The world is now highly globalized, and learners can now attend schools outside of their cultural environment. Due to globalization, schools, especially in the United States, receive many students whose first language is not English. The tutors are compelled to teach the learners English and, at the same time, meet their educational needs. To teach in a classroom with English language learners needs both skills and experience. To effectively teach English Language Learners (ELL), the teacher must cultivate relationships in the class and be culturally neutral. For instance, teaching social studies topics like Drug Abuse among youths, there are various approaches the teacher can adapt to teach in such a classroom effectively.
Drug abuse among youths is an essential social studied topic that needs proper teaching and attention in the contemporary world. Learners need to understand what is drug abuse and its effects on society. Teaching such topics, therefore, not only benefit the learners educationally but also equip them with the knowledge needed to sanitize society. Research shows that drug abuse is rampant among the youths in the society. Drug abuse is when one uses an illegal substance in a way that it shouldn’t. Some of the common reasons why youths abuse drugs include easing stress, avoiding reality, feeling good, and due to an addiction. Addiction is when one cannot stop using particular drugs; this puts the users’ health in danger.
Some of the commonly abused drugs include alcohol, Opioid, Heroin, Tobacco, Marijuana, Benzos, cocaine, among others. Drug abuse can be very dangerous; it have long-term and short-term negative consequences. Studies show that drug abuse increases the risk of mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and psychosis. Addictive use of drugs can lead to impaired thinking and memory issues that can lead to slow learning. On the other hand, drug abuse affects that overall body health issues, it can lead to detrimental health conditions like heart disease, lung cancer, kidney failure and liver damage depending on the type of drug one used.
Drug abuse can cause serious harm to physical health. Some of the drug abuse effects may last up to a year, while some last forever. The impact of drug abuse on the body ranges from mild symptoms to serious health problems. Drugs like cocaine affect the cardiovascular system, particularly the heart; cocaine is a stimulant that can lead to serious heart diseases like heart failure. Drugs that users inject to their bodies like heroin can cause veins to collapse and even cause infections in blood vessels or the heart. Lungs, on the other hand, can be damaged by smoked drugs, including marijuana and tobacco. These drugs cause various conditions like emphysema, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, and asthma.
Kidney damage is another negative effect of drug abuse. Many drugs can cause kidney diseases like kidney failure, which is life-threatening. Heroine damages the liver; this damage is very severe when combined with other drugs like alcohol and heroin. Drug abuse also causes severe adverse effects on the brain; this includes impaired cognitive function, change in memory, change in brain connections, and death of brain cells.
Drug use and addiction is, therefore, a severe issue in society that can adversely affect the community at large. Before helping someone, it is essential to understand the treatment options that can fit the individual; it is, therefore, necessary to approach them to understand them better. There are various treatment approaches available that can help in treating the addict and assisting in the recovery journey. This includes therapeutic and other social approaches like counseling.
Teaching English Language Learners
Teaching English Language learners this social studies topic on drug abuse among the youths cannot be challenging with proper preparation. Proper preparation, in this sense, starts with preparing a lesson plan that adequately fit the ELLs class and their requirements. A lesson plan is a step-by-step guide that helps the teacher to structure learning and ensure all the essential parts of the lesson are addressed. A lesson plan ensures that the time set aside for the lesson is well utilized to meet the learning aims and objectives, ensure learning is done effectively, and all learning activities are taken care of.