ABUSE_MAGAZINE_ID_ ABUSE Magazine Iowa | Page 6

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FROM THE EDITOR Dear Iowa readers and supporters ,

In this edition of ABUSE Magazine we are focusing on Cyberbullying as well as Social Media among our youth and how that may lead to teen depression and suicide , teen drinking and driving , tobacco prevention and marijuana , the gateway drug . We are also addressing healthy teen dating relationships along with teen dating violence and the epidemic of heroin use among our youth . Also seven new dangerous teen trends .

All of these topics hold great importance when it comes to our youth . Our goal at ABUSE Magazine is to bring awareness to each of these issues and to provide the right resources not only for our youth but for faculty members at school and concerned parents .

7 New Teen Dangerous Trends

All of us at ABUSE Magazine are always trying to stay up to date on what is new , what is going on in the hallways at the schools and new trends . This is how we are able to educate others and keep our parents , faculty members , and concerned parents aware of the newest trends we are seeing . One example of a new trend is “ Vodka Eyeballing ”. It was brought to our attention that our youth have been using eye droppers and filling them with Vodka and placing drops of Vodka into their eyes to feel the instant effects of the alcohol and while doing so hiding the odor of alcohol from school faculty and parents without knowing the extremely dangerous side effects they may be doing to themselves . Tobacco & Marijuana

We want to bring awareness of the long term effects of tobacco use can have on our young adults and show our youth what tobacco can do to their internal organs and potentially leading to cancer . Prevention is the best tool in our opinion and education on this matter . We also want to show our youth that even though it has been said again and again how marijuana is a gateway drug that this is true , we at ABUSE Magazine have read endless essays submitted by teens themselves how the first drug they ever tried was marijuana and nine out of ten times was led by peer pressure and then after were pressured into trying other drugs from the same crowd that had so persistently wanted them to try marijuana . The research and facts are there and are true in our opinion . Recent studies have also shown marijuana being laced with methamphetamine which is also a concern .

Heroin & Our Teens

Over the past few years , experts and law enforcement officials have noticed a disturbing trend : While heroin use in general has leveled off or even declined in most areas , there has been a dramatic spike in teenage heroin use .

This is a drug that we are all too familiar with . Heroin as we know was an epidemic in the 60 ’ s and we all thought that drug had gone away with the past . Unfortunately heroin use among teens is at an all time high in 2013 . Heroin is often being used by teens that are addicted to prescription drugs such as oxycontin and other pain pills , recent research is showing cannabis being laced with heroin as well to get our youth addicted to heroin . Heroin is more accessible and cheaper for teens to get a hold of then ever before .

All of us at ABUSE Magazine want to bring awareness to school faculty and parents that heroin is not a drug of the past and provide our youth with resources to get help with their addiction or to ultimately prevent the abuse from occurring in the first place .

6 | Iowa Fall / Winter 2013-2014 | abusemagazine . org

Teen Drinking & Driving

In the United States , approximately 10 % of all vehicle crashes recorded by the authorities are caused due to the driver being under the influence of alcohol . Unfortunately we see these tragic accidents occur more frequently . Our goal is to remind our youth about all of the safety tips they have learned to prevent more tragedies . Such as knowing who they are getting in a vehicle with and making sure anyone who is driving is not under the influence and to show our youth the worse case scenario to help prevent future tragedies .

Teen Depression & Suicide Linked to Cyberbullying & Social Media

In our last edition we talked a lot about bullying in the high schools , so in this issue we really wanted to talk about and focus on the effects of cyberbullying and what hateful comments such as on facebook for example can lead up to such as teen depression and suicide .

One example of bullying and teen suicide mentioned in this issue was geared around the tragic story of Amanda Todd a teenager who was bullied to her breaking point which led to moving schools several times , self inflicted wounds such as “ cutting ” and ultimately bullying drove her to such a point where she took her own life .

This is exactly what we want to prevent as you read her story in this edition of ABUSE Magazine you will see that there were other factors involved in her tragic death such as sexual abuse and peer pressure . We want to make sure that our young readers never feel so alone and helpless , that there is no other way out of the situations they are facing than to take their own lives .

With your help and support we can make a difference and reduce the sometimes tragic occurrences that stem from teen cyberbullying leading up to teen depression & suicide , drinking and driving , tobacco , marijuana , and new dangerous trends .

ABUSE Magazine would like to say thank you to all of our supporters and readers for your contributions and participation in helping us provide this free preventative educational magazine to your local schools .

Sincerely ,

Brooke

Brooke Sprute / Editor

Please feel free to contact us : ABUSE Magazine 1-877-687-8172 or visit us online at www . abusemagazine . org