Effects of Parental Drug Abuse on Children
Heather Swenson
Mandy Jesser
English Composition I
1 May 2013
Effects of Parental Drug Abuse on Their Children
As soon as birth, children are exposed to new things; new life experiences that will develop the path of which direction their life will take. Adolescence is the most important time in a child’s life because it is where they learn appropriate behavior from their family and the outside world. Some children are able to use these experiences to differentiate at an early age what is right and what is wrong and hopefully carry this into adulthood. What happens when children are exposed to the wrong experiences at an early age? What happens if children assume that what they are seeing is okay because one of their parents are engaging in harmful behavior? How does this type of experience affect the way a child develops? These are questions that I have to ask myself everyday because my children are victims of this. I have two boys, who are 10 and 7 and a daughter that is 5. Their father, who is my ex-husband now, is a drug addict and I see new issues arise with our children each day as they get older. Parental substance abuse is often one of the biggest deterrents of normal child development. It is because of the exposure to the significant increase of parental drug abuse in Colorado that the emotional, psychological and physical well-being of a child is at risk, making the probability of normal development unlikely. The emotional state of a child is always fragile as they usually are more sensitive to the environment they are surrounded by. This is typically because of their inability to fully understand what is happening. When a parent abuses drugs, a child reacts to the behavior that a parent exhibits while under the influence of substances. In most cases, children cope very poorly, showing anger by lashing out or they become withdrawn and avoid making friends because of the fear that someone may discover their parent has a problem. Other children
Mandy Jesser
English Composition I
1 May 2013
Effects of Parental Drug Abuse on Their Children
As soon as birth, children are exposed to new things; new life experiences that will develop the path of which direction their life will take. Adolescence is the most important time in a child’s life because it is where they learn appropriate behavior from their family and the outside world. Some children are able to use these experiences to differentiate at an early age what is right and what is wrong and hopefully carry this into adulthood. What happens when children are exposed to the wrong experiences at an early age? What happens if children assume that what they are seeing is okay because one of their parents are engaging in harmful behavior? How does this type of experience affect the way a child develops? These are questions that I have to ask myself everyday because my children are victims of this. I have two boys, who are 10 and 7 and a daughter that is 5. Their father, who is my ex-husband now, is a drug addict and I see new issues arise with our children each day as they get older. Parental substance abuse is often one of the biggest deterrents of normal child development. It is because of the exposure to the significant increase of parental drug abuse in Colorado that the emotional, psychological and physical well-being of a child is at risk, making the probability of normal development unlikely. The emotional state of a child is always fragile as they usually are more sensitive to the environment they are surrounded by. This is typically because of their inability to fully understand what is happening. When a parent abuses drugs, a child reacts to the behavior that a parent exhibits while under the influence of substances. In most cases, children cope very poorly, showing anger by lashing out or they become withdrawn and avoid making friends because of the fear that someone may discover their parent has a problem. Other children
Cited: Alia, Butler. "Effects of Drug Abuse on Children." 2 Sept. 2010. Web. 7 Mar. 2013 . Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics." Child Abuse Statistics – Get the Facts of Child Abuse and Neglect. AmericanHumane.org, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. "Effects of Parental Substance Abuse on Children and Families." 2012. American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. Web. 7 Mar. 2013 . “Protecting Children in Families Affected by Substance Abuse.” 2009. Child Welfare Information Gateway. Web. 7 Mar. 2013 .