The social peer pressure that most teenage boys feel can be life threatening when their friends are into abusing legal, over-the-counter drugs.
If you’re a teenage boy in the U.S. today, you know that you are faced with many soul-searching issues as you grow up, including peer pressure, finding acceptance and discovering your true personality along the way. Our culture seems to push teens to believe that they must succeed in ways that are valued by their peers, and unfortunately, the “get your way at all costs” attitude they can get from their peers can also be life threatening when their friends are all using drugs. The invincibility that many teenage boys feel can prevent them from considering the health risks of drug use, and they often feel the consequences of being caught are minimal as well. Research has also identified a “social contagion” effect with drug use that causes young boys to be far more likely to use drugs when those around them are using them.
Almost every teenage boy has heard the message that illegal drugs are bad for their health, and present clear psychological and emotional dangers, but when the drugs are legal “over-the-counter” purchases, the message can get a bit murky. Now, a new study by researchers from the University of Cincinnati has taken a hard look at the over-the-counter drug abuse of students in grades 7 through 12 in 133 different schools who took part in a comprehensive survey that shows the boys are far more likely than the girls to abuse over-the-counter drugs.
Early analysis of the study’s data showed that as many as 10 percent of all high school students surveyed said they abused over-the-counter drugs such as cough syrups and decongestants, but it was the boys that had a higher risk of longtime use compared to the girls. Both sexes indicated they were aware that cough syrup and decongestant abuse can result in accidental poisoning, seizures and physical and mental addictions, but it was the boys who reported a higher incidence of friends who abused them long term.
Not surprisingly, the boys who had gone to parties where such drugs were available were more likely to use them, and teen boys who were involved in more positive activities like school clubs, sports, and church organizations, were far less likely to report they had ever abused over-the-counter drugs at all. The authors of the study said they hope their findings will result in more comprehensive education programs presented in the public schools to inform students about the realities of over-the-counter drug abuse, and that more teens, especially the boys, will learn that peer pressure can be deadly when it comes to drug abuse.