Jordan Lunsford was a happy kid who lived in Missouri with his mother and stepfather. At age 14, Jordan was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Against the wishes of his family, when he was 17, he moved away from home and began staying with friends who his mother did not believe to be good influences. Jordan’s mother was well aware that the people he surrounded himself with were avid drug users. Jordan’s mother knew of Jordan’s marijuana usage, but she was not concerned that this was the only substance he illicitly consumed. Sadly, on November 15, 2015, Jordan was pronounced dead after suffering from a heroin overdose. Jordan’s mother was rightfully confused by this turn of events. As far as she knew, Jordan never used heroin nor did he display the attributes of a heroin user. It is believed that the overdose occurred after Jordan’s first time injecting heroin. 

Despite his seemingly joyful and pleasant stature, Jordan had a difficult life. He was allegedly plagued with grief because of his baby sister who passed away a few months prior to him. Jordan’s father also abandoned the family when Jordan was a child leaving Jordan’s mother to take care of the kids alone. It is possible that the stress and difficulty of his home life when combined with his personal medical challenges contributed to his desires to abuse narcotics and eventually overdose on heroin. 

This devastating story of the loss of a valued family member is not an uncommon one. There are countless instances where a good teen gets involved in minor drug use and their situation quickly escalates. 

Obviously, not all cases of substance abuse lead to death, but rather it can often result in a decrease in gpa and a degradation of mental health and stability. After having conducted approximately 23 interviews and researching the topic of teenage drug use for 7 weeks, it has become clear that illicit substances negatively affect high school students along with their performance in school as well as their mental health. Additionally, the use of drugs in high school exponentially increases ones risk for suicide in the future and there is little being done to protect students afflicted with drug addiction. Teenage drug abuse is an epidemic that prematurely takes hundreds of thousands of lives yearly. 

Drug and alcohol abuse is an incredibly invasive problem in our society. We can often observe its effects all around us in our daily lives where witnessing someone who is clearly intoxicated is all but a rare occurrence. While substance abuse commonly affects adults who can have easy access to illicit substances, children and specifically teenage high school students are heavily impacted by drug abuse. 

Struggling with drug dependency in formative years is particularly problematic to one’s health. In addition to the obvious health risks that come with the consumption of illicit substances, drugs often contribute to the degradation of the human psyche. Use of drugs such as marijuana and alcohol in early years is often linked to suicide. However, self-harm and health risks aren’t the only negative side effects that often come from drug abuse. It is believed that there is a direct connection that can be found connecting a student’s performance in school and their usage of illicit substances. 

After speaking with many individuals who have a connection to this issue, it has become clear that there are definite variations on the opinion of drug use. Some believe that drug use is a “problematic issue that is greatly harming the high school population,” said a NYC iSchool teacher.

While others, such as a student of Berkeley Carroll School, feels as though “drugs are fine as long as you don’t do it too often, kinda like eating candy. It’s really not as bad as teachers and parents think it is.” As obvious from the difference in opinion, the different age groups hold drugs in very different lights and students, teachers, as well as medical professionals, all seem to regard drug use in completely different ways. 

On The Recover Village’s website, an interesting topic is brought up. This being the topic of a teens motivation to self-medicate. To many adults who have never used illicit substances, the reasons a teen might want to consume such substances. After conducting interviews and performing studies on high school students, the publishers of the site concluded that many high schoolers may be using drugs as an escape from their own stressful and pressure-filled lives.

Some students all across the world struggle with the temptations of drugs and the appeals of inebriation. Oftentimes, students can witness their peers consuming such substances on school grounds, which can be extremely concerning not just for teachers, but for other students who do not feel safe in an environment where such behaviors can take place uninterrupted. In one way or another, drug use is often an issue that affects students daily whether that be in their personal life, or in witnessing others fall prey to drug addiction. 

Source: https://drugabusestatistics.org/teen-drug-use/#:~:text=8.7%25%20of%208th%20graders,drugs%20in%20the%20last%20month. 

This chart represents a survey taken by the NCDAS in which teens were asked about their drinking habits. As is clear from the charts, most teenagers do not consume alcohol on a daily basis, and the ones that do are mostly in the 12th grade, putting them closer to the legal drinking age. However, the number of teens that have drank in their lives is astonishing. Somehow, 25.6% of interviewed 8th graders had drank in their lives. 

The fact that mere middle school students are on par with high school students when it comes to alcohol consumption is extremely concerning. Unfortunately, alcohol is just one of the many illicit substances consumed by thousands of high school students. 

The NYC iSchool is lucky in the fact that drug use is a rare occurrence that rarely disrupts the school day or requires immediate intervention. However, other schools are not so lucky, many students in other schools are surrounded by substances daily and are forced to watch as teachers and faculty members reprimand their classmates and friends. 

Such a thing should hypothetically act as a natural deterrent that will prevent students from making the same mistakes as their peers. But, according to the previously conducted interviews, students seem to see discrepancies in punishments where some students are obviously targeted and face more serious consequences.

According to an interview conducted on an a student at the Packer Collegiate Institute in response to a question concerning in-school intoxication, the student who has chosen to remain anonymous stated that “I don’t really smoke or drink in school or on school nights but a few of my friends do, and a lot of times when I go to the bathroom I see a few kids smoking Juuls or other things like that.” As clearly stated, despite the supposed prevention systems put in place to stop students from using illegal substances, students still resort to substance abuse.

According to multiple faculty sources at the NYC iSchool, there are few instances where drug use has been a large concern and thus, there have been no apparent actions or policies inaugurated with the intent of stopping drug consumption on school grounds. Varias teachers at the iSchool have reported that while they have not seen such substances being used, they have either heard about it from colleagues or experienced it at other schools. 

NYC iSchool’s Mr. DePicciotto stated that “I have not seen it personally, in fact I’ve not smelled it either. I have heard of not necessarily iSchool students but in the building smells of marijuana coming from the stairwells.” After being further questioned about the instance, Mr. DiPicciotto revealed that because he did not have enough information, he could not say whether those activities were being conducted by students at the Chelsea high school, however, based on all the facts, that seems to be the obvious conclusion.  

Having not had much experience with the issue, many school teachers did not appear to have enough evidence to draw  a conclusion or form a connection between drug use and in school performance. Although, Mr. DiPicciotto did reveal that there was a situation in which he believed that a student was intoxicated based on his behavior in class and during that time, the student was unfocused, and seemingly drowsy. 

It seems that based on the experience of iSchool teachers, there isn’t much of a connection between student drug use, and a difference in grades or GPA. However, other medical professionals have found a different link between these two important factors in a teens life.

Kayvon, who is a licensed marriage and family therapist with special education in teenage treatment, works at the Destination for Teens, which is a facility that as Kayvon explained, “dedicates their time to helping teens work through mental health and substance use disorders.” Kayvon has worked with teens daily and is well accustomed to the intricacies of teenage mental health and is well aware of the fact that drugs can completely derail a teens life. 

During the interview, a question was presented concerning a possible connection between drug use and self harm. In response to this question, Kyvon proceeded to disagree with this conclusion. He stated that, while drugs and self-harm can be connected and often are, there is not a direct cause and effect relationship between them. Kayvon brought up the idea that drugs can be used as a sort of “replacement” for self-harm, which is an idea that is rarely discussed. 

Oftentimes, when the topic of drug-related or drug-motivated suicide is considered, they are usually talked about in a way where drugs are typically labeled as enciting self-harm. In contrast, Kayvon believes that after having worked with and observing the routines and behaviors of teenagers who are often self harming or drug addicted, drugs or self harm can be used to replace one another as coping mechanisms. 

Over the course of the interview, Kayvon often brought up the common theme of comping. Whether that be coping with trauma, stress, or school, it seems as though teens often require an outlet for all their emotions and oftentimes, this outlet can be found in the world of narcotics and self harm. 

Kayvon stated that commonly, after a teen gets off of one harmful habit such as smoking, cutting, or drinking, they often switch to another equally harmful or dangerous habit. This means that even if a teen can be convinced that what they’re doing is healthy and possibly dangerous, they might simply change to another form of self-damage that they have not yet attempted. 

Additionally, when presented with a question as to how Kayvon’s organization would deal with a teenager who is engaging in acts of self mutilation and drugs are in some way involved, Kayvon replied by saying that after a few weeks of living on the residential area, the child would be completely sober and it is at this time where the real issues could be unpacked. Kayvon seemed to believe that after “attacking both problems individually,” the root of the issues could be found and dealt with. Whether that issue is related to trauma, stress, or mental disorders, “It is only then” Kayvon said, “that the real problems can be solved.”

After analyzing all the evidence, one can conclude that drugs have a huge impact on the lives of teenagers. Drugs have become just another part of life. 100 years ago, drugs were held in a very different light than they are today. We as a society have become extremely drug tolerant, and this movement of drug tolerance is increasing year by year. With more and more states legalizing marijuana use, it is becoming increasingly easy for drugs to be accessed by those under legal age. 

There are thousands of websites that provide a secondary perspective on the issue. Many of these websites all point to the same conclusion that drug use has been increasing exponentially these past few years.

The American Addiction Centers suggests that drugs and suicide are very closly related, especially when in comes to teenagers. The website reveals that it is the “second leading cause of death” for those ages 10-24. Additionally, a shocking 17.2% of high school students considered suicide in the year of 2017. 

The Recovery Village explains that there are many intricacies that come with the topic of underage drug use that often remain ignored or undiscovered by teachers and parents. For example, the article states that “Using drugs during the teenage years can have severe long-lasting effects.” Typically, when an instance of drug consumption comes up, the adults responsible are usually only concerned with consequences and the present issue. Even so, there are clearly important health risks that could affect the consumer in the future. 

The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, dictates that teen drug use has been steadily increasing annually.  The website dictates that drug use in 8th graders went up a terrifying 61% from 2016 to 2020. There has been anational surge in drug use in the past 5 years. A study conducted by the NCDAS showed that 1 in 8 interviewed teenagers had misused illicit substances at least once in the past year.

Perhaps the most troubling study was the one that found that 62% of high school students admitted to drinking alcohol in their lives. That is well over half the high school population, which means that millions of teens are experimenting with and consuming alcohol yearly, not to mention the addition of narcotics and hallucinogens.

Ms. Bailey, the NYC iSchool’s principal, mentioned that while she herself hasn’t witnessed the consumption of drugs, she has heard about it in the past from her colleagues and other members of faculty. Ms. Bailey did, however, state that she was aware of instances where members of NYC iSchool staff were forced to intervene and confront students about drug use.

 Ms. Bailey explained that there have been multiple advisory lessons constructed with the intent of encouraging students safety and educating students on the complications that come with drug use. Ms. Bailey also agreed that while drug use isn’t a particularly invasive problem at the iSchool, it is good that there are measures in place to counteract or prevent the use of illicit substances on school grounds. 

Regardless, it appears that there are a few options and services that are available for students afflicted with drug dependency at the NYC iSchool. 

Drug usage will continue to be a part of the daily lives of both kids and parents alike. Whether we like it or not, we have to accept that many kids are eventually going to experiment with some sort of substance in their lives.  

However, it is important to remember that with the use of recreational drugs and alcohol, there come some extreme risks, as previously mentioned in this article. 

While drugs might not have a direct connection to lowered GPA, they certainly are connected with cases of self harm in teens. 

It is imperative to remember the story of Jordan Lunsford and use this as a guide and cautionary tale, not just for parents and teachers, but for students as well. If improvement is desired, schools must change and adapt their policies concerning drug use in accordance with the nuances in the world of drugs. In order to see change, schools should greatly consider offering therapeutic assistance for students who suffer from drug related ailments, and provide safe spaces for students with such troubles to receive assistance.