In my opinion, racism, crime and marriage are the three major social issues that the United States (US) faces today. Conflicts between the white and the colored community in the US have always been rampant each day. Racial discrimination among the people at work places, in politics, schools and even the housing sector escalates daily despite the many efforts by organizations and people in fighting it. Crime rates in the US are very high. The use of guns in the streets is rampant with many people illegally owning them. Criminal cases are reported daily making the prisons overpopulated. Marriage is also a big issue in the US. Divorce cases have really escalated, and many people have found it unnecessary to get married. These issues are important because they affect the citizen’s daily lives. It is important that people stay in unity without any sort of discrimination. Besides, crimes deter the growth of the nation. According to The Heritage Foundation (n.d), marriage is an important institution because it is the way to a successful society and country at large. Broken marriages affect the community and society as a whole.
The three major social issues that I think the global society faces are poverty, climate change and drug abuse. Poverty has affected the global society in many ways. The gap between the rich and the poor is very big. It is therefore important to address the issue because poverty diminishes the growth of any community and a country as a whole. Climate change is also a devastating issue that needs attention because it affects the environment in which we live in. Conserving the environment is important in conserving human life and thus, needs attention. Drug abuse is also a disturbing issue in the global society. Drugs have been adopted by many people who later on go poor and become addicts. This deteriorates the economy of the country and the world as a global society. Great focus should therefore be directed to these issues because they are very important.
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Drug abuse is a world problem that needs a lot of attention. Drugs affect everyone in many different ways, not only the victims. Substance abuse can lead to serious physical and psychological problems to the user. Addiction is one of the consequences of drug abuse. Besides, drug abuse can break families and connections among friends. One can lose their job and give employers and other employees a hard time at work. Some drug abusers can turn out to be thieves so as to acquire money for drugs. This behaviors lead to higher crime rates in the country, which in turn leads to economic loss. Additionally, jailing will mean overpopulation in the correction facilities of the country, which is overwhelming. A lot of money is spent on illegal drugs, and this encourages smugglers or criminals to continue with their dirty work.
There are many social factors that affect drug abuse. People engage in substance abuse because of very many reasons. Adolescents are the vulnerable group that is mostly affected by this issue. Poverty is one social factor that influences the use of drugs by many people. Lack of money can make children to drop out of school and engage in drug smuggling, which leads them to use drugs. Besides, due to idleness and lack of jobs, people engage in drug abuse. Poverty leads to various conditions in life, behaviors and attitudes among the victims. These are what lead one to engage in drug abuse. They can feel neglected and sorry for themselves. Some engage in drugs to avoid such life conditions.
Peer influence also affects the abuse of drugs. This is most common in adolescents. Young boys and girls mostly find themselves abusing drugs because of peer pressure from their friends or a particular group they involve themselves with (Whitesell, 2013). Some join such groups because they want to be famous and popular like the deviant group members. Adolescents find it hard to make their own decisions and thus, find themselves following such unacceptable groups and friends. Therefore, peer pressure should be seen as a contributing factor to drug abuse.
Family is also a contributing factor to drug abuse. Marriage contributes a lot to how a child grows and develops. Broken marriages and families lead to many people engaging in drug abuse because of stress or the life conditions afterwards. Adolescents can start engaging in drugs because of a divorce between their parents. Parenting matters a lot. Good parenting enables the children grow up well. Problems among parents can also depress a child and change their attitude. The relationship between parents and their children is also important. Most teenagers who have strained relationships with their parents can make poor decisions and be easily lured into deviant peer groups. Therefore, family is very important.
Education as a social factor also influences drug abuse. The lack of access to schools and higher learning institutions by children is a big problem. Many youths lack the money and fees required to pay for higher learning because of poverty or low income. This causes them to lose hope of going back to school and they end up engaging in drug abuse and other crimes in the community. Besides, there are inadequate community programmes that are evidence-based in the society. These programmes could help teach the young ones and even the grown people on the consequences and effects of drug abuse to not only themselves, but also their families, community and country at large.
The availability of drugs and the lack of community support in fighting its use also promote drug abuse (Shanmugam, 2017). Drug abuse can only be stopped if the drugs are not readily available for the users. Criminals have indulged heavily in selling of drugs despite the law enforcers taking action on law breakers and in maintaining a drug free country. The effort to do away with drugs has rendered futile. Therefore, the continuous availability of drugs enable is continuous abuse. Community support in fighting drug abuse is also important. Lack of effort from the community to fight drug abuse promotes its abuse and use by the people. The community can recognize the smugglers, abusers and the addicted persons, that can help put a stop to the availability of the drugs. The community, therefore, plays a bigger role in fighting drug abuse.
My role in solving this problem of drug abuse is to ensure that I make the right decisions despite the situation I am in. Choosing and staying around supportive friends is also my role in fighting drug abuse. To maintain sobriety, I will need to have sober friends. Firmness in doing what is right and rejecting what is wrong is my role. This will enable me avoid peer pressure and getting into deviant peer groups. Besides, being responsible and acting as a role model to other children and age mates is also important for me to maintain. They can learn from my doings and avoid the use of drugs, thus creating a drug free community. I could come up with a social movement in my effort to fight this problem. The movement can involve doing voluntary work, evidence-based teaching and learning, exercising, and engaging in sports. The movement will be able to inspire other youths to avoid idleness and make better choices in life.
References
Shanmugam P. K. (2017). The Influence of Social Factors in Drug Addiction–A Mini Review of Work by Miller & Carroll (2006). J Alcohol Drug Depend 5: 272. doi:10.4172/2329-6488.1000272. https://www.longdom.org/open-access/the-influence-of-social-factors-in-drug-addictiona-mini-review-ofwork-by-miller--carroll-2006-2329-6488-1000272.pdf
The Heritage Foundation. (n.d). Why the Declining Marriage Rate Affects Everyone. https://www.heritage.org/marriage-and-family/heritage-explains/why-the-declining-marriage-rate-affects-everyone
Whitesell, M., Bachand, A., Peel, J., & Brown, M. (2013). Familial, social, and individual factors contributing to risk for adolescent substance use. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4008086/
