The negative upbringing of young adults creates behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence. Careless acts and poor decisions occur more often in young adults and can alter someone’s life permanently causing physical or mental damage. Texting while driving, not wearing a seatbelt, poor diet, unprotected sex, alcohol, or drug abuse are a few behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence. The CDC conducts a variety of surveys in the U.S. regarding adolescents and school health. Youth Risk Behaviors Surveillance System (YRBSS) surveys was conducted regarding multiple matters such as distracted teen drivers, electronic bullying, and sexual intercourse by or before the age of 13. The data collected from the surveys validates those certain behaviors are risk factors for traumatic events that take place in adolescents on to adulthood. If adolescents practice laws and protocols based on avoiding risky behaviors, then unintended injuries and violence may not take place.
Text or Email While Driving
Motor vehicle accidents are one of the top known causes of death and injury involving adolescents and young adults in the U.S. Studies have shown 2010-2018 that approximately 3,000 people die due to car crashes that take place every year involving distracted drivers. (Yellman, et al. 2020) As a driver it is important to understand the law and rules of the road. Rules of the road include reading and comprehending road signs, seat belt safety, and not driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These rules are in place to prevent traumatic situations.
You must always keep your eyes on the road and pay attention to your surroundings while operating any motor vehicle. There are many things that can catch an individual’s attention and distract them while driving. According to the YRBSS there are three types of distractions. The main three types of distractions are visual, mental, and manual. Changing the radio station, eating, texting, or calling contacts are a few examples of the type of distractions while driving that can lead to unintended injuries or fatalities. Texting and emailing while driving takes place more so in the younger generation.
In the United States, the data from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Systems were analyzed to determine prevalence of transportation risk behaviors in 2018 regarding distracted driving. According to the YRBSS, 25% of the distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes were young adults aged 20–29. Drivers aged 15-19 were more likely to be distracted than drivers aged 20 and older, among drivers in crashes where someone died. Younger drivers are considered to be inexperienced drivers and reckless. Age is a major factor for the behavioral risk, but the YRBSS also analyzed data based on the driver’s characteristics, ethnicity, sex, grade, and state.
Electronic Bullying
Bullying is a form of abuse that takes place when an individual is causing unwanted physical, emotional, and mental pain upon another individual that is not related or romantically involved with one another. There are different types of bullying, and all can lead to unintended injuries, violence, or fatalities. Physical bullying takes place when an individual causes physical harm to another individual. Verbally bullying such as name calling and over talking an individual to belittle or disrespect that individual. Social bullying takes place when an individual spreads false information or rumors publicly to ruin that individual’s reputation, cause redemption or embarrassment towards that person. Electronic bullying takes place when an individual attacks another individual via cell phone text, email or social media and consists of abusive language, name calling, hurtful images, or insulting posts.
Electronical bullying is more common within the adolescents and young adults’ community.
Electronical bullying is also known as cyberbullying and is considered one of the leading causes of adolescent depression, low self-esteem, accidents, and suicide (Abido, 2019). Cyberbullying is one of the latest forms of bullying but has a major effect on the youth. Adolescents between the age 12 -18 typically are victims of cyberbullying. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and twitter have been utilized to conduct cyberbullying. Those social media sites were made to allow people that live long distance or nearby to maintain a sense of close nonphysical contact, but they also have been utilized to create trauma in people’s cases.
Cyberbullying can result in adolescent physical, emotional and mental health problems.
When cyberbullying influences mental health, young adults suffer from sleep disorders, dropping out of school, anxiety, and more ways to alter the positive way of functioning. Those disturbances to the thought process led to finding ways to cope. Unfortunately, the young adults dealing with the negative impact cyberbullying has, choose coping mechanisms that further disrupt their lives like substance abuse misuse or violence. The young adults who are the cyberbullies also suffer from some form of disturbance they witnessed in their lives. Whether they have mental issues or have been a victim of abuse, they in turn distribute the negative impactful behaviors to others. Some young adults experiencing the results from cyber bullying led to damage to property, physical harm to others, or suicide.
One way to prevent cyberbullying is to simply remove the access to whatever site the bullying is occurring on. It is best to identify the vulnerabilities to the young adult that would possibly put them in the situation to be bullied. According to the CDC, there is a source that addresses the risk for bullying and ways to protect people from violence. The goal is to strengthen the young adult’s mindset. Bullies look for people with weak minds. The young adults would need to be in safe environments that give them the courage to speak out. They need to know how to identify what bullying looks like and have someone with a sound mind to reach out to help when they don’t know how to respond to those situations. Some people take advantage of the people reaching out for help and use sex as a way to make them comfortable to talk with them or a way to cope.
Sex at or before the age of 13.
As an adolescent being introduced to sex comes in various forms. Someone they know heard introduce sex to them by using music, television shows, advertisements, or just word of mouth. Whether the adolescent was introduced by someone they know or don’t know, their curiosity makes them want to know more. Unfortunately, not everyone finds out about sex in a way that does not traumatize their life. Some adolescents are rape by family members, strangers, or become a part of some sex trafficking business. According to the medical dictionary survival sex is when a person engages in sexual intercourse to secure basic human needs (food, clothing, or shelter). Survival sex don’t receive a financial transaction, like sex trafficking. The injuries adolescents suffer from sex include sexually transmitted infections. Those injuries can lead to substance misuse (which leads to other injuries), mental health disorders, or disabilities. According to the CDC, in the United States, prevalence rates of certain STIs are highest among adolescents and young adults.
Screening Recommendations for STIs for adolescents
One of the major concerns for all sexually active people is education on protecting themselves from STIs. Two of the highest STIs contracted among females during their adolescent and young adult years are gonorrhea and chlamydia. Annual screening for sexually active females under the age of 25 is recommended for N. gonorrhoeae. Depending on the communities and geographic areas, the prevalence for Gonococcal infection is higher. Annual screening for sexually active females under the age of 25 is recommended for C. trachomatis infection as well. The testing for both infections are considered by the amount of exposure and sexual behaviors through communication between the health care provider and the patient. Even though the screenings are recommended annually to sexually active females, providers might consider opt-out gonorrhea and chlamydia screening to increase screening especially by the patients who don’t communicate they are sexually active.
References
Abaido, G. M. (2019, September 26). Cyberbullying on social media platforms among university students in the United Arab Emirates. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673843.2019.1669059
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, October 12). Teen drivers: Get the facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, September 2). Preventing bullying |violence prevention| injury Center| CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/bullyingresearch/fastfact.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, July 22). Adolescents. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment-guidelines/adolescents.htm
David-Ferdon, C., Vivolo-Kantor, A. M., Dahlberg, L. L., Marshall, K. J., Rainford, N., & Hall, J. E. (n.d.). A comprehensive technical package for the prevention of … Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/yv-technicalpackage.pdf
Yellman, M. A., Bryan, L., Sauber-Schatz, E. K., & Brener, N. (2020, August 21). Transportation risk behaviors among high school students – youth risk behavior survey, United States, 2019. MMWR supplements. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7440196/