High School Drug Use: Are Parent's Doing Enough?

The rates are alarming and the numbers are staggering. Many high school students and even junior high school students are getting into some heavy and illicit drug use. According to figures from the United States' Department of Justice, high school students were asked how easy it was for them to get certain drugs at high school, whether they took part in doing drugs or not. Surprisingly, about 85% of high school seniors in 2006 reported that they could obtain marijuana if they wanted to.

What does this mean?

Does that figure surprise any of you reading this? It might stand out to some, but others may not seemed to shocked. As a brand new parent, I'm outraged at that figure. What are these high school students doing in school these days besides learning? Furthermore, what are the parents and the community doing about it? It seems as though more programs need to be put in place for troubled teenagers who are at risk for abusing drugs and stricter drug rehab programs need to be enhanced in order for high schoolers to be drug free!

Wouldn't it be great if the percentage of high school kids that could easily obtain marijuana or another illegal drug was cut in half or even more than half? That would be a great goal and it's something that high schools and parents need to take into consideration. After all, what are our high school teenagers if not the future of today's society? Is this what parent's want for their high school teenagers?

Alternatives to Illegal Drugs

What about after-school programs that advocate being drug-free? What about the D.A.R.E program or the SADD program? If those programs are working, wouldn't it seem that more and more high schoolers would be drug-free? According to the same United States' Department of Justice report, about 45% of high school seniors reported that they had consumed alcohol within the past month. That figure isn't even including juniors, sophomores, or freshman, either! What's even more alarming is the fact that these figures are readily available but what is being done about them?

I didn't graduate high school all that long ago and sadly, my high school did not have that many drug-free programs to join. There was SADD, but that was about it. Maybe it shouldn't be up to the high schools to deal with lowering the rate of drug use and abuse among its students. Perhaps more parents should get involved by greater discipline and more interaction between the parent and student. One staggering issue that I am confronted with is the fact that some high school parents actually let their high schoolers throw "raves" or even parties that involve alcohol and drugs. Unfortunately most of those parents do not get into trouble legally, but they certain should be held responsible for their actions.

America needs to be brought back to reality on the issue of drugs within high schools. Alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, prescription drugs, inhalants, date-rape drugs, and others are all too prevalent within our education system. There needs to be a defiant cryout of either parents or drug-free students that truly care about bringing our children and teenagers back to a clean and drug-free state!