Away from the eyes of parents for the first time, young adults entering the college atmosphere find themselves with various new freedoms. So what will you do with your sudden freedom?
In movies, books and television, college students always go to wild parties, smoke, do drugs, drink and have lots of sex. It seems like that’s the normal thing—if you’re not doing those things, you’re unattractive, weird or anti-social. In addition, there is the pressure of not being the only one in your group of friends who isn’t doing a particular thing. The problem is people may only think of the fun side of doing these things and not consider the dark side.
We’ve all seen the many drug commercials stating smoking increases the risk of the drug’s already scary side effects. Smoking is a trap, because it’s not very hard to become addicted. Fortunately, there are a variety of quitting programs out there.
Most illegal drugs have the same threat of addiction. Even drugs with the little chance of addiction have a variety of terrible effects on the body, affecting one’s blood, brain, skin, stomach and more. In fact, according to AboveTheInfluence.com , some drugs are so bad they can kill you the first time you use them.
Some people will rank drugs in a list to point out, “This one isn’t as bad as the others.” Still, it can harm you more than you expected. Plus, getting into one “not-so-bad” drug can lead you to try more and more drugs. If that occurs, then what happens to your body is anyone’s guess.
I hate the way alcohol is treated in society. It seems to me like almost everyone thinks drinking alcohol is something cool you have to do to socialize with friends — everyone does it. I can’t stand that. Why do you have to drink to have fun? Why can’t you be a fun and friendly person without alcohol? I don’t need alcohol to loosen up or relax. If you have to depend on alcohol to become an interesting, fun person, then that says a lot about you.
If I also said don’t have sex at all, many college students would just laugh. Do these students not realize that condoms aren’t 100 percent reliable at preventing STDs? There are still STDs without cures; no wonder the federal government’s CDC calls STDs, “hidden epidemics of enormous consequences.”
With sex there’s also the heartbreak factor—some people only have sex because their boyfriend/girlfriend demands it as a requirement for love. Selfish people like that will most likely kick you to the curb as soon as they meet someone they think is sexier. Some love.
It amazes me that some college students get so carried away with their newfound freedoms that they make unwise choices like these. Why would you knowingly put yourself into a situation where you risk all those awful things happening? Many people think bad things only happen to other people. Then they attempt risky behaviors, only to regret it later.
Don’t do harmful things just because your friends or society are pressuring you to do them. Instead of being what they want you to be, think for yourself and come up with other fun things to do. Remember, you don’t have to do those things to have fun.
