Living in a small town has its perks. We live boldly and loudly. But teens who develop unhealthy habits hide in the shadows.
In this day and age, partying is idolized in social media, and unfortunately, that mentality has been allowed to run rampant in our small town. We, as a society, have developed an unhealthy obsession with normalizing the use of illegal substances and bad decisions in general. Substance use could have serious medical and psychological repercussions. According to the Centers for Disease Control, underage drinking can cause slower brain development and loss of long or short-term memory. The consumption of alcohol under the age of 21 can also lower your self-esteem, support deviant behaviors, and increase your risk of long-term chronic depression according to the National Institute of Health.
However, it not only affects you physically. As a student at Meeker High School, I know the repercussions of excluding oneself from the normal “social life” known as party culture. By taking yourself out of the equation for those dangerous situations you avoid such mistakes; however, you also miss out on some important developmental stages of adolescence. I have been drawn to such types of parties; not for the “fun” aspect, but to attain some semblance of normalcy or perhaps to have those experiences that are deemed “rites of passage.”
In a small town such as ours, parents want to believe we have overcome the demons of this world. But in reality, we have ignored them, pushing them deep down so we don’t feel worry or guilt. But by doing so we are inadvertently encouraging our children to put themselves in harm’s way. The real world isn’t as forgiving as Meeker. The real world is deadly and cold. We must hold our children accountable for their actions while they’re here, in a nurturing environment where they can recover from their mistakes. Don’t let them fill the void of relationships with a bottle or a vape.
As a teen, I feel the temptation to numb with alcohol, but I have fought too hard toward a respectful relationship with my body. Some haven’t had that journey yet. We as a society have to realize the problem. Without doing so this unhealthy relationship to addictive substances will continue to grow. Childhood is where you develop long-lasting habits. Allowing our children to develop unhealthy ones now will open the doors for worse ones in the future. Children are the future of our beautiful town. If we allow them to fall into unhealthy habits we are sowing the seeds of our own destruction.
By MYLAH GALLEGOS
Mylah Gallegos is a Meeker High School senior and is completing a work-study program at the HT this year.