FREE ESSAY ON ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Jon Rigell
English 101-07
Cause and Effect Essay 
Dangerous Acts
Alcohol and drug abuse has been an active habit among college students sense the 1960s.
The immediate cause of this behavior was the youth's need to rebel against the overly
conservative American society. This rebellion led to a since of freedom for the young
adults, which caused them to continue acting in these unintelligent manners. After a
short period of time, late teens just did not belong if they were not participating in
the mischievous acts. Substance abuse quickly became a way of life for many young adults.
As a result, this inapt behavior still continues today. 
To first-time college students, acting in a way that parents would disapprove somehow
exhibits breaking from the womb. This "Mom can't control me now" attitude greatly
contributes to substance abuse among undergraduates. These students have been taught
throughout their entire lives exactly what not to do; but they now have the ability to
decide for themselves. Naturally, the late teenagers are intrigued about what has been
forbidden to them in the preceding years.
This inquisition results from inexperience. The growing strictness of parents greatly
interferes with the maturing of adolescents. Consequently, teenagers enter the final
stages of growth at the college level instead of high school. The college campus provides
a vast learning environment in which students easily break from parent limitations.
Student's perplexity intensifies as the parent's role of guiding is omitted. The naive
young adults, now forced come to their own conclusions, often make poor choices. Costly
mistakes prevail as the underdeveloped adults lack the proper preparation of which the
university environment requires. 
This college environment proves to be a very trying atmosphere to the young adults.
Confusion and hardship inevitable follow departure of the home. Thus, the college years
have developed into a time for finding oneself. Alcohol and drug abuse provide a means to
conceal feelings of insecurity that arise from the students uncertainty of themselves.
Substance abuse acts as a stress reducer through the beginning stages of college.
The most common characteristic of a human being is the necessity to adapt to a given
surrounding. This trait consists of both good and bad aspects. Certain adaptations are
positive while others can be destructive. Many students enter college with extensive
education on substance abuse. Unfortunately, these students receive a hands on lesson
from peers that indicates using is inconsequential. Fraternity parties and dorm room
gatherings overcome the students. Some of these students even disapprove of these social
functions at first. However, they quickly become immune to the atmosphere. The end result
is the participation of these once pure students in the conventional behavior. The facts
and statistics are quickly forgotten and washed away.
The students who do not adapt and choose to abstain are immediately labeled negatively.
By choosing not to participate in the universal activity on campus, these students limit
their social life. This is a tremendous sacrifice. College supposedly represents the best
years a person's of life. No one wants to miss out due to being perceived as overwrought
and uptight. For this reason, students compromise their high ethics and beliefs in order
to belong. By relinquishing, they rid themselves of the undesirable depiction, and they
become "normal". These students end up joining right into the excitement and promptly
show disregard for the beliefs that had previously held such importance.
Other students begin with just a couple beers and move on to harder drugs. The same logic
and reasoning that justifies drinking is incorporated into the decision to try drugs.
More than not, students are under the influence of alcohol when experimenting with a drug
for the first time. Once the initial defensive shields are let down the student's morals
and limitations quickly deteriorate. This leads to continuous substance abuse thereafter.
With friends partaking in the unhealthy acts themselves, guidance away from such behavior
is difficult to come by. Students fail to notice the negative effects of the abuse due to
their surroundings. 
As long as grades are maintained and classes are accredited for, students are capable of
justifying this wild way of life. The dangers of this behavior are easily overlooked when
responsibilities are being met. The undergraduates also possess an excellent front to
present to parents when the semester concludes. Thus, parents are in the dark in relation
to the actual events of their child's life. Students don't see the correlation between
dropping grades and substance abuse. They dismiss lower grades as the result of a
difficult class or an impossible professor. A low "C" is suddenly viewed as a high enough
grade. The once great ambitions of the students fall to improvisation.
College greatly complicates the lives of many young adults. Problems arise as students
take on loads of tedious work and thorny new surroundings. However, the hardest test
takes place outside the classroom. Changing a series of factors can reduce the complexity
of this test. In history, society has repeatedly created itself over again with each
generation. This phase of substance abuse could easily be erased with the next wave of
students. The students that abuse alcohol and drugs are intelligent, differential
students. Their purity lies within but is overcome by their surroundings. These students
possess the necessary principles but lack the confidence to stand on their own. Their
righteousness is only temporarily lost and can easily be derived again.