Teenage Dilemma Kasandra Harris DeVry University Professor Clark March 11, 2023 2 Teenage Dilemma The year was 1990. Home Alone (starring Macauley Culkin) was a box office hit. "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe was a smash record, and "I'm Your Baby Tonight" by Whitney Houston had also topped the charts. My hometown is a beautiful city located on the eastern shore or Lake Michigan. In the winter we enjoy ice skating, sledding, and snowshoeing. And in the summer, we enjoy kayaking, fishing, festivals, and camping. My hometown was originally inhabited by the Ottawa and Chippewa tribes, who lived in the area for thousands of years. Even my high school mascot was a "Big Red" Indian (they have since dropped the term Indian in 2016 because the term is supposedly offensive). Myself and two other females were on the high school sophomore cheerleading team. Two of us knew each since elementary school, and the other we met while cheering on the Junior High school squad. All cheerleaders had to be on the honor roll, yet my childhood friend and I also served on committees, was a part of the Band and other after school activities that pretty much kept us oblivious to being 'street smart'. The weekend was nearing, and our third friend approached us with a plan for us three females to tell or parents that we were all spending the night at each other’s house. She had the entire plan calculated down to the tee. The real plan was for us to get picked up in a car by older high school jocks and hang 3 out all night with them. I didn't see any harm with the plan because I knew these females pretty well and the guys didn't have a reputation for being bad guys. We females were mature for our ages, yet the social pressure of this situation is what me and my childhood friend had to face. We as teenagers can already have popularity, but it can be tested by the struggle to compromise on all levels. My childhood friend's father was Chief of Police at the time, and my Grandmother put the 'kray' in krazy. Yet we felt we were mature and smart enough to make the right decisions, but our hormones influenced the need to take a break and chill. Friday night arrives and plan is in motion. We get picked up to a car of three males (all whom we've been 'telephone' dating for some time). One of the guys had keys to someone's small apartment. I remember us arriving and no one was at the apartment. None of my friends, classmates, etc. lived in an apartment, so it had to be one of the guy's older brother or cousin's apartment. Nevertheless, when we walked into the apartment the ambience was set. Party music was already playing, and they guys brought out bottles of coolers, and liquor from the kitchen area. To my surprise, our third friend grabbed a plastic cup immediately and began drinking. I proudly declined because there was no way I was interested in liquor. Growing up my grandmother use to crack jokes about the neighborhood drunks who never seemed coherent or tidy. That was definitely a rode I wouldn't take. My childhood friend followed my approach, but eventually gave in to the peer pressure 4 of our other friend. I moved from Michigan (to California) at the start of my junior year in High School. Both friends were pregnant by our senior year. I drink casually (maybe 2-3 cocktails maximum) every other month or so. And see no problem with people drinking. We were 15 years old at the time. Years later, my childhood friend (who is a nurse) told me she was addicted to Vicodin pills at one point in time, but successfully beat it 'cold turkey'. The other friend is rumored to have an addiction to multiple prescription pills. In some cases, there is no harm in compromise when it comes to refraining from being a 'Debbie downer'. But the real test (at any age), is evaluating how an impulsive action can lead to future conflicts. I always looked at myself as a leader, not a follower. My reality of being introduced to booze is buying my own, serving my own, and drinking in my own environment. Which is how I introduced myself to coolers at the age of twenty-one.
