Nature vs Nurture in Teen Marijuana Use

“Teens living with two college-educated parents less likely to use alcohol, marijuana” The nature versus nurture debate is one of the greatest topics of biology today. Are we the way we are as a result of our surroundings or are we innately and faithfully built to be exactly who we are? Of course we would like to believe our environment affects us more because that way, our behavior, which we can readily control, can get us the outcome we want. This is especially true for parents.

Is there something parents can do, a checklist of needs they can meet, that will warrant their children success, health and safety? Is there something you can do or say that will prevent your children from becoming addicted to drugs or abusive of alcohol? Parents can start with a college education, according to my article. My article studied high school seniors and their behavior. At such a tumultuous period in their lives, many of the students were using drugs and alcohol.

For some of them, it was a way to cope with the stress of the transition. For others, they were using the substances recreationally to celebrate the compilation of twelve years in the public education system. What researchers found was that there was a consistent trend in students who chose not to participate in the use of marijuana and alcohol: the vast majority of them came from homes with two college-educated parents. The findings were particularly strong for African American youths. If a parent is educated and shows the possibilities, this acts as a “protective factor” for their children, inspiring hope and pushing the nurture idea of personality identification.

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This trend can only benefit students, as drinking and drug use are linked to various other negative behaviors. These include violence, depression, and failure to attend school. By addressing these high-risk behaviors within the home, the parent deals with them head on before the school must become involved, simply by setting a positive academic example. When we meet with parents at conferences, we often ask questions about the child. Maybe we should consider including questions about the parents somewhere in those introductory packets. Questions such as, are both parents in the child’s life? What level of education do the parents have? These questions may help us better analyze high-risk students, not only for attending college and doing well in school, but for staying safe and responsible outside of the classroom as well.