number twenty-two

Before I talk about the statement I chose, I'd like to look back on one or two of the previous posts. In regards to Karen's post, she said that her parents weren't successful. Although I obviously don't know everything about her life, I would think her parents are successful. My mom came from Italy when she was a little girl, and although her life isn't exactly perfect, she considers herself successful. Keep in mind though, my mom works at Macy's which isn't exactly considered the top of the ladder when it comes to employment.

Anyways, onto my own post.

#22 It is normal for teenagers to try smoking and drinking especially if they want to appear older than they are.

Disagree, disagree, disagree. Regardless of how "normal" it may seem, it's not. These days, a lot of teenagers do try these things, but that doesn't change anything. Smoking and drinking at a young age can greatly affect you in the following years. Drinking or smoking just once already increase a teens chances of trying it again. And again. And again. And then it's not longer just a casual experiment, but an addiction. Exposing yourself to these things early on just makes you more susceptible to addiction to these substances later on in your life.

I don't see anything "normal" about that. Also, normal is a very relative term. Although a lot of people try smoking and drinking as teens, a lot of them don't. So which is really normal, experimenting or not experimenting? On top of that, smoking and drinking can make someone appear older than they are, but it really just shows how immature they really are. The need to prove your maturity displays a lack of just that. If someone wants to appear older, than maybe they should just try acting older. I know this boy who started drinking in high school. When he was about nineteen he was the passenger in a car driven by his drunk best friend. They were t-boned by a semi-truck and he got thrown down onto the road beneath. His best friend died and he lost the use of his legs for the rest of his life. He's currently in jail because of this accident. This is no where close to normal.

Overall, I you could say it is normal for teenagers to make mistakes and maybe try new things, but alcohol and smoking shouldn't be one of the new things they try out. Trying out a new club at school, or maybe accidently failing a test. In my opinion, those are "normal" things that teenagers should being experiments and making mistakes with. There's a line very distinctive line between normal and illegal.