I was going to go search out concrete statistics regarding the death rate among people aged 15-21 who died every year from drugs and alcohol. Then I realized something, there is no such thing as "concrete" in statistics and so, instead, i'll tell my own story.
I am 22 years old and I know, personally, and through friends, of 8 people who have died in the past four years from drugs or alcohol. This doesn't even count the people I don't know. Or the people I'm forgetting to count. That's one person every 6 months since I left high school. But lets leave death out of this.
The number of kids I went to high school with who have done nothing with their lives save go to jail, rehab, or gotten a DUI is astronomical. The smartest kids I knew during those four years have found their way to heroin, blow, meth, and I am sure - this new drug Smiles - as well as molly, LCD, Ecstasy, alcohol, Oh and how could I forget, pills pills pills. So many prescription pills doctors hand out to anyone with a good enough excuse to take them, A good enough excuse and damn good acting skills. As well as a plethora of other substances of which I don't know the name. So these once straight A dream filled, wide-eyed teens have grown into dilated-eyed, mind screwed, hopeless people - looking for their next fix or holding on for dear life at the months of sobriety they've found, praying they don't get bored enough to fall back into it.
I know, i'm painting a grim picture here. I know, they're "young" and experiencing new things. I know - most kids come out, unscathed. Look at the people who lived during the 60's and 70's - no really, look at them. I rest my case.
Two teens died in a 24 hour period from this drug "smiles?" Why? Why are some kids so "decision challenged" and others decide to actually do something productive with their time? I am deathly afraid of having children.
My heart aches for what we could be doing. Where we could be in life. It's the people who believe they can change the world who can. I know this sounds naive but is it really? Why is it crazier to want to help change the world than to sit on my ass and do drugs "for fun?" Why is it crazy to believe in love and loyal dogs, and people saving each other and it's not crazy to people at all when another person dies or kills under the influence? When did that become the "normal?" When did that become reality?
Reality is, kids do what's cool. Kids do what's available in their friend groups. Kids are the most easily moldable and pressured people there are - and in their quest to prove us wrong, they do exactly what we all expect. I am praying like hell for the next generation. Pleeeeease be smarter, please care about something bigger and better than the next high - because you're not just "having fun," you're hindering the world from moving forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment