A STUDY OF ACQUIRED HARMFUL HABITS AT 15-16-YEAR-OLD STUDENTS

• Main Author: P. Dikova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Trakia University 2020-12-01
• Series: Trakia Journal of Sciences
• Subjects: alcohol; smoking; narcotic substances; aggression; violence; adolescents
• Online Access: http://tru.uni-sz.bg/tsj/TJS%20-%20Suppl.1,%20Vol.18,%202020/143_P.Dikova2.pdf

Childhood and adolescence is the time when life-long habits are acquired. The bad habits acquired at this age reflect on the physical and mental health of the individual. They mark a negative contribution to the development of serious health problems in middle and senior age. Some of the most harmful bad habits are smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use, low physical activity, and the recently quite modern addiction to the Internet and social networks. To examine the extent to which bad habits are part of the lives of 15-16-year-old boys and girls, we conducted an anonymous survey among 248 students. The issues and questions were related to smoking, alcohol, drugs and aggressive behavior. The analysis of the data revealed that harmful dependencies are more or less part of their lives. The results of this survey revealed a minor decrease in the number of smokers from year to year. Unfortunately, alcohol consumption by students is increasing. The lowest is the percentage of those, who have tried any drugs. Most often, aggression manifests itself in fighting and with increasing age among the respondents, the tendency declines the percentage of positive responses among boys, whereas it increases significantly among girls.