug abuse and talk to her about underage drinking.  I need to know who she is with and where she is at all times.  That’s my responsibility as a parent.  I need to love her and support her, and tell her that she can be anything and do anything with her life.  I will always be proud of her, and tell her I love her.  I will be her rock.  Mom, thank you for being you.  Thank you for saying no and setting rules and curfews.  Thank you for showing me the way, and I hope that I can be the mom that you are to me.  I love you.