Alcohol Advertising: The Cause of Underage Drinking?
The question, “Is alcohol advertising the cause of underage drinking?” seems to flow through the minds of many American families. The answer to the question largely depends upon the families view on drinking in general. Some homes encourage drinking every once in a while, for social purposes; while others condemn it all together. The topic is very controversial with several factors weighing in such as religion, family background, and health. Despite the differing views, statistics have shown that underage drinking has reached a new height this past year. What is the cause of this rise in adolescent drinking? I will be reviewing the work of four different authors in an attempt to answer this question.
Dina Berta grew up with alcohol in her home and believes that alcohol is a part of American life, and is a normal accompaniment to most social events. She said, “Most Americans enjoy drinking on a regular basis.” She feels that Americans are too “uptight” and that drinking socially, even underage, is not a problem. George Hacker and Robyn Suriano disagree with her and they feel that underage drinking has become a serious problem and that children are drinking more heavily at a younger age. Suriano states, “alcohol is the most abused drug in the country, and the number of children trying alcoholic beverages before they reach 18 has doubled in the past decade.” Hacker agrees with this point by giving the statistic that 4.1 million kids younger than 18 tried alcohol in the year 2000. Hacker also states his belief that when the youth drink, they drink heavily and excessively. Suriano and Hacker both agree that the cause of excessive underage drinking is advertisements.
The subject of alcohol advertisements negative effects on the behaviors of young people is very diverse. Most liquor and beer companies agree with Berta that the purpose of alcohol advertisings is to encourage drinkers to try new brands, not to promote excessive drinking. Hacker states, “despite the intent of the industry, research shows that alcohol advertising does influence young people.” He strongly disagrees with Berta, stating that the advertisements have a negative effect. “It preprograms them to drink and drink excessively for a “good time.” ...
... middle of paper ...
...ge drinking and she gives a list of recommendations that all parents should go by in order to alleviate the problem.
The opinions of these four authors prove that alcohol advertising is an extremely controversial topic. When questioning American’s youth, you will get varied responses, similar to the conflicting opinions of the authors. Some homes side with Dina Berta and Jon Kate, while others agree more with Robyn Suriano and George Hacker. Alcohol industries see eye to eye with Berta and Kate. Berta feels advertising is fine and that drinking is a normal part of American culture. Kate feels that there is a problem with underage drinking but that advertisements are not the cause. Robyn Suriano and George Hacker feel underage drinking is a big problem and action needs to take place in order to reduce underage drinking. Hacker blames advertisements while Suriano feels the problem stems from both advertisements and the family. As shown, the topic is very debatable, depending largely on personal upbringing and experiences. Hence, the question still remains, “Are alcohol advertisements the cause of underage drinking?”
not to advertise their products, first on radio in 1936, and of TV in 1948.
Do you ever feel that life is getting so busy and stressful that you just wish you could go back to grade 1 where you just colour and play with toys all day? Well sadly, I can’t arrange it for you to go back in time but, I can help you in a way where you could have enough time to play with toys and feel at ease again. I have recently discovered a majestic book called the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. You may be thinking “Another useless book written by adults? N thank you.” But you are wrong. Many teenagers just like you and me have participated in writing this book by writing their own stories of how this book helped them. This book is split into 3 sections. PBA & Habits 1-3: Private Victory, Habits 4-6: Public Victory
According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not mature enough to handle it, lowering the drinking age actually teaches responsibility and safety in young adults, maintains consistency in age laws, and diminishes temptation.
A lot of the time, teens think it is ‘cool’ to drink because everyone else does it. Almost every television show that young people watch have some underage substance abuse, leading adolescents to believe that it can’t be that bad. While society plays a big part in this huge problem, both teens and parents need to learn that there can be severe consequences from as little as one drink. Allowing them to think this kind of behavior is acceptable will haunt them for the rest of their lives, even if they are not alcohol related. Believing that such behavior is acceptable now will lead them to bad decision-making skills in the future when faced with an ethical decision. Teens need to know the major effects can come from underage drinking before going to that party or when being pressured into something they may not be willing to participate in. It is obvious that the long and short-term effects of alcohol abuse can be easily avoided by getting educated and thinking before engaging in any self-destructive
were drinking to get drunk than their counterparts a decade earlier, and one recent study reported an increase, just since 1994, in the number of students who drink deliberately to get drunk? (Smith 1). I interviewed my friend Shelly Mitchell who recently turned twenty-one and asked her how she felt about finally being legal to drink. She quoted, ?It is not as exciting to drink anymore, I mean I still like to go out with my friends to bars, but the fun is all over, in high school and college it was so exciting trying to get alcohol by using a fake ID.? All of these factors could be changed by lowering the drinking age to eighteen. In a study done by the Harvard School of Public Health, binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a row for boys and four drinks for girls. And when they did a survey they found that 44% of the students attending Harvard binge drink (Jeffrey Kluger 1).
Do alcohol ads portray the products being enjoyed in the most appealing settings and by the most attractive people? Of course they often do --- no less than do ads for cars, instant coffee and anti-fungal sprays. That normalcy of alcohol ads helps demystify the product --- which is a good place to begin encouraging realistic, moderate, and responsible attitudes about it.
Although alcoholism is not necessarily constrained to one demographic, the prevalence of alcoholism, especially in underage drinkers, seems to be of growing concern. In the last five years alone, underage age drinking has seen a startling and rather significant increase. For example, in 2009, about 59.3% of high school seniors had consumed alcohol. The same poll, taken in 2014, showed that 65.7% had now participated in the consumption of alcohol, despite being underage (Whillenburg 3).
As a bestselling novel, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey challenges students to become better versions of themselves through a methodology of intra- and interpersonal exercises taught by many religions and self-help programs around the globe. In this book, readers are taught that prioritizing, proactivity, good communication and intrapersonal strength are all equally important, and that one must achieve inner determination and self esteem before their relationships can be healthy. I agree with Covey, and believe that all of these habits are necessary to being an effective and successful teen. In an age where technology is so accessible and most things from 1998 seem out of place, I not only related to the text, but also realized areas of my life that were lacking. Of all the seven habits, Begin with the End in Mind (habit two), Put First Things First (habit three), and Think Win-Win (habit four) are the building blocks to a sound, effective lifestyle.
As a result of harsh restrictions placed on alcohol by our government parents are not only discouraged to inform both negative and positive attributes of alcohol, but they are also looked down upon for creating a controlled environment allowing teens to experiment in moderation as a teaching method for responsible drinking habits. With an infl...
Apple is an American producer of personal computer, personal computer peripherals, cellular telephones and PC programming. It was the first effective personal computer organization and advanced the graphical client interface. Its central command center is situated in Cupertino, California. Apple was established by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in 1976, to create and offer PCs. Apple is presently the world 's second biggest data innovation organization by income after Samsung Electronics, and the world 's third biggest cellular telephone producer.(Apple, 2012)
Reading the book 7 Habits of a highly effective teen have taught me many things, self-encouragement is a huge part along with how to focus yourself and trick your mind into setting yourself towards great things. I’ve learned that the mind will tell a person something that one might blow over and forget important things that might help people in certain situations. The book talks about 7 habits to help a teen through situations in life and just things you come across in life and need a way to deal with it. Many of the habits also help let a teen think about where he or she might want to be successfully in life. Some habits that really stood out to me where The Personal Bank Account, Think Win Win and Begin with the End in Mind.
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” was written by Sean Covey. The main purpose of this book is to inspire teenagers to improve their choices now in order to become well-rounded adults. Like his Father Stephen R. Covey, who wrote “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Sean’s work is essentially similar to his father’s work, but unlike his father, Sean wrote this book specifically for teens to inform them on how to live a more effective lifestyle. As part of my course “Personal Development & Leadership” that I’m currently taking this semester, I was given the task to read the book in question with aim of to understand the motive of the book and eventually find ways to improve certain aspects of my live in a positive manner. As I was
As a result of underage drinking, 5,000 adolescents under the age of 21 die annually due to intoxication (taking motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and other injuries while intoxicated into consideration) (paragraph 2). Later in life, underage drinkers are more likely to develop alcoholism, poor performance in school, and risky sexual behavior (paragraph 43). Although this research is not opposed to my argument, there is an importance to acknowledging it as proof of dangerous, underage drinking occurring significantly regardless of whether it is illegal. More importantly, this research stems from adolescents drinking without the supervision of adults and in uncontrolled quantities. Since adolescents must wait a long period of time to drink legally, I believe they fear they must take advantage of drinking opportunities by excess drinking and risk of safety due to their restriction to alcohol. Based on this mindset, I believe exposure to alcohol at a younger age in controlled environments would not only decrease underage drinking in large quantities, but injury and death related to intoxication, as
Apple Inc. Founded by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, Steve Wozniak in April 1, 1976, is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, online services, and personal computers.
The book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” by Sean Covey he provides 7 habits to help you improve. They are separated into two parts called private and public victories or Personal and relationship bank accounts.