Write about an adolescent that touches on one of the topics listed (substance abuse, sexual behavior, social media, mental health, or criminal activity).

The adolescent i will be discussing is myself. Back when i was 12 and up until i had my daughter at the age of 18 years old my life was in shambles. I was living with my mother and step father and 3 younger brothers. I am the oldest and only girl so i had to mature quick for my age. Living and growing up in the country i had to learn and to adapt to things quickly then others. I was able to shoot my first shotgun at the age of 10 and learned how to drive the back country roads at the age of 12. My parents were drug dealers so their was a lot of activity going on at my house from sun up to sun down, it never stopped. My focus wasn’t on school. it was maintaining my parents household, taking care of my brothers, and protecting my family. Not to mention my step father abused cocaine so their was always domestic violence, some days i would have to fight him off my mother. I wouldn’t sleep and some days i wasn’t allowed to go to school because my mom would be so sore and tired from fighting and being out handle business with my step father that i had to sell drugs for her. I became depressed and rebellious over the time i started growing up. I joined a gang called PIRU it was all bloods. I stopped coming home when i was supposed, i started to engage into the fast life because that’s all i knew. I fought men, i robbed, i sold drugs, and i repped my gang to the fullest and nobody could stop me. My mom didn’t even know what was going on and didn’t care too. I had no other family who cared for me, i felt alone and attempted suicide for several years but for some reason i just kept waking up. At the age of 17, i was banned from 7 different high schools in Fayetteville, NC. I was on the verge of going into juvenile dentation center but i didn’t care, i was unstoppable. The schools would call me the (Queen skipper) or the (Riot Girl), i always skipped class and started a riot every other day or i would end meeting up with my gang and just never going back. The last school i attended was Cape Fear High School, i thought i met the love of my life. He was charming and a football player and i just could not resist. I told him he shouldn’t want a girl like me because i was nothing but trouble and why would i believe that a stranger would love me if my own mother didn’t care for my existence. Fast forward we dated and i ended up pregnant with my daughter, having my child was the best thing that ever happened to me. My mother of course was very angry and disappointed in but it opened her eyes, on my delivery bed i told my mother everything from the suicide attempts, the gang banging, the drugs, and more things that i will not name lol. But it brought me and my mother closer, we all stopped living the fast life and my mom promised to do better for me and her grandbaby. Once i applied myself, i was able to graduate early even though I missed a lot of days and caused chaos , teachers and principals were actually surprised of how smart i was and it allowed me to gain a second chance at life. My mom stayed by me and my daughter side ever since, all i wanted was to be seen and cared for.

For this discussion, you will write about an adolescent (either in real life or in media somewhere) that touches on one of the topics listed (substance abuse, sexual behavior, social media, mental health, or criminal activity).
In your original post, answer the following:
Briefly describe the adolescent and his/her situation
When encountering one of the adversities listed above, how did the adolescent respond?
Was there a supportive adult figure in this adolescent’s life at the time? If yes, how did that adult support the adolescent? If no, how to you think the situation would have been different had the adolescent had adult support or guidance?
What was the outcome of the adolescent’s choice? How did it affect his/her development?

In your responses to your classmates, address the following:
How does your classmate’s example compare to the example you shared in your main post? What are the similarities? What are the differences?
How does your classmate’s example relate to the lecture and reading material for this week?
What questions do you have for your classmate about their example?