Nowadays, it seems that all anyone wants to do is party it up and get high or drunk at college. Unfortunately, this this desire to have a good time has trickled down to high schools all around the United States, and surely the world. High school students must stop these reckless actions if they wish to continue to have an advanced education, and to eventually use that for the further advancement of their careers out of college. Simply put, partying and using drugs such as alcohol and marihuana in high school will ultimately detriment your future. Through both education on the subject of drugs and alcohol and their effects, and personal experience, I can tell you that there are only negative effects to high schoolers that use or abuse them.

The negative effects of drugs such as Alcohol and Marijuana are very clear to see. For example, say a high school student stays up saturday night drinking at a party. Alcohol is known to have cognitive deficits for up to 48 hours after consumption. This means that if this student has a test on that coming monday, the alcohol will still show its effects and inhibit his or her ability to do well on the test. Also, the use of alcohol can throw one’s sleep cycle out of its routine. This would lead to a lack of REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep, which is where most of the neural connections that are needed to perform well in school are made. This being said, it is clear that using alcohol will decrease performance in school. This will lead to major effects on their future, as colleges, at least the top ones, will not be interested in their fleeting grades. This can lead to the student not being able to graduate college, and therefore will not be able to start a legitimate career. So here is the final product: A high school grad that has no career. All of it could have been avoided had the student simply stayed away from alcohol in high school. This is the main reason as to why High school Students should not party it up, and use alcohol.

I also have personally witnessed the effects of drugs and alcohol on students and student athletes. When I was in Eighth grade, (I’m currently a Junior in highschool) I watched as one of my good friends who was a sophomore in high school at the time, play in a baseball game while under the influence of marihuana. It was the worst performance of his life. He also repeated this action of smoking before games, and it lead to his being cut from the baseball team the following year. In that same year, the varsity baseball team was caught drinking at a saint Patrick’s day party in the spring, just before the start of the season. They were all suspended, and the team had to forfeit their first 5 games due to a lack of eligible players. Not only that, but the seniors that were getting looks and offers from colleges to play baseball had their offers withdrawn. Moral of the story: dont do drugs or alcohol, as it can only harm your future. Finally, on an even more personal level, I would like to share the story of my uncle. My uncle was one of the most loved men anyone could meet. Unfortunately, he abused many drugs, especially alcohol, and ended up commiting suicide at a ripe age of nineteen. The effects of his death are still felt to this day, as he died nearly thirty years ago. To conclude, Drugs and alcohol are not worth the risk.