Risk Taking Behaviour: Smoking, Unprotected Sex and Drunk Driving
Risk taking behaviours are actions and decisions made by individuals that may result in a dangerous or consequential outcome. There are multiple types of behaviours that can be counted as risk taking, some include, the consumption of alcohol under the age of eighteen or drinking large amounts of alcohol in one sitting, smoking cigarettes, taking drugs, being under the influence of alcohol or drugs while driving as well as many more. This discussion will talk about the risks of smoking cigarettes, unprotected sex & drink/ drug driving.
Smoking cigarettes plays a large role as one of the most common risk-taking behaviours young adults choose to indulge in. According to www.sharecare.com round 80-90% of smokers indulge in their first cigarette before the age of eighteen and the average age for smokers to start their addiction is at 15.1 years of age. As well as being incredibly addictive can cause cancerous diseases throughout the body. The most common type of cancer caused by smoking is lung cancer which averages out to be 78% of the types of cancer caused by cigarettes. Although others cancers include oesophagus (5%), pancreas (4%), mouth (3%), bladder (3%), kidney (2%), stomach (2%), larynx (2%), leukemia (1%) & cervix (1%). Whilst this can cost thousands in chemotherapy there is never a 100% guarantee that you will survive these cancers.
According to www.cdc.gov an average 480,000 deaths per year linked directly to smoking in the United States & an average 41,000 people die per year caused by second-hand smoking. In Australia, 2013, there were an estimated 16,610 cancer cases linked to tobacco and 9,921 deaths linked to cancers caused by smoking. The death of a smoker also means a grieving family however, the biggest impact of a smoker in the family is the risk of second-hand smoking by family members. As said before and estimated 41,000 people die in the US due to second hand smoking. There are multiple different paths of quitting that suit different people the best, some prefer to simply stop smoking on the spot and refuse to buy a packet of cigarettes again but there are also different methods to reach the same objective. One is slowly weening yourself off of cigarettes by simply lowering the amount of times you smoke in one day until you reach the destination of zero cigarettes per day.
All teenagers experience puberty which is also when they experience a sudden influx of hormones. This can lead to sexual attraction to others their age and in some cases result in sexual activity. A lot of these incidents happen to be under the influence of alcohol, which is why it is quite common for the sex to become unprotected which is extremely risky at such an age, of course unprotected sex is used when older when really trying for children, but during teenage years it is far too risky. An experiment was conducted in Europe and an estimate of 25% of unprotected sex during the ovulation period and a 5% throughout the rest of the cycle. And although it does not seem like a big percentage, it means that there is a 1 in 4 chance that unprotected intercourse will result in a fetus.
Many people underestimate the chances and repercussions of this actually happening. Having a child at such a young age can result in having to drop out of school to care for the child, financial debt (which will almost definitely impact the rest of the family), the possibility of being disowned by parents which can make it all the much harder with the financial side of things, being shunned by friends and the community along with many other consequences. Finance in raising a child during teenage years as it is extremely unlikely that either of the parents will have a high paying job at that age. It costs an average of $7,000 per year to raise a seven-year-old girl, which taken into consideration is large amount of money. Although many teenagers choose condoms as their go to fail safe, they are not completely accident proof. A condom only does its job 98% of the time, it may seem like a small number but should still be treated with caution. As well as up to 40% of people have experienced condom breakage. The best option is for female teenagers to take birth control pills and still have the added protection of a condom.
Drink/drug driving is classified as driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It is requested that people with any alcohol in their system to not drive but it is prohibited to drive with more than 0.05 alcohol blood concentration. It is completely illegal to drive under the influence of any drug that has the ability to hinder your concentration or ability to drive.
