By now it is already been proven that discrimination is lead factor for young kids to resort to underage drinking, illegal drugs and sometimes even result in violence, when they can’t control themselves. Discrimination could really take a toll on them in a hard way that we might not know, it also has been shown that it increase the chance for them to smoke cigarettes, and compared to all the other effects, this one might not be so bad, but still a kid going to high school, should need to smoke to relieve their problems. But this problem has been increasing in the last few years according to the article, so it’s not going away any time soon.
The people who did these studies came to the conclusion that those teenager who have a closer relationship with their parents, tend to not be so needy or addicted in some cases to alcohol or drug use. Parents have to be involve in their kid’s live, see how they are feeling, they might not even know that their depression from any problems at home, might be coming back to them, making them feel down and in need of a quick fix.
One tip that they suggest to the community besides parents being more involved, is to help the kids look for peer-counseling, sometimes listening to someone else’s advice beside your parent’s stick better to teenagers. They want it to be cleat that discrimination is sad and unfortunate but kids might not realized this. They should know that life is not about following the pack, it is about sticking up for what you believe is right, but knowing your limits.
Pathways to Drinking Among Hispanic/Latino Adolescents: Perceived Discrimination, Ethnic Identity, and Peer Affiliations. (2015). Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 14(3), 270-286 17p. doi:10.1080/15332640.2014.993787