An article by Sara Hinckley
The following article was written and submitted by the person whose name appears below. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent the views of Teen Mania Ministries. Any facts and supporting research mentioned in the article have not been verified by Teen Mania Ministries.
Under the Influence
by Sara Hinckley
There are too many teens today in this world who are turning to drugs and alcohol instead of turning to God.
There are too many girls who turn to their boyfriends for comfort and end up contracting a sexually transmitted disease (or STD) or getting pregnant. If you are reading this right now, you probably know as well as I do that our generation is in desperate need of help.
Take for example, style, or what some girls like to call “fashion sense.” I personally think that nobody should be stereotyped, but when you look at some of the girls who go to your school, who hang out in those little groups that the guys are always chasing after; it’s hard not to stereotype them.
There was one time where every girl in my school went nuts for those hideous sparkly purses. It started out with just one girl doing it because she thought it was something different to have, or simply because she thought it was cool. Then, another girl from a completely different clique got one because she thought it was cool. Then another one got it, and another, and another. Eventually, the school was filled with these hideous sparkly purses.
It’s the same exact thing with drugs and alcohol. Someone tries it because someone else thought it was cool and tried it. And then they get addicted. Teenagers who have younger brothers or sisters usually do not know that their little brothers and sisters are looking up to what they do when they use drugs or alcohol. They don’t know what’s going on in these children’s minds, and they don’t know the negative affect that they’re having on their little brothers or sisters.
Just like children, when a teenager has parents that drink or use drugs, they tend to want to be like their parents. When their parents drink and drive or use drugs, it’s almost like saying “It’s okay to do this”. Alcohol interferes with the ability to make correct decisions, as the world has shown us.
Sometimes, these problems can stretch so far that the teenager contemplates things like suicide and running away, or starts cutting, or starts drinking or using illegal drugs. Why? Because they are simply trying to find an escape for the pain that they feel.
Things such as magazine articles about dieting, or the improved weight of the latest actress, are giving society’s teenagers the wrong impression.
Some girls seem to think that when they see a huge movie star become anorexic, this could be telling them, in a form they don’t recognize, that it’s okay to starve yourself.
Studies have shown that when teenagers read about the latest weight loss program, or how to get the body of their dreams, that they are more than likely to practice extreme weight loss measures such as becoming bulimic way more than teenagers who didn’t read the articles.
Sixty nine percent of girls in one of these studies said that magazine models influence their idea of a perfect body. The women in magazines, movies, music videos, etc. are considered to be “perfect”. But it is proven that women who get breast implants tend to have pain, problems with tumors, and links with auto-immune disorders. Studies have proven that boys who try to lose weight are likely to turn to smoking.
The music and television industries, within the past few years, have become more perverted than ever. Young teens have stated that a major source of sex education is from the television. The shows these teenagers are being exposed to are giving them the wrong idea about sex.
These programs draw them in, the wrong way. It is proven that out of the 140,000 references to sex, there will only be a small percentage (around 165) that will include references on the abstinence or delay of sex, birth control, risk of pregnancy, or sexually transmitted diseases.
But what about music? What good are the majority of popular artists and bands doing for America’s teenagers today? It’s not uncommon in music videos for the guy, who could be the singer of the song, to be fully dressed, and then show women in the background, who could possibly be dancing, wearing pretty much nothing. This problem is present in video games as well.
We’ve all noticed that there aren’t very many video games that star a female character. But the few females that are in the games today are usually highly sexualized, unlike real life women.
In several video games, the male is considered to be a “hero”, yet in a game from the Nukem Series, prostitutes are forced to take off their clothes, and then are killed.
Or, in Grand Theft Auto 3, prostitutes can be killed by using a baseball bat, and in other several violent ways.
Violence is a way teenagers can easily be blinded without even knowing it. After playing a violent video game, or getting into a fight, the teenager’s perception of violence will never be the same. And being exposed to violence just once, it is proven that the teenager is more likely to get into violence.
The Annals of Behavioral Medicine states that teenagers exposed to violence had higher blood pressure, a higher heart rate, and higher levels of cortisol. These problems have been linked to problems later on in life, such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. The results of these tests are suggesting that exposure to violence early as a teenager or adolescent can lead to serious problems later on in life.
Violence plays a big role in some teens’ lives, and with adolescent females, it could be with dating someone who is violent. Facts state that 50 percent of men who abuse their spouse will abuse their children.
There are so many troubled teens out in the United States, and all over the world, that are in desperate need of help. Some of them are blinded so terribly that they think what they’re doing, whether it’s drugs, alcohol, having sex, etc. is the right thing to do.
The media these days keeps getting worse and worse, and these teens and adolescents don’t have a clue what’s going on.
The music is getting more and more perverted, as are the television shows and the commercials. Without even knowing it, so many teens are turning to the devil’s side, instead of God’s side.
We need to reach out to them before the devil has completely destroyed them. We need to reach out before these statistics raise to an all time high, higher than they are now. We need to get the message across before it’s too late.