In memory of Vanessa Yasintha Wambura (August 2003 – August 2023).

As you know there is age limits in some of things people do. Therefore as children there things we shouldn’t do. For example minimum driving age in Canada is 16. The legal age for purchasing, possessing and consuming alcohol in Ontario is 19. The same 19 applies for smoking. Do you wonder why such limits are imposed? Well mostly it’s for children’s protection and safety purpose. Also because when you’re underage you’re not able to make good judgment or decisions. Your parents and other adults are your safe heaven to go to and to listen to. The laws applies to all ages. I don’t mean to make you feel bad. So where am I going with this?

Well, today I want to talk about addictions. I have heard the word addiction so many times and I’ve done some research now want to talk about. It’s one of those hot topics but we need to talk and learn about it too. Also Sean Covey wrote about it in his book titled “The 6 most important Decisions You’ll Ever Make. A Guide For Teen”. I bet it’s a very good book for any teen to read. What you know about addiction? Addiction mostly ‘means a person has no control over whether he or she uses a drug or drink’ (Teenshealth site). Also addiction can be defined ‘as the need or strong desire to do or to have something or a very strong liking for something’. That means there are good addictions and bad addictions. People become addicts because of many reasons. Once someone is addicted to something it can be so hard to quit or stop it. There a lot of people out there struggling with some kind of addictions. Some have lost their lives (RIP Mike J.), some have lost their loved ones to addictions. (I’m a big fan of M.J).

We can go through some of the types of addictions together. As I mentioned earlier, there are good addictions and bad addictions. The bad ones can be very serious to someone’s health too. Here are a few of them:

  1. Smoking – Regular use of tobacco products leads to addiction in many users. Smoking is bad for the lungs, brain and other body organs. Smoking heavily and close to others can cause second hand smoking effects, which is when other inhales your smoke. You may think, an E-Cigarette is much better than a real one! Think again, an E-Cigarette is just as bad as a simple cigarette. It’s the nicotine drug in the product that causes addiction.
  2. Gambling – It’s pretty simple, DON’T GAMBLE. Gambling is very dangerous. Under- aged youth, are gambling in games like poker, pool, bets and many other. Don’t gamble for money, things, and promises. Trust me; you can kill yourself and others!
  3. Drugs – I think we all know about that. Drugs; legal and illegal drugs like painkillers, marijuana, Heroin, Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and more, all can lead to jail and death! Did you know there is also club drugs and date rape drugs? Be careful!
  4. Gangs – Gangs are super serious. In gang cases all of the members of the gang are responsible. To sum up all kind of gangs are bad! Gangs will start fires, kill people, beat up people, do Graffiti, trash things, curse (swear), bully people, rob stores and homes etc.
  5. Drinking – Don’t drink, especially if you are under age. Also remember don’t drink and drive as your judgment can be impaired. You can cause accident and put others in danger. Regular heavy consumption of alcohol can lead to many health problems.

These are just a few types of addictions. There are also, Good addictions. These addictions won’t hurt people, it will help others and, well you won’t go to jail from them. You can be addicted to so many good things: doing certain chores or rituals, reading, shopping, exercising, getting your homework done on time, etc.

Good friends will influence other to be addicted to the right things… “Hey, Coral, I really love this book. It’s called Perry Jackson and the Lighting Thief, you should really read it, but warning you might get addicted to it!”

Now don’t worry, it’s never too late to quit, it’s not easy either but help is out there. You can ask those you trust for help to quit some of these addictions. Confide in those you trust, maybe your parents, your siblings, your teacher, a counsellor, a doctor or maybe a friend. Remember, how we learn about teenage period as the time when most teen try to do stuff, make friends of all kinds and believe that adults aren’t cool as friends. As one of my teacher said, it’s the period of most temptations.

Still, your best friends can help you, right? Because true friends are someone you do everything with. True friends wouldn’t steer you down the wrong path, or force you to do something that’s not right! Friend is someone you can trust but sometimes that can be hard to figure out. Take this (made up) story for example…

My friends are named Becca and Brett. We do everything together. Last year Becca and Brett started smoking and taking drugs. They convinced me to do it too. I didn’t like smoking or take drugs, but I didn’t want to loose them as my friends. So I did. I smoked and took drugs, and eventually they convinced do other stuff too. I couldn’t stand it so I left them. So, then I became very friend with another girl who was very wise and gave me some guidance. Her name was Joy. Joy told me that she once has bad friends like I did. She told me how she went to jail twice because of them, and lost everyone’s trust. Her parents, two brothers and sister abandoned her. She told me how she ditched her friends and moved. She met a counsellor who helped her get back on track; her counsellor was now like her new mother. Joy lost her family, no longer smokes or does anything bad. Joy was a good influencer to me in the future, so I never regretted ditching Becca and Brett, they threatened me for months. Finally, Brett and Becca ended up taken to jail. Joy and I became best friends and she never once made me do something bad. Now, fifteen years later, after we both graduated from college and got ourselves good jobs, ‘I’ Carl, am married to Joy. We have two beautiful children and we are teaching them as they grow older not to do bad stuff. Also that bad addictions can ruin your health.

By me, Carl

Morale: Like Carl said, know who is your true and good influencer friend. Don’t be afraid to ditch the bad ones and meet new ones! Know your limits!!

Stop, Think, Act!

Vanessa Wambura