Introduction
Goal of the project: To analyze the causes of the emergence of bad habits in adolescence, to identify the main methods of combating bad habits.
Project objectives:
1. To study the literature on the topic.
2. To clarify the causes of the emergence of bad habits among adolescents.
3. To find out if teenagers in the 9th grade have bad habits.
4. Identify the main methods of combating bad habits.
The urgency of the project lies in the fact that nowadays the health of a large number of people suffers from the presence of bad habits, which have a negative impact on human health. First of all, it is smoking, alcohol, drug and toxic addiction.
The problem of the project is that today, unfortunately, prevention of bad habits is almost not conducted among the population. If it happens, then in the form of unintelligible posters, signs and agitations. The effect of such activities is extremely low.
Hypothesis: Most of the cases of consumption of harmful substances by young people are related to the purpose of increasing their mood, and the reason why they first started to use them (alcohol, cigarettes, drugs) is the desire to grow up. In our opinion, the negative consequences of these vices have, above all, harm to health.
Object: adolescents.
Subject: causes of bad habits.
Methods:
1. to study the literature on the subject.
2. To conduct a survey among adolescents.
3. Analysis of the obtained data.
The practical significance of the project is that the conclusions and results of the work can be used to prepare and conduct an after-school event, a class hour, a parent meeting.
The concept of “bad habits”
A bad habit is a repetitive action (at the level of automatism), which is harmful from the point of view of public good, surrounding people or human health.
A bad habit is an action that is automatically repeated many times, and this action is harmful from the point of view of public good, others or the health of the person himself or herself.
Harmful habits are common actions that people repeat over and over again, even though they are not useful or even harmful.
Habits that are negatively evaluated by society and have a negative impact on the formation of the human personality are considered to be harmful. They include: the habit of nail biting, nose picking, joint clicking, overeating, game addiction, TV addiction, Internet addiction, shopaholics and others. But most of all the public is concerned about the growing concern of young people joining the most negative habits – tobacco, alcohol, drugs. The main factors in the formation and consolidation of bad habits among the younger generation include: poor organization of educational work; the process of acceleration in the absence of critical thinking; temporary receipt of artificially created mental comfort and stress relief after taking drugs and alcohol with the formation of dominant; simplification of ways to meet various human needs by inhibition of the CNS.
A special group of bad habits
Such addictions (habits), which have a negative impact on health, are considered harmful. Morbid addictions are a special group of bad habits – the use of alcohol, nicotine, drugs, toxic and psychotropic substances for the purpose of entertainment.
1. Alcohol is a bad habit.
Alcoholism is a disease that occurs as a result of constant consumption of alcoholic beverages (including energy drinks). In addition to the fact that the state of alcoholic intoxication itself often pushes a person to do crazy, mean and ugly things, the consequences of its action are deplorable for the body:
– Alcohol pushes a person to do crazy, mean and ugly things.
– Causes the brain to slow down and its cells to die.
– Alcohol has a devastating effect on children before they are born:
– increases the chances of giving birth to a sick baby;
– children of alcoholics develop more slowly than their peers;
– alcohol consumption shortens human life by 10-15 years;
– alcohol leads to metabolic disorders.
Thus, alcohol consumption leads to biological aging and social degradation of the personality.
2. The bad habit of smoking
Cigarettes are highly addictive, which makes it extremely difficult to quit smoking. Harm from smoking appears both externally and destroys the body from the inside.
So, during the work we studied the following stages of the effect of smoking on the human body:
– Nicotine spoils the structure of nails, the color and strength of teeth, affects skin color and hair strength. Usually a smoker is easy to identify by the yellowish color of the skin, plaque on the teeth and always bad breath. The fact is that smoking negatively affects the secretions of the stomach, causing it to gradually begin to rot;
– Cigarettes negatively affect the structure of internal organs, particularly the blood vessels. Smokers’ blood vessels become inelastic and brittle in old age. Also, smokers have narrowed vessels, spasms appear;
– Nicotine causes an increase in blood pressure. Smokers have 10 millimeters of mercury column higher than those who never smoked;
– Smoking also negatively affects the child’s health, especially if a woman smokes during pregnancy. Children get sick often, catch colds easily, and are developmentally delayed.
Cigarette smoke contains about 800 different harmful substances and none of the beneficial ones. The most harmful is nicotine.
Tobacco smoke has a harmful effect not only on the smoker, but also on those around him.
In Russia adopted a law that prohibits smoking in public places: in school, store, cafe, entrance hall, public transport, in the presence of pregnant women and children.
Smokers have impaired memory, attention, health, headaches, malaise, lung and nervous system diseases become more frequent.
3. Unhealthy habit of narcotics
Narcotic substances of any kind are the most addictive and cause the most severe harm to the body. That is, if willpower is often enough to quit smoking and drinking, then the help of a specialist is often required to defeat drug addiction.
Having studied the materials on this problem, we have established the following features of the impact of narcotic substances on the human body:
– Drugs cause insomnia and at the same time a constant state of drowsiness, pallor, sluggish reactions, frequent sneezing and stuffy nose.
– Drugs affect a person’s brain and disrupt the psyche.
– All addicts, regardless of the type of drug taken, do not live long, lose interest in everything and stop taking care of themselves, turning into homeless people.
The saddest thing is that the bad habits of man harm not only themselves, but also the people around them. Drunk drivers, rampaging from any kind of intoxication, tactless people who condemn those around them to the role of passive smokers, irresponsible parents who produce sick and underdeveloped children. It is not just those who knowingly step into the grave, but those who pull many others down with them.
Drug use leads to:
– To ill health.
– To excruciating pain.
– Inadequate (inappropriate) behavior.
– To addictive behaviors.
The causes of bad habits
The beginning of initiation of bad habits, as a rule, belongs to adolescence. The following groups of the main causes of young people’s addiction to bad habits can be distinguished:
Lack of internal discipline and sense of responsibility. Because of this, young people often come into conflict with those on whom they are dependent. But at the same time they have high enough demands, though they are not able to satisfy them, because they do not possess for this purpose neither corresponding preparation, nor social, nor material possibilities. In this case, bad habits become a kind of rebellion, a protest against the values professed by adults or society.
Lack of motivation, a clearly defined life goal. Therefore, such people live for today, momentary pleasures and do not care about their future, do not think about the consequences of their unhealthy behavior.
Feelings of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, anxiety and boredom. This reason especially affects people who are uncertain, with low self-esteem, for whom life seems hopeless, and people around them do not understand them.
Difficulty communicating inherent in people who do not have strong friendships, it is difficult to enter into close relationships with parents, teachers, others, not easily fall under the bad influence. Therefore, if there are those who use harmful substances among their peers, they are more easily influenced by them (“try it and don’t mind that it’s bad”). Feeling relaxed and easy under the influence of these substances, they try to expand their circle of acquaintances and increase their popularity.
Experimentation. When a person hears from others about the pleasant sensations of using harmful substances, he, though aware of their harmful effects on the body, wants to experience these sensations himself. Fortunately, most people who experiment at this stage of acquaintance with harmful substances are limited to this stage. But if a person also has any of these other provoking reasons, then this stage becomes the first step toward the formation of bad habits.
The desire to escape from the problems, apparently, the main reason for the use of harmful substances by adolescents. The fact is that all harmful substances cause inhibition in the central nervous system, as a result of which a person “shuts down” and as if escapes from the problems he has. But this is not a way out of the situation – the problems do not get solved, but worsen, and time is running out.
Thus, it is necessary to note once again the special danger of action of harmful substances on teenagers. It is connected not only with the processes of growth and development occurring in them, but above all with the very high content of sex hormones in their bodies. Just the interaction of these hormones with harmful substances and makes a teenager extremely sensitive to their action. For example, it takes two to five years for an adult to go from starting to drink alcohol to becoming an alcoholic, but only three to six months for a teenager! Of course, for a 15- to 16-year-old high school student preparing to enter adolescence, this consequence of harmful substance use is especially dangerous.
A sociological survey of students
A sociological survey was conducted among teens on January 27, 2020, to find out if 15-16 year olds have bad habits. If so, which ones?
Students (25 students, 7 girls and 18 boys) were surveyed. The questionnaire was administered voluntarily to each student individually. After explaining the instructions, the students proceeded to the task.
An anonymous test composed by me and the project manager was used in the experiment. The test consisted of eight questions where teenagers were supposed to choose an answer from a list of options.
Analysis of the results:
I Alcohol
1. Have you ever tried alcoholic beverages?
a) yes – 68%
b) no – 32%
2. What do you think the purpose of drinking alcoholic beverages is?
a) to relieve stress – 12%
b) to improve their mood – 48%
c) to keep company – 40%
3. How often do you drink alcoholic drinks?
a) every day – 0%
b) no more than three times a week – 8 %
c) no more than twice a month – 28%
d) seldom, do not drink at all – 64%
II Smoking
1. Have you ever tried smoking? Do you smoke now?
a) Yes, I do – 36%
b) No – 36%
c) I have tried, but I do not smoke – 28%
2. How many cigarettes do you smoke?
a) 1-10 cigarettes a day – 36 per cent
b) 10-20 cigarettes a day – 0 %
c) More than a pack a day – 0 %
d) Do not smoke – 64 %
3. Why did you start smoking?
a) I wanted to try it – 8 %
b) Company influence – 16 %
c) desire to grow up – 32 %
d) Enjoyed it – 12 %
e) Don’t smoke – 32 %
III. Drugs
1. Have you ever used even a weak drug?
a) yes – 0 %
b) no – 88%
c) answered not seriously – 12%
2. In your opinion, bad habits:
a) are bad for your health – 84 %
b) help cheer up and relax – 16%
The saddest thing is that bad habits do harm not only to themselves, but also to people around them. Drunk drivers, rampaging from any kind of intoxication, tactless people who condemn others to the role of passive smokers, irresponsible parents who give birth to sick underdeveloped children.
It is not just those who consciously step into the grave, but also those who pull many others behind them.
The results of the study led to the following conclusions:
– Among students, 68% had tried alcohol, among them boys 44% (11 people) and girls 24% (6 people);
– 64% of the students had tried smoking (14 boys and 2 girls), 36% (9 persons) were regular smokers and 28% had tried smoking but did not smoke;
– the main purpose of alcohol consumption is to improve mood and keep company.
– The main reason teens first tried smoking was to grow up.
– No one is exposed to drugs;
– the majority of students suggested that the main negative consequence of these habits is damage to health.
Thus, according to the results of the survey most teenagers have already tried alcohol and cigarettes, 36% of the students already have a bad habit – smoking.
Prevention of bad habits among children and adolescents
The prevention of bad habits, today, unfortunately, is almost not conducted. If it happens, it is in the form of unintelligible posters, signs and agitation. The effect of such measures is extremely low. Here we should remember the phrase about saving drowning people, in whose hands their own salvation.
Work on the prevention of addictions among children and adolescents is effective if the following conditions are met:
– Healthy life needs should be fostered and formed, and socially significant motivations for behavior should be created;
– Children and parents should be provided with objective information about bad habits, their impact on people and the consequences of their use;
– the relevant information should be provided taking into account the age and individual characteristics of the child;
– Children’s understanding of the essence of bad habits should go in parallel with the formation of a stable negative personal attitude to psychoactive substances and the skills of interpersonal communication with peers and adults, the ability to cope with conflicts, manage emotions and feelings;
– students should gain experience in solving their problems without the help of psychoactive substances, learn how to deal with these hobbies of family and friends;
– to instill in students healthy lifestyle skills, to influence children’s levels of attitudes and self-esteem;
– the child, parents, and teachers must be united in the fight against bad habits: it is necessary to help the child give up (or want to give up) his or her bad habits himself or herself.
Methods of Combating Bad Habits
Eradication of bad habits should begin with their awareness. The problem with most people is that they do not see the harm in their actions. But fortunately, there are several effective methods for dealing with the issue of how to defeat bad habits. The main thing is to approach this very seriously:
– It is necessary to distract yourself, relax for a while and remember what actions during the day are performed automatically and without any control. And they are repeated from day to day. After a while, you will be able to remember several of them. These will be the habits that need to be taken under control.
– The question of how to give up bad habits depends on the will and character of the person. Some people need a couple or three days, and for some, even six months is not enough. The best option is to replace a bad habit with a healthy one every day for three weeks. For example, instead of smoking, you should drink a glass of water and take five deep breaths.
– When the discomfort of not having a bad habit begins to be felt, you need to gain strength and not pay attention to it. It is best to learn to enjoy this discomfort – because it tells you that the habit is going away.
– Never, under any circumstances, should you indulge yourself. So many people break down at this very point. “Today was a hard day, one cigarette won’t do anything,” and so on.
– The main rule in which prevention of bad habits will work is to follow a regimen of 21 days or 3 weeks. If even one day is filled with an old habit again – the whole countdown should start over again. But no matter how the struggle turns out, it’s worth it. Life without bad habits is much more interesting and better than it sometimes seems.
Thus, we conclude that the earlier the presence of addictions among students will be identified, the more effective help will be. Harmful habits of schoolchildren can try to eradicate the following methods:
– Distribution of free time of the teenager;
– The promotion of a healthy lifestyle;
– A positive example of others.
However the most effective method of combating addictions among children is their own example of adults. Before the child’s eyes there should be an example of a person leading a healthy lifestyle.
Conclusion
In this work we have tried to reveal the essence of bad habits and their impact on the human body, to analyze the causes of bad habits in adolescence, to highlight the main methods of combating bad habits.
Any drug use, and this includes smoking, and alcohol, and drugs themselves, quickly destroys the body. Whatever the reasons for joining bad habits, it is important to remember that these habits are irreparable harm not only the person himself, but also his offspring, as well as family, community and society as a whole. Eradication of bad habits should begin with their awareness. But the problem with most people is precisely that they do not see the harm in their actions.
The hypothesis that in most cases young people use harmful substances to improve their mood and the reason they first started using them (alcohol, cigarettes, drugs) is a desire to grow up – was confirmed.
In conclusion, each person is free to make his or her own choice about which path to follow. To follow the way of getting pleasure from daily hard work on perfection of his spiritual and physical qualities, on the way of strengthening of his health and creation of conditions for prosperous adult life. Or to follow the false path of pleasure from taking drugs, and thus to quickly destroy their health and their future well-being.
In today’s world, sports can be an alternative to bad habits. Engaging in sports, giving up bad habits, and leading a healthy lifestyle are the main goals of a healthy society!
