News Flash: Bored, Stressed, Affluent Teenagers Will USE DRUGS!

No shit, man…they had to do a multi-million dollar study to learn this? Is this the kind of "research’ that our tax dollars finance?
What kind of moron in the government approved the grat to whoever did this?
Hell, I could have reached the same conclusin-in about 5 minutes time!
i don’t have the loink…but is this typical for government funded research projects?

It’s hard to tell when you don’t have a loink to the study.

Gasp! Shock! Dismay!

Here’s a loink:

It really is an earth-shattering revelation, isn’t it?

Sure is. I always thought it was those kids with no money buying all the drugs. Ya learn something new every day!

Considering, when I was growing up, the number of parents from the “good” high school in town (read: more wealthy area) who smirked about all the druggies at my school and declared how clean their school was (yeah, right), or the suburb that I live in now where a serious argument against removing the “dry” laws was that “our kids will get hold of alcohol if it’s sold here” (news flash: if they don’t get it from your liquor cabinet, other kids’ parents or older siblings give it to them)… yeah, I <b>do</b> think we need some studies to prove the “obvious” to some people.

How on earth did they find teenagers that aren’t bored or stressed for the control groups?

Nah, the main vice for bored teens with no access to cash is masturbation.

Of course, I haven’t made a formal study, so this is merely an anecdotal observation, which will have to do until my grant comes through.

Study: Sniffing Glue Proven Effective In Treatment Of Adolescent Boredom

Epoch-shattering.

Actually, I think this must be shocking to someone.

In my former city, people had a habit of shutting down any low-cost event or venue that was attractive to teenagers- sometimes on very dubious charges (one rock concert was shut down for a noise complaint. The only problem was the concert hadn’t actually started, and they were in the middle of a poetry reading when the police came). All ages music venues- which are basically run out of charity because teens don’t spend thier money on drinks) would be subjected to constant and unending underage drinking sting operations, and would have to employ so much security that it became a major income drain to have all ages concerts. One weekly outdoor even was shut down for the sole reason that “too many teenagers” (especially too many black teenagers, but that is another story) would show up.

Teens could also expect to be harrassed for picnicing in the park, sitting on benches at outdoor malls, needing a bathroom, or otherwise being in public without overtly spending money. I’ve heard of teens being threatened with arrest, accused of being a runaway and generally banned from tourist areas for walking around, sitting on benches and acting exactly like the middle aged tourist that flock the area except for maybe not spending scads of cash.

Then our city fathers wondered why so many kids were doing drugs and getting pregnent. They wondered why every time they did have an event that catered to a younger crowd, far too many people showed up and it got out of control. They wondered why teens were showing up at boring events like farmers markets en masse. It never occured to them that teens need somewhere legitate to go and something legitamite to do on a regular basis. If you work against people trying to provide these, and actively work to keep kids off of public grounds, of course they are going to try to have fun wherever they can. And of course they are going to all show up when something fun actually does happen.

ANd of course they are eventually going to give up, realize they arn’t wanted, and find trouble to get to at home which is usually of the sex and drug variety.

Yeah, I can’t tell you how many times my friends and I were escorted out of the park by the police because we had the nerve to be playing Frisbee or Hacky-Sack, sometimes even after dark! And to have long hair and wear tie-dye! The stupid cops couldn’t tell the difference between the gangbangers and my friends, who basically comprised the math team and the chess club, with a few drama and choir geeks thrown in for good measure. Believe me, we were far from menacing. Pointing out that technically, the park was open until 11 pm was absolutely useless.

The sad part is usually we were in the park late at night because we were trying to be considerate to our parents in the summertime; on weeknights, they were generally trying to sleep. Of course, we didn’t get out of our own summer jobs until late (as these tended to be in fast food or other industries with non-daytime hours). What the hell were we supposed to do for fun, if the miserable minimum-wage salaries we made were supposed to be saved for college?

Hanging out is cheap, folks. Maybe we’d spend a buck for a Slurpee or something, and even that was a splurge. And back then, there weren’t even any cafes in my hometown, and precious few full-service restaurants open past 9 pm or so. And they weren’t generally happy to see bunches of teenagers, either, knowing we weren’t likely to order anything more than fries and a few sodas.

It takes a lot to convince people that are in denial.

Yea, it can be difficult just finding a place TO go out. The coffeehouse boom of the late 90s was great for me and my friends, because we finally had a place where we could go and hang out. Because there was just about nothing else we could (legally) do.

Yea, it can be difficult just finding a place TO go out. The coffeehouse boom of the late 90s was great for me and my friends, because we finally had a place where we could go and hang out. Because there was just about nothing else we could (legally) do.

They also sniff ass, not glue. I’ll need a grant for more insights.

This happened to clubs in Merrillville and Valparaiso, Indiana, the closing and reopening cycle, with teenagers not having many places to go. Coffee shops also come and go, but tend to do a bit better in Valparaiso. I think the most common thing we did was to go out and just drive, and to go shoot some pool.

I haven’t seen much for younger people her in Fort Pierce, although i have to go out and look.

How DO you apply for these research grants?I WANT TO study the behavior of bored teenagers (females0 at Victori’s Secrets shops…first I’ll do "in-depth"interviews, then I’ll examine the subjects while they are trying on VS underthings,and,and…

The only reason we didn’t hang out where people could find us is because a) In NYC, virtually none of my friends could afford or needed cars; b) our HS was in a terrible neighborhood which had nothing to do anyway and which was avoided after dark, and c) we had no malls. So we went into the woods, literally, having a huge freakin’ park in the neighborhood. But I grew up before the great glue-sniffin’ craze and stuck mostly to beer. There were too many junkies around on the subway for me to wish to try anything harder.

…which brings me to something I forgot–maybe the more affluent kids don’t live in neighborhoods where they see the human debris that hardcore drug use can sometimes create? They don’t see the homeless, people nodding off, screaming fights on streetcorners, dealers, etc., although I’m sure a lot of stuff happens behind closed doors. So they can romanticize it a bit more than less wealthy people who have to live in those neighborhoods can. </theory pulled out of posterior>