"Puff, puff, pass", "pour me up", are two phrases I constantly hear in my community. Not in my home, but at school, parties, and "kick backs". My parents have always brought me up on the phrase, "with freedom, comes responsibilities". They never kept me locked in the house, under their wings at all times; they instilled their morals and values in me, then allowed me to explore the world hoping I would always make the right decisions. Not with everything, but for the most part they have let me learn life on my own so I can know how it will feel when one day they aren’t there to protect me.
Smoking and drinking, has never been okay with my family. My parents don’t smoke at all, nor do they drink around my brother and me. My brother is a 21-year-old student athlete who has never had at urge to smoke or drink. I don’t surround myself with negative people, but smoking and drinking is very common with teens around my age, and honestly, close to all of my friends smoke, drink, do both, or have tried it. I see it happen at school, and parties all the time.
Personally, I don’t like the smell of smoke, and I’ve never had the urge to taste alcohol. However when I do go out, “just try it one time”, is all I hear. I’ve been asked to smoke and drink on multiple occasions. When caught up in the moment, around all your friends, its kind of hard to say no because of peer pressure, and every time I even think about giving in, my parent’s morals and values pop up in my head. Even when I know my parents wont ever find out if I smoke or drink one time, they have instilled morals with me that I plan on carrying with me throughout my life.
Temptation is hard especially with peer pressure, but I am the type