3 minute read
MS. ANDREWS
![“In order to really assist a student, you have to either catch them or provide access to supports that students can participate in like self-referral. We have that with our Wellness Center and our amazing counseling team. We have access points if people feel that maybe somebody's making those decisions that are unhealthy, and they feel that an individual needs help, or that an individual feels like they need help. I want to make sure [it’s known] that we do have resources for students that may need it. I’d rather have that and students in general having that rational thought of ‘Hey, maybe what I’m doing is unhealthy and not good for me' than a student firting with our rules until possibly getting caught.”](https://static.isu.pub/fe/default-story-images/news.jpg)
Facts based on research by the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics for 2023
How much drug use went up among eighth graders between 2016 and 2020
A:
Q: Q: A:
Is there a step-by-step process to dealing with these addictions or drug dependencies?
“Stepwise, it's recognizing whether you can do your life with or without it, and fguring out where you can cut it out. Find the right people to hang out with and enjoy that time while still being sober, and then strengthen those friendships and bonds. If it's making your life go down in any way, then you're going to have motivation for reducing it. You just have to be able to connect the dots and once you start connecting them, you'll realize ‘Oh, this isn’t who I am.' It's about taking a look at your own personal values—how using [drugs] isn't in alignment with your values—and creating that cognitive dissonance to where you can be like, ‘I don't want to exist in this space where what I'm doing is not in line with who I am.’"
What advice would you give to students currently battling addictions or who are hesitant to look for help?
“You don’t have to do this alone. A lot of times, getting involved in stuf starts of as a social thing, but it can be very lonely. There’s so many people that want to spend time with you, that want to connect with you, that want to be there for you, that want to help you with your stress, that want to help fnd a way to get you through all of this. Let down your guard and be with people who support you being your best self.”
by Stavyah Naveen
Teenagers often lack immunity to the terrorizing temptation of peer pressure and social media. The rising prevalence of vaping among adolescent communities is no exception. Despite the recent approval of Proposi tion 31, a ban on favored tobacco prod ucts, teenage vaping is not likely to sub side.
In the past election, lawmakers rat ifed a ban on fruit and candy-favored e-cigarettes, vape pods and chewing to bacco in an attempt to deviate adolescent attention from vaping. The ofcial ballot argument stated that 80 percent of kids who vape started with a favored tobacco product. However, according to the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, only 22.4 percent of middle and high school vapers report trying e-cigarettes due to the availability of favors. Students more commonly cited curiosity or peer pres sure as reasons to try e-cigarettes. Even if we establish restrictions, the inherent issue behind the prevalence of teenage vaping is the stigmatization and normal ization of vaping in teen culture.
According to US News, one of the pri mary infuences for people to use e-ciga rettes is the pressure of “social media and curiosity,” with “pro-vaping messages on social media, [including] videos showing people how to do vaping tricks or mix favors.” With the imminent gloom of peer pressure—digital and in-person—on teenagers, the ban on favored vapes is less likely to prevent teenagers from con tinuing to vape because it fails to target the heart of the issue.
In fact, this has already proven to be true. A [year] survey conducted by the University of Rochester Medical Cen ter, with more than 3,500 participants, found that rather than quitting e-cig arettes, most vapers just switched to favored products that weren’t listed in the ban, with some even going back to smoking traditional cigarettes. The survey found that “fewer than 5 per cent [of vapers] actually quit smoking” following the ban.
The plethora of alternative options continues to infuence vapers to persist. According to the study, the ban did not cover favored, disposable e-cigarette products or menthol products, which were each soared in popularity by 30 percent following the enactment of the ban. Considering the peer pressure that continues to infuence adolescent vapers, as well as the addictiveness of vaping (whose nicotine is suggested to be as ad an opinion about one of the articles, letters can be hightideonline@gmail.com
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