Substance abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Substance abuse - Essay Example Karen wanted to draw strength from her two daughters, not knowing whether what she has said could make things better, or worse. Philip was nowhere to be found, or he was gone off with somebody. Kids seemed responsible high school students. When Karen is off for the office, she’d see the girls in their room studying, but mostly, Marie is much busy with the internet. As time went by, Marie showed signs of irritability and getting angry over small things. The two kids would also fight over trivial matters. And Karen couldn’t give the needed extra attention to the kids; her job demanded as much time now that she had to earn more. Some chain reaction: Joanne’s school report of falling grades, and behavior problems like prolonged temper tantrums, excessive aggression, impulsivity or risk taking. Sometimes, Karen would discover sticks of cigarettes, rolling paper and pipe in Joanne’s handbag, and the smell of alcohol in her young girl’s breath. Is it too late for Karen to have discovered Joanne’s – and Marie’s – substance abuse? The basic institution in a community which is the family has the first responsibility of detecting and coping with substance abuse in kids. Parents should be able to detect early signs of drug problem in their children before things get worse. But what if the single parent, in this case Karen, has first to recover from the trauma of divorce? According to Crowley and Whitmore, adolescents who might be using drugs have a change of behavior. The signs Karen observed in her two kids are indications that one or both are into drugs. Where could they have gotten of the illegal drugs? Numerous sources could provide – school, peers, the internet, etc. Forman (2008) has an intriguing article entitled â€Å"Drug Dealers in Your Home†. He said that the â€Å"internet is a haven for selling and buying all sorts of drugs without prescription.† This means that anybody can buy drugs through websites