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Posted by: happyveggies on 2010-05-20, 09:42:08
The topic is poorly worded. "indulges " is a bad choice so I'm going to pretend it reads as "Absence of role models actuates young generation towards drug addiction " (just so I can be happy ;) ) Just FYI on terms I use to differentiate between child and youth: Early childhood= 3-5 yrs Late childhood= 6-11yrs So when I refer to children I include both categories :) Adolescence= 10-20 yrs And this is what I am assuming is the age range for the debate topic labeled as "youth " It is not 100% "caused " by the absence of adult guidance, although adults are THE only resource CHILDREN have for learning about norms, mores, responsibility, and healthy leisure and from that starting point they carry over these skills and practices into their impressionable and tumultuous introduction to peer influences in their youth years. Youth are highly influenced by their social connections, where children are by their parents. SO, if in the beginning they did not develop strong moral and ethical boundaries or were exposed to them as children, they can be easily pressured into trying deviant forms of leisure as youths. Don't get me wrong, there are always exceptions to both! Coping skills also come into play here and they are strongly correlated with what they see the adults around them do, and if there is no primary role model, then they cannot build off of that foundation. Youth who do not have coping skills modeled by adults may cope with stress, anxiety, not handling relationship conflicts, etc by temporarily erasing the stressor through the use of drugs. As with any addiction, there needs to be a repeated amount of successful uses for the user to become dependent on the drug, and wires their brain to associate the euphoria of drug use as solving the problem. Which of course isn't true for a plethora of reasons. You may want to start your research around a specific aspect of youth drug use from the absence of adult role models. Do you want to focus on: 1) parents, mentors, coaches, extended family etc (they are all in the adult role which youth look up to, seek and learn from when they have issues) and either their lack of availability for youth to approach them, lack of trust for the youth to feel safe in seeking their help, or lack of knowledge they can share with the child which may result in a) lack of social skills developed b) lack of coping skills developed c) no established parameters around their own beliefs on drug use c) lack of knowledge on the consequences of drug habits, and drug use alone, and d) the lack of exposure and involvement of healthy, meaningful leisure and recreational opportunities which develop skills, social networks and supports, healthy coping and healthy physical, mental and emotional development (which adults usually are the ones who enroll the children in, support them, etc. in these pursuits) Or maybe that with the absence of role models, youth are not "caught " after using drugs by adults who care for them and try to teach them appropriate behaviours, approaches etc. hence the continuation and development of drug addiction. Or whatever else tickles you that you come across in your analysis! So as you can see you will need to split the topic with your group members if you are in a group, or focus in on a particular sector of the influence adults have on youth (being emotional, social etc, and how those influences affect youths problem solving and coping skills). BUT a word of caution: I "m not sure at what level you are debating this at- college, high school etc. and your previous studies and courses, but this question really goes back to child psychology and child development, for the susceptibility, likelihood and probability of youth developing drug addictions ties into their upbringing as babies through childhood, as well as their socioeconomic status, family cohesiveness, family values and expectations, attitude disposition (hardy or helpless) etc etc, so if there are not stable, reliable, safe and approachable adults for the "child " to seek guidance and learn from, as they move into the "youth " category they will seek alternate forms of creating that support structure. *NOTE* this is like the very basic intro into addictions 101- there is SOOO much more information, implications, results, influences, etc. that contribute to the development of youth deviance through drug use. But YES adult role models have a SIGNIFICANT and IMPORTANT role in this transitive phase! I could keep going but your eyes probably hurt by now, and I'd really have to get into the background of child development and addictions process and sociology to elaborate on any more non-generic points. |
