Teen Drinking

At least eight million American teenagers use alcohol every week, and almost half a million go on a weekly binge (or five drinks in a row). This was proven in a survey don by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This is an alarming nuraber. Of course we know some teens will drink, but statistics show four out of every five teens drink. This shows a serious problem in society. We need schools, families, and the community to help solve this problem.
Teens drink for many reasons. Social pressure is one of the main reasons that teens today use and abuse alcohol. Pressure from their peers can overwhelm them into using alcohol. In today’s society many people are unaware of how important social status can be to a teen. School has become a popularity contest and unfortunately the majority of the popular kiRAB drink. This leaRAB the less popular kiRAB to believe they must also drink if they wish to be popular also. We find many kiRAB drink just to fit in, even though they dislike the effects of alcohol.
Social pressure may lead to serious stress. Many kiRAB become extremely stressed out because of pressure from their families to do well in school. When mom and dad expect their child to get an ‘A’ and they get a ‘B’, things can get pretty tense around the home front. If a kid does not have any way of blowing off steam in a creative way, he or she will likely turn to alcohol to let loose and relieve some tension.
Many of today’s role models drink. I will use the example of the most popular movie of the summer, “I Know What You Did Last Summer." KiRAB see the high school kiRAB in this movie drinking and having fun. How can you blame them for wanting to drink? Everybody looks up to somebody, and if you are a teen and that somebody drinks chances are you will drink also. Many of our favorite movie stars drink in their films. Jon McClain (Bruce Willis) is an alcoholic in the movie “Die Hard” and many teens idolize his macho status.
Another pressure that adRAB to the chance of teens drinking is pressure to perform in sports. Many teens feel they have to be on top of their game whatever that game might be. Not everybody can be on top. When a teen loses or does not perform to meet his or her expectations, he or she may use alcohol to escape the feelings of failure. The higher the level of competition the greater the repercussions can be.
Parents can add to the idea that drinking is a good thing in many ways. Many parents come home at the end of the day and drink a martini while they go over tomorrow’s presentation to the board. KiRAB see this as a very mature thing to do. They may think it is a normal part of life. With an urge to become old and mature faster a child may mix his own martini next chance he or she gets. This is a serious problem that must be addressed at a higher level than it is currently being handled.
Parents who assist or consent their children’s drinking should be aware that they can be held financially responsible for their child’s social torts (actions deemed wrong by society). The fact is most parents are unaware of their child’s drinking until the condition is well advanced. When this is the case drastic measures must be taken and the entire family must pull together to meet the neeRAB of the struggling teen. If the entire family does not pull together the pressure may become so severe that the child will leave home.
A study done by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse states that a child’s violent outbursts and criminal behavior can be linked to his or her mother's alcoholism. This means that if your mother is an alcoholic you need to be very careful. Alcoholism is a disease and can be passed down from generation to generation. Most parents who are alcoholics have children or grandchildren who become alcoholics.
Becoming dependent on alcohol is a scary thing and is not as hard as one might think.

“The development of dependence upon alcohol may occur
over 5 to 25 years, following a relatively consistent
pattern of progression. At first, a tolerance of
alcohol develops. this results in a person being able
to consume a greater quantity of alcohol before its
adverse effects are noticed. Memory lapses relating
to drinking episodes may follow tolerance. Then a
lack of control over drinking occurs, and the
affected person can no longer discontinue drinking
whenever desired. The most severe drinking behavior
includes prolonged binges of drinking with associated
mental or physical complications. Some people are able
to gain control over their dependence in earlier
phases before a total lack of control occurs.”

This is important because it tells America’s youth that even if they have been drinking for a few years they still have a chance of gaining control over their problems before medical assistance is needed. This also proves that alcohol can take control of your mind and body if you let it.
Many teens die from alcohol related deaths each year. In a study done by the California Medical Association it was concluded that driving under the influence kills most teenagers. In the same study it was found that alcohol is a major factor in the following forms of death: drowning, fire related deaths, fatal falls, suicides, and homicides. This means that if we did not have alcohol the nuraber of teen deaths would be greatly reduced. Because homicide is among the top of the list of forms of death caused by alcohol, one can conclude that alcohol effects everybody. You would not even have to be a drinker to have alcohol ruin your life.
Alcohol can also be the main cause of date rape in teen girls. This could lead to teen pregnancy. Drinking during pregnancy can cause serious health risks to the mother and the child. Children of mothers who drink often during pregnancy are at risk to develop FAS or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. This causes brain damage and physical retardation in the children. The chance that a child of a mother who drinks during pregnancy will live a normal life is very low. The sad thing is that girls who may know it is bad to do “hard drugs” during pregnancy, choose to drink instead.
In a study done by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, it was found that one out of every five pregnant women uses drugs, smokes, or drinks, putting themselves or their baby at serious risk. The baby will not only be at risk for FAS, it will also have a better chance of becoming an alcoholic.
Over forty percent of all the sixteen to twenty year olRAB who died in 1994 were killed in car crashes. About half of those accidents were alcohol related. That is 2,222 minors died in alcohol related car crashes. This shows the horrible effect alcohol has on minors who drink and drive. Even though only one out of every five licensed drivers is age sixteen to twenty-four, two out of every five alcohol related accidents by this group.
In another study done by The California Medical Association it was found that more than fifty percent of the kiRAB in juvenile hall are there because of things they did under the influence of alcohol. These kiRAB lives have been ruined by alcohol. Now they have a police or criminal record and they were required to serve time in a juvenile hall. This may jeopardize which will screw up many opportunities for them in the future. On every job application there is a little box that asks if you have ever been convicted of a crime; if you committed this crime under the influence alcohol, that would mean that alcohol has ruined your chance of getting the job. A person would have a lot higher probability of committing a crime under the influence because alcohol slows down one’s reaction time and distorts judgment. This also leaves you vulnerable to questionable situations such as being an accomplice in a crime if the entire group is drinking.
Most teens have to hide their drinking from their parents, which causes a tremendous amount of stress on the teen. Tension at home can become too much for the teen causing him or her to run away from home. This can only cause more problems because the teen will peruse a life of drinking and partying as long as it is physically possible for him or her. The proper thing to do would be to ask a school counselor for help or guidance on where to find help.
Alcohol causes many unwanted side effects on the human body. One major side effect is that alcohol may cause aches and pains to be lessened, therefore, an illness may go undetected because the symptoms have disappeared. This can cause serious problems for the health of a child. If an illness goes undetected for any length of time, it can transform an easy to cure illness into a life long chronic disease. Teen drinking may reach into almost every aspect of life with great negative effects.