Ellie
March 24, 2013
Mr. Lewis
P3 Lit
A Strong Family Structure
Smoking and drinking alcohol are all results of family structure issues. A good family structure consists of a mother, a father, and a child or two (maybe more). If one of these components is missing, then there at least has to be somebody representing these roles. Most social issues start at home, with bad parenting or in some cases; no parenting at all. Every child deserves to have a family with a strong family structure. Lack of good upbringing and strong family structure can lead to teenagers wanting to run away from their problems. Not all of these escape methods are as beneficial to the child as they think. Some of a teen’s escape routes are through smoking and drinking. The reason why most people love their family so much, even if the family is not blood related, is because family and a solid family structure prevent people from using “escape routes” that can harm them.
The first escape teens use when house life gets rough is smoking. In The Outsiders, the “gang” (Johnny, Two-Bit, Dally, Darry, SodaPop, PonyBoy, and Steve) always smoke a cigarette when they are scared or jumpy. This shows that they have a physical addiction to it. On page 12, Pony says “The cigarette was calming me down.” He describes this particular experience after the first confrontation with Bob and Randy at the movies. Also, on page 30, Two Bit asks “Anyone want a weed?” He offers the cigarettes to break the tension and to calm Johnny, who is nervous around girls, down. Twice in the book, Ponyboy asks for a cigarette because he is scared. On page 51 he asks “Gotta cigarette? Johnny, I’m scared.” Then on page 57 he is desperate and displays mental and physical addiction to the nicotine in the cigarette by saying “I was shaking. I want a cigarette. I want a cigarette. I want a cigarette. We had smoked our last pack.” These examples of Ponyboy being addicted to smoking are effects of what can happen to people with bad family structure. People with a dysfunctional family tend to trust friends instead of their family. These friends usually also have a bad home life with bad family structure. Since these people don’t have good parenting, they don’t know what is and is not good for them. It looks like it is cool to smoke and they have heard that it can calm them down (which are all appealing to them). So, they smoke and get addicted. In conclusion, the reason teens get addicted to nicotine (the drug in the cigarette that makes people addicted), because of their peers and friends. This is supported by an article written by the Huffington Post in September 2012. Also, according to Teen Help (a website dedicated to helping teens with social issues) about 90% of all smokers started as teen smokers; which means they start when they need their family but their family isn’t there. Therefore, bad family structure can lead to teens smoking.
The second and one of the most well-known escapes is alcohol. In The Outsiders it is the Socials or also known as the Socs that use this escape method. The Greasers (Ponyboy and his friends) and the Socs use drinking usually because they want to have some fun. Some examples of this “fun” appear throughout the book. For example, when the Greasers get drunk sometimes Two-Bit would talk about his plans for the night which are to get “boozed up” as shown on page 14 or “rip-roarin’ drunk” as shown on page 47. Another example of the Greasers drinking for the fun of it can be found on page 29 when Ponyboy is describing Dally and saying “He went hunting some action--booze or dames or a fight.” However, not all of the Greasers get drunk all the time. Ponyboy doesn’t get drunk because Darry, his father figure, doesn’t let him and has taught Ponyboy the consequences of getting drunk. The Greasers aren’t the only ones who drink; the Socs do it too. Some examples of the Socs getting drunk before the legal age are usually about the male Socs with Cherry (the representative of the female Socs) disagreeing with the ideas of getting drunk. Bob (a male Soc) begs Cherry for forgiveness by starting with “...just because we got a little drunk last time...” on page 44, but Cherry cuts him off by refuting with “Too many things could happen while you’re drunk. It’s me or the booze.” She backs this statement up on page 27 when she tells Ponyboy “It’s not my idea of a good time to sit in a drive-in and watch people get drunk.” Cherry is an accurate representation of female Socs because on page 27 they talk about the female Socs collectively when “They’d...walked out on them [their boyfriends] when they found out the boys had brought some booze along” There are other risks as well when drinking too early. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention some consequences include “School problems, such as higher absence and poor or failing grades, social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activities, legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk, physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses, higher risk for suicide and homicide, alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, and drowning, memory problems, abuse of other drugs, changes in brain development that may have lifelong effects, and death from alcohol poisoning.” Underage drinking has been and is a problem that is preventable and many groups today like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) are trying to stop and raise awareness about. There are many issues related to underage drinking and it is one of the most problematic social issues today.
Every family needs a mother, a father, and a child. The mother is someone who is typically a woman and takes care of the children and house. She comforts the child when he is not feeling comfortable and sometimes has a job. Typically, the father is a man and is strong mentally and physically. He has a job and provides the family with money, food, water, and shelter. The child can be either gender and is the center of attention in a good family structure. In The Outsiders Darry is the father because he has a job and provides the family with necessities, Sodapop is the mother because even if Pony and Darry have conflict they all love Soda and Soda comforts them. Ponyboy is the child because he is the youngest and they all have a duty to protect him and love him.The rest of the gang especially Johnny can be considered cousins and uncles to this immediate family. Despite their circumstances, Pony, Soda, Darry, and the rest of the gang have an excellent family structure that will last forever.
As Cherry says on page 35 “Things are rough all over” Ponyboy disagrees, but what Cherry says is true because the Greasers’ social problem is they drink and smoke too much and the Socs’ problem is that they drink too much and harm the people around them. Unlike what Ponyboy thinks, family structures can be weak no matter how much money you have.
