Risky Behaviors

risk n. 1. Possibility of suffering harm or loss: DANGER.

• The five risky behaviors are like a spider web. It is easy to get stuck and very hard to get out. Indulging in one risky behavior leads to another and another. Before you know it you are stuck in the web with a cigarette in one hand, a beer in the other, the smell of weed in the background, a girl from your math class is in the back room having sex, and two drunk guys are about to fight over some girl! It sounds over-dramatic, but it happens.
• If you avoid these five risky behaviors, you can make your teen years a lot easier. You have enough to manage in trying to get good grades, make friends and deal with your parents and other adults in your life. Indulging in risky behaviors makes things even harder.
• Take a look at some information about the five risky behaviors. Being informed is the key to making the best decision for you.

1. TOBACCO (cigarettes, cigars, dip, chew — contains the drug nicotine)

• Nicotine addiction is said to be as hard to quit as heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.
• 70% of high school seniors who smoked 1-5 cigarettes a day were still smoking 5 years later (Surgeon General Report, 1994).
• Why spend hundreds of dollars a year to make your teeth yellow, have chronic bad breath, smell, hack up phlegm every morning, and give yourself cancer?
• Cigarette ingredients:
  • Arsenic — used for rat poison
  • Ammonia — toilet bowl cleaner
  • Carbon Monoxide — car exhaust
  • Tar — roofing
  • Nicotine — poison bug sprays
  • Evidence shows that around 50% of those that start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15-20 years. (From QuitSmoking.com, Global Smoking Stats 2002; Updated January, 2007)

"My friend told me that smoking made you look cool and sexy to guys. I really wanted to impress this hot guy in my English class, so I started smoking with her after school. My plan backfired when my crush saw me smoking and said he thought kissing a girl that smoked was like licking an ashtray."
— Taylor, 15

2. ALCOHOL (beer, wine, wine coolers, mixed drinks)

• Alcohol affects different people in different ways. Some people become relaxed and sleepy and others become wild and violent. Alcohol drastically reduces your ability to make good decisions. It also impairs your ability to see, walk, and talk.
• According to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), 2.6 million teens did not know that a person could die from an alcohol overdose.
• Beer is the drink most commonly consumed by people stopped for alcohol impaired driving, or involved in alcohol related crashes. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2003)
• The average person metabolizes alcohol at the rate of one drink per hour. Only time will sober a person up. Drinking strong coffee, exercising or taking a cold shower will not help.

"The first (and only) time I got drunk, I played strip poker with a bunch of guys and ended up only wearing my underwear. The next day at school, boys were looking at me and whispering. People were calling me a slut. I spent 3rd period crying in the bathroom and wishing that I could take it back. I haven't drunk alcohol since that night and now I hear stories about other girls and am just glad that the stories aren't about me."
— Rachel, 15

3. SEX (intercourse, oral sex, anal sex, outercourse — all sexual contact)

• Sex is one of the easiest ways to contract and spread diseases.
• Many STDs have no symptoms and can be spread to many people without even knowing it.
• Sex is called "making love" because it is a way to share your heart and become closer to someone you love and want to share your future with.
• Having sex before you are ready, or with someone you don't love and trust can damage you emotionally as well as physically, and may produce an unwanted baby.
• 7 in 10 girls and 6 in 10 boys wish they had waited to have sex until they were older (National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. 2004)

"I started going out with one of the most popular guys in school, and I was so in love with him. He always told me how beautiful I was and how much he loved me and wanted to share everything with me by having sex. I finally gave in and had sex with him. The next week he began avoiding me and wouldn't return my calls. By the end of the week he broke up with me. What is even worse is that I found out he had slept with other girls and I got herpes from having sex with him just one time. Even though he has moved on, I am going to be stuck with this disease for the rest of my life."
— Jessica, 16

4. DRUGS (marijuana, ecstasy, acid, cocaine, rohypnol, GHB, etc.)

• We all know using illegal drugs is bad for us physically, emotionally, and legally. However, we don't always know how bad. All drugs have some effect on our minds and bodies that alter how we think or feel for a period of time. It's the long-term effects or drug-related freak accidents that put us at greatest risk of losing our lives.
• When someone is on drugs, they are more likely to do things that they would never do otherwise.
• To learn more about the different kinds of drugs and what they can do to you, click here.

"My friend got some acid from his older brother and I decided to try it. I have a phobia of snakes and the acid made me hallucinate that there were snakes in all of the trees and on the ground. I took a stick and tried to beat the snakes away from my legs. My friend tried to tell me that it wasn't real, but I couldn't tell. I ran around screaming and crying. I have never been so afraid in my life. I had to wait it out; there was nothing I could do to get rid of the acid. It was the longest night of my life. I ended up with bruises all over my legs and the people from the party still laugh at me all the time."
— Jason, 18

5. VIOLENCE (bullying, gangs, fights, dating violence)

• Violence is more likely to occur when people are under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
• It is never OK for someone to physically hurt you or abuse you in any way.
• 9% of school crimes (more than a quarter of a million) were serious violent crimes including murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.
• 1 in 11 teens in America is in a violent dating relationship. (MMWR, May 19, 2006/55(19); pgs. 532-535; Physical Dating Violence)
• Nationwide 9.9% of students report being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by a boyfriend/girlfriend in the last 12 months prior to being surveyed. (CDC: WRBS, 2007.MMWR, June 6, 2008/57(S-S04) pgs. 1-131.)

"I've never really gotten along with girls and have always had a lot of guy friends. After I started dating my boyfriend, my best friend got really jealous and couldn't understand why I was spending so much time with my boyfriend. We all ended up at a party one night and my best friend drank a lot of beer. He started yelling at my boyfriend and me about how we didn't belong together and that he was in love with me. After his outburst, he started a fight with my boyfriend and hit him in the face. It was so scary to see how violent he got when he was drunk."
— Olivia, 16