Sky High

Articles

Sky High

By Ambreen Momin
Nov. 7, 2004

I was wondering what on earth I could use for material for my next article when it occurred to me that I could do what I usually did to find new material: I went and talked to people. A little discussion about classes, and an idea fell right into my lap—or rather my ears—as our discussion of the worthlessness of playing team handball in P.E turned to drugs for A.D.D. Everyone is on medication nowadays; the adolescents of today have become dependent on all sorts of drugs, both prescribed and social drugs.

In one week I have discovered that 5 of my friends take drugs: two are quite completely hooked on nicotine, two are taking medication for A.D.D and one is on antidepressants. What flabbergasts me is that only three of the five HAVE to take drugs! In fact, one of the ones with A.D.D is on a rather new drug, of which a side effect is depression, so he is on mild antidepressants as well. To the three that can't help what the doctors force-feed them, I really am sorry. Look on the bright side, at least you aren't addicted to your respective drugs.

Now we turn our attention to the two with the nicotine problem. It's not thebest idea to start smoking with you're a freshman in high school or even before that. As a society of hedonists, we are constantly looking for something that makes us feel BETTER than everything else. One of these two, or even both, are going to get tired of cigarettes, and then they're going to start on something else. Maybe Cocaine, maybe Herione. Both of them are already relatively heavy drinkers who somehow manage to get drunk within 10 minutes of entering a club. Actually, one of them has just had to quit smoking due to his lungs practically incinerating.

Anyway, this is just five out of about a thousand people who go to my high school. Compared to the US, that's absolutely nothing, but for Singapore, the amount of underage drinkers and drug abusers in just international schools is sky high, no pun intended. Out of the thousand, easily one half drinks on a regular basis, and/or smokes, or takes some other drug. Out of the freshman alone, a good third gets drunk every weekend.

So is this what the world is coming to? Is it going to become NORMAL to ingest substances that distort your outlook and cloud your brain? The scary thing is, I can quite easily picture teens in the future talking nonchalantly about drugs like that. "Hey Carrie! Ohmygosh I'm taking this new thing that lets me see in all shades of pink and makes me feel like I'm walking on the ceiling!" "Yeah? You're so lucky! I can only afford the old stuff like weed and coke…" How can we destroy our bodies like this?

To quote Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, I guess "we can't all have our druthers." Too bad...I would've liked to see in all shades of pink.

------------

About the author: Ambreen is a somewhat cynical high school student who thinks teenagers are pretty much crazy (herself included). Any comments? Don't hesitate to email Ambreen at: stardust_inc786@hotmail.com

Tell a friend about this site!

------------

All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED!