In-Depth

HERAN ESSAYAS MANAGING EDITOR

MAYA KALISH FACT CHECKER & AD MANAGER

SYDNEY LANGSTON REPORTER

The final bell rings on a Friday. Students flood out, exhausted and hoping to relax over the weekend. However, when night comes, pictures on social media surface showing students at parties in flashy clothes.

Parties aren’t new. At high schools everywhere there is talk of house parties. In popular movies like Mean Girls and Love, Simon, there are high school party scenes, usually ending up with someone getting sick due to alcohol consumption. Pop culture creates a stereotype for the expectations of an average high school party, which entails a crowd of students, loud music and lots of drama.

Though it is common for students to desire a source of fun over the weekend, they often rely on alcohol or other drugs as entertainment without understanding the severe legal and personal consequences. Although drugs may seem interesting to students in the moment, the potential repercussions are more harmful than beneficial.

According to the FCPS 2017 Youth Survey, 17.9 percent of 12th grade students report using marijuana regularly. Marijuana is illegal in Virginia, prohibiting students from using marijuana regardless of their age, unlike restrictions on alcohol and cigarettes. Even though the potential punishments for marijuana are greater, students continue to use it.

For some students, drug use begins at a young age, and these habits often worsen throughout their high school career. Through their interactions with their peers, students begin to spread their habits and influence other students to begin illegal activities.

“I started drinking in 7th grade, and I started smoking [marijuana] my freshman year,” sophomore Mia Roberts* said. “I [do it] almost every week with my friends because it feels good.”

Drinking at a young age poses severe health risks. According to KidsHealth, alcohol consumption puts students at risk of getting liver, heart or nervous system damage, yet alcohol usage remains frequent. The 2017 FCPS Youth Survey shows that 7.1 percent of 12th graders reported using alcohol before the age of 13, compared to 12.6 percent of 8th graders.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that teenage drinking can cause brain development issues and increases the likeliness of developing alcoholism. The brain fully develops around age 25, but teens start to drink up to 13 years before their brains develop completely, which can impair multiple learning abilities.

Students are often oblivious to the consequences of alcohol and drug usage, even though there are countless resources available. School counselors and school psychologists provide students with the emotional help they may need or refer them to others who can give specific help.

“I focus on how [drug and alcohol usage] affects [students] now, but what they do now does affect them in the future. Their grades in high school can affect their future decisions, so I try to get them to make good decisions now,” counselor Kathleen Otal said.

Regarding marijuana, addiction is not considered an issue, though school performance is. According to the NIDA, frequent marijuana users are more likely to have worse grades and more likely to drop out of school.

“[Drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana] used to affect my school work, but I’ve learned how to manage it better. I used to have less motivation to do my work, but then I toned down [my drug usage],” sophomore Lily Smith* said.

The FCPS 2017-2018 Youth Survey states that 38.2 percent of 12th graders at McLean have used alcohol in the past 30 days compared to the FCPS average of 29.5 percent. Similarly, the survey shows that McLean students use marijuana more than the FCPS average.

The trend of alcohol and drug use has decreased slightly over the years, but the comparatively higher McLean average raises concerns about the overall success of students. With prescription drugs and painkillers, McLean students fall below the FCPS average.

McLean has various measures in place to attempt to limit substance usage and increase awareness. Clubs such as Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) provide students the necessary information on the risks of drug use.

“SADD is a nationwide organization that informs kids about the dangers of destructive decisions. It also works to encourage students to make healthy choices and holds them and their peers accountable for their actions,” said senior Ella Sangree, president of SADD.

Students who repeatedly use alcohol and marijuana can run into trouble with the school or the law. These students can receive an inschool suspension, an activity suspension or a referral to a class that teaches the consequences of drugs and alcohol.

“I’ve gotten in trouble for being in possession of things I should not have had in school. This has happened multiple times, but the first time [was not as severe],” Smith said.

Schools are often lenient with a student’s first offense, as some may have it expunged from their record. When that happens, students often feel they are out of trouble and continue their habits. They may begin to think they can be reckless without affecting their future.

“I think that getting caught [the second time] has made me want to do it less, like I would not want to do it on a school day. I wouldn’t say that I would stay sober at every party that I will go to, but I think that it has made me drink less,” Smith said.

Potential consequences may influence students to limit or completely stop their habits. Students may feel regret, or realize that using drugs or drinking alcohol is unhealthy.

“My suspension has changed my views about having [substances] in school because now I think it’s dumb. It hasn’t changed me as a person, but it has made me smarter in the things I do,” Smith said.

Not only are the legal consequences serious, but possible consequences from parents can feel more intense for students. Students may feel annoyed because of the punishments, which then weakens their relationship with their parents.

Teenagers may also feel guilty for disappointing their parents by using drugs, and getting in trouble can create a break in trust between parents and their children.

“We find a lot of kids that are abusing substances and their grades suffer, their relationships with their friends and family suffer. In general, the substance they are abusing becomes the most important thing in their life,” Safety and Security Specialist Buddy Sekely said.

Drug use also affects the mental health of students. Consistent use causes students to not be the best version of themselves, which may cause self-hatred. Alcohol and drug usage may seem fun in the moment, though it poses serious long-term consequences on future habits and emotional well-being.

“Alcohol is a depressant, so while someone who is having a few drinks might have fun in the short term, when they’re coming down from their drinking or substance use it can have a depressive effect and then they feel worse,” school psychologist Beth Werfel said.

Werfel is one of the many school resources who provides information to students who are oblivious to the ramifications of substance use.

“I help [students] more in an indirect way in terms of providing students with education on mental health and wellness and also signs and symptoms of mental health issues,” Werfel said.

However, frequent drug usage can be spurred by other problems. Students may have issues they do not know how to deal with and use drugs as a method to avoid them. Resources at McLean often try to work with them to solve their problems.

“I am able to help students and families find resources in the community to get support such as outside counseling or educational programs for people who are dealing with substance use issues,” Werfel said. “There are support groups in the area that students and families can take advantage of.”

Emotional health plays a role in substance abuse. Students who are not self-confident or have mental health issues may turn to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism for those problems.

“I think ideally if students could just get to a point where they generally feel pretty happy and satisfied with who they are as a person, and if they are able to accept their strength as well as accept areas where they don’t feel as confident and just building up those healthy coping strategies, that would be an ideal,” Werfel said.

Counselors focus on helping students solve their problems instead of telling them they’re wrong. They teach students to be able to think for themselves and assist them in making the right decisions in the future.

“I don’t want to problem solve for them because I don’t know what kind of situation they’re going to find themselves in,” Otal said. “What I want to do is help them figure out for themselves what the right choice is so when they are confronted in the situation they are prepared to figure out what the good choice is.”

— KATHLEEN OTAL

SCHOOL COUNSELOR

Frequent substance usage poses serious consequences with college admissions. Students who use drugs tend to be less focused in class, which can lead to a decline of grades. With the growing use of social media, public pictures and videos can be released to colleges, allowing them to find out what students participate in.

“If something happens to you, we don’t divulge that information as a school, but there’s social media, other parents, other college admissions people talking where colleges could find out what you did,” Otal said. “You have an obligation to tell colleges what you did.”

One incident under the influence can greatly impact a student’s life. When someone is impaired, their judgment is affected, leading them to make life-changing decisions.

“If you drink and drive or get caught drinking, there are legal consequences that can definitely impact your future... Whether it be drunk driving or someone getting hurt and you being a part of that, those are things you can potentially regret forever,” Otal said.

The ideal scenario is that students will realize for themselves that drug and alcohol usage is dangerous, and they will stop themselves from engaging in such behaviors. Underage drug use has always been prevalent, yet increased awareness about the potential consequences has provided students with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions.

“My goal is to get kids to realize that they don’t have to [use drugs and alcohol] in order to fit in, have fun or cope,” Otal said. “People do make mistakes in high school, but it is about learning from those mistakes and changing those behaviors so you can make better decisions in the future.”