Prevention of adolescent risk behavior is a hot topic in our society currently. There are many studies and surveys that help scientists and theorists explain why adolescents take the risks that they do. Adolescents have always been known to behave in a way that could be seen as risky by the rest of society and many people have made it their mission to come up with different ways of prevention.
Most adolescents in today’s society are faced with a whole new set of risks and dangers compared to previous generations. It can almost be said that there is no safe place for teenagers these days between all of the new technology and society as a whole. There is a very broad range of dangers and risks that adolescents can engage in and most of the time, if an adolescent engages in one then he or she will engage in other ones as well. According to the text book, the five main adolescent risk behaviors are “antisocial behavior, cigarette smoking, drug misuse, alcohol misuse, and sexual behavior that risk pregnancy or disease”.
I believe that antisocial behavior in adolescents is one of the largest problems in our society for teenagers. Having antisocial behavior covers a very large spectrum of actions and feelings. The two main parts of antisocial behavior would be aggressive and criminal acts. These behaviors are very much based on a variety of factors. A few of these factors would be race, economic status, gender, and age. Research from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System helps attribute to this idea that different environmental factors contribute to how likely an adolescent is to engage in these behaviors.
According to Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System taken in 2011, “16.2% of students had been electronically bullied, in...
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... part of growing up and going through puberty that it is hard to deter adolescents from having intercourse. Then there is the effect that the media has on the idea of being sexually active. With television shows like “16 and Pregnant”, it is hard to make adolescents see that the risks are very high.
With all of the risky behaviors that adolescents engage in, it affects our society and communities as a whole. Every risk that an adolescent takes affects more than just them. Most likely it will contribute a negative effect on the community. If society does not continue to come up with modes of prevention and education, it will seem as though these risks and behaviors are condoned and turned into social norms. Adolescents in this day and age have a lot going against them and it takes a lot more to overcome the temptations that come with being a part of this generation.
“Youth and Tobacco Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
Among adolescents, a certain degree of misbehavior, experimentation, or independence seeking is common. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association (1994) indicates that "New onset of oppositional behaviors in adolescence may be due to the process of normal individuation." On the other hand, youth who persistently and progressively engage in problem behaviors with significant impairment in personal development, social functioning, academic achievement, and vocational preparation are of great concern to caretakers. Also of concern is the broad category of "antisocial behaviors" that have an appreciable harmful effect on others, in terms of inflicting physical or mental harm on others or causing property loss or damage.
There are six categories of risk behaviors in today’s students. The first one is behaviors that contribute to unintentional and intentional injuries, both of these injuries are very common in young people, and are the leading cause of death. The next category is tobacco use, is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States. Tobac...
The rise of the teen pregnancy rate has caused us to question the effectiveness of the prevention programs that are offered to adolescents. There have been several programs focused on preventing teen pregnancy from abstinence-only to more comprehensive sexual education programs. Abstinent-only advocates believe that abstaining from having intercourse is the only way to prevent unwanted teen pregnancy. While practicing abstinence is the only 100% secure method of reducing this rate, it is not a logical view. Adolescents will continue to have sexual behavior, and it is important in teaching them more precise education when it comes to sex education. With-holding important information and facts about sexual behavior can change an adolescents’ life forever. Whether it be from teen pregnancy or from a life threatening STD.
Pre-teenagers and teenagers are having sexual intercourse or participating in other sexual acts. According to the Center of Disease Control in 2009 46% of students have had sexual intercourse (Center for Disease Control, 2010). That is almost half of America’s high school students. Nationwide 5.9% of students have had sexual intercourse before the age of thirteen (Center for Disease Control, 2010). Out of those students surveyed 34.2% admitted to not using any type of protection to prevent sexually transmitted infections or pregnancy (Students Againist Destructive Decisions, 2010). It is important to remember that these teens are having sex with little to no formal education on the topic of sex.
All in all, there are many theories floating around us on why teenagers become “mass destructions of themselves”. Not to mention, through research we can see that children are a product of their environment however, if people would stop being arrogant and show kindness to others the word “outcast” would no longer exist and physiological issues would begin to affect children in a more positive way. All in all, I believe all teenagers can avoid becoming delinquent’s if they become more involved with the communities, kill the wretched with kindness, and most importantly had a more balanced meal throughout their days.
A teenager is likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol, especially during high school. Some teenagers try it and do not like it, others love it. This love for drugs and alcohol becomes a regular activity, and then a teen may become dependent on the drug or drink, and can progress to addiction. These stages of substance abuse affect one's relationships, health and ambitions.
Social media is having negative effects on teenagers. Since teens can feel safe behind a screen they are a lot more comfortable doing things that they should be more cautious to doing. First example of this is sexual encounters online aka “sexting”. Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos over a cell phone or the Internet. By not being face to face it makes it easy to send explicit pictures to another person, and engaging in sexual conversation. Peer pressure plays a big role in these behaviors to gain status in the social
transcends into adulthood (Casey, 2008). During adolescence there are examinable changes in various areas of life. These changes occur physically as the adolescent goes through puberty, as well as psychological changes where high emotional reactivity emerges, and social development is at its height (Casey, 2008). Adolescents are more likely than adults or children to engage in risky behaviour that can subsequently lead to death or illness by drunk driving, carrying weapons, using illegal drugs, and engaging in unprotected sex, which in turn can lead to STD’s and teenage pregnancies (Eaton, 2006). The prior is proof that adolescents do engage in risky behaviour. Through this essay we will explore the various theories of why risky behaviour is at its height during adolescence.
Adolescence is a stage in life that is marred by physical and hormonal changes that influence a person’s field of decision-making. During this time, adolescents are enticed to experiment on drugs and other dangerous habits. Research has shown that substance abuse among the youth leads to troubled interpersonal relationships, increased vehicle accidents, physical dependence, unprotected sex, increased hostility, and increased suicidal ideation (Hansell & White, 1991; Newcomb, Scheier & Bentler, 1993; North, 2012).
In recent years, smoking has started to take over the lives of many teenagers. The number of teenagers smoking has increased dramatically in the last several years. This is a major problem because smoking can lead to sickness and major diseases that can lead to death. Teens tend to participate in this while out of the presence of an adult figure. Although teens should not be smoking in the first place, an adult figure should be around to help insure that their children are doing the right things, even when they are behind sealed doors with their peers. Teenagers as they mature become a model for younger children and when they set the example of smoking can ruin their respectable image to the children that look up to them.
Disturbing Behavior is about 53 things that teens do to occupy their time. Teens do a lot of things from abortions, jelly bracelets/SNAP, oral sex, over-the counter, drugs to believing in different religious cults. Most of these are trends that teenagers do in order to keep themselves up with society. Different factors play a role in teenager’s trends such as psychological and social factors. All of these factors have an impact on teen’s disturbing behavior. Finally, sometimes the family has lifestyles that influence a lot of peers, their experiences and knowledge.
Bullying is a worldwide problem and it requires immediate attention because it psychologically affects both the victims and the bullies. Victims may ultimately have suicidal thoughts and bullies will have uncontrolled behaviors that carry on through school and after school, but they can be helped. Although cyber bullying is a big obstacle due to the large-scale usage of internet and the ability to conceal identities, technological advancements and child supervision help to single out these individuals to reduce the amount of bullying that occurs.
...olescences to abuse drugs depending on the influencing stimuli. We must educate the adolescences on respectable behavior and consequences to drug seeking behaviors and addiction.
...ation. Sex education and access to contraceptives will prevent teens from making the wrong decision. Healthcare providers should also make teens aware of the sexual risk behaviors such as HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and dating violence (Teen Pregnancy & Childbearing 1). In order to prevent the number of teen pregnancies from increasing, adolescents need support from their peers, parents and the media. Teens need to be aware of the negative outcomes and want a healthy future consisting of education, a job, and a healthy relationship.