Comparing Two Articles on Teen Binge Drinking

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Comparing Two Articles on Teen Binge Drinking

The article How to Manage Teen Drinking (the smart way), written by Jeffery Kluger and the article Getting Stupid, written by Bernie Wuethrich are both articles about teenage binge drinking. The two articles are very similar and different at the same time, while together rhetorically appealing to the logos. Combined they give a good background on teenage binge drinking.

Both articles have many similarities; both agree that binge drinking is a problem among adolescents across the country. Binge drinking is defined by both articles as, “five or more drinks in a row for boys and four or more drinks in a row for girls” (Wuethrich, p.58-59). Both articles agree that one major problem of binge drinking in adolescents is that, “Kids who drink before age 15 face a fivefold risk of alcohol dependency” (Kluger, p.42). This is harmful because alcohol alters the clarity of thinking and learning of people.

Getting Stupid focuses on the mental health affects of alcohol on the teenage brain. Adolescent drinkers are more inclined to damage their brain than adult drinkers. This is because structures in the brain such as the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory, and the prefrontal cortex, “which is the brains chief decision maker and voice of reason” (Wuethrich, p.59) are making a lot of adjustments during the teen years. As a result the brain does not fully develop. This has been proven by a study done with rats, conducted by Scott Swartzwelder at Duke University. The study found that the equivalent of only two beers, for adolescent rats is needed to loose memory, while the equivalent of four beers is needed to loose memory in adult ra...

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...laining why having a lower drinking age would be safer for teens. The reader understands the conclusion by following his simple scenario. Both authors do a fine job of appealing to the readers.

The two articles are very similar and different at the same time. Both articles appeal to the reader through the logos, and both agree that teenage binge drinking is not healthy. The difference is that Getting Stupid deals with mental health affects of binge drinking and How to Manage Teen Drinking focuses on ways to cut down teen binge drinking. The two articles combined give a good background on teenage binge drinking.

Sources Cited

Kluger, Jeffrey. "How To Manage Teen Drinking (The Smart Way)" TIME Magazine, Monday, June 18, 2001

Available: http://www.socialnorms.org/PressRoom/time.php

Wuethrich, Bernice. "Getting Stupid," Discover 22 no. 3 (March 2001)

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