Teenagers and the abuse of drugs

Teenagers are always looking for a way to blend in with the popular or "cool" click at school, even if that means that they have to give up some of their moral values to proclaim the title of "popularity". People sometimes have a mentality that they and their kids are immune to the addiction of drugs. Because we live in a technologically-driven world where everthing can be seen on television , the stars and celebrities have a major impact on the youth. Teenagers idolise the way the stars live in Hollywood and therefore they do the same things they see on the television in their own lives.

There is an argument about the way humans make some connections to something or someone to make them feel that they belong, even though they do not know that person. The connection is based on the perceptions that are formed through the television and other media. The vision that teenagers see on television has a big impact on their social abilities. The impact of Amy Winehouse, Demi Lovato, Lindsay Lohan and many more, portrays the perception that it is "ok" to use drugs. But when we look back at their lives, the drugs caused many mishaps in their lives. Amy died in 2011, Demi went into rehab for drug abuse and Lindsay spent numerous spells in and out of jail.

The ARC (Addiction Recovery Center) is one of the many organisations who has the aim of rehabilitating young people and giving them their life back. www.myrehab.co.za The first step to recover from addiction is to realise that one has a problem. "The problem was, I never knew I had a problem." said by an anonymous addict teenager of the ARC.

impact on the youth

The Real Beauty of a Woman

Young ladies often turn to their favourite celebrities for guidelines in their everyday lives. The lifestyles and images of the celebrities are always splashed across television, movies and magazines. For young ladies social pressure is much more intense because of all the images that are published in the media,  telling them how they should look. As young ladies we are often only held to one standard - Beauty. Women are constantly pressured to fall within the "Beauty Umbrella", but ladies, real beauty does not always come from how we look or how we dress. Real beauty comes from within our inner beauty.  

Real woman: www.dove.us.realbeauty.com

Dove's Beauty Campaign for Real Beauty" is one of the most well-known and successful campaigns to raise awareness on the beauty of being a woman. www.dove.us.realbeauty.com. Real beauty is living, free and pure. Beauty is the evidence of something stunning, awesome and great. When measurements are being made to what beauty is, do not look at the television and compare the body of the celebrity to yours. Stop and think: everybody, ladies or men have the power to embody real beauty, from the inside out.

The World of Celebrities

We are living in a technologically-driven world where we have unlimited access to the internet, chat rooms, newspapers and tabloids/magazines. Getting information is no hassle for the youth of today. In most of the tabloids or magazines celebrities are the main focal point and how they live their so-called glamorous lives. According to a website: http://www.child.net/ celebrities became the mainstream role models of the youth today, no matter what their moral standards are.  The views of celebrities when it comes to body image and weight is often super skinny and unrealistic.This problem realizes itself when the youth starts to admire them and the way they are living. It is part of human nature to dream or idolise something that is bigger and greater than ourselves, but where do we draw the line between right and wrong? Celebrities have the power to change a perception in a flash, but let that perception change in a positive way and not in a negative way.  In the next few blogs that will be published over a period of time, issues will be raised such as: 1.Celebrity Influence on Teen Image, 2.Drug Abuse by Celebrities and the way that it influences the Youth, 3.Celebrities promoting Drinking under Teens.The only way the perception can be more positive is when celebrities start to be more concerned about their own lives and not what the media, money or public want them to be.