High school is normally the time when teenagers begin to dabble in the world of alcohol – to discover their limits and develop habits and this experimentation carries over into college. That is the norm and its not a bad thing, but of course there are a few exceptions. In high school I never went to a single party, was never invited to one, and barely ever even heard about them. It was something that none of my close friends were a part of and the thought of drinking never really crossed my mind. I was so busy with my school work, my job, and the cross country team that I didn’t have much spare time, and when I did I wanted to relax and hang out with my friends. My parents raised me in the faith of the Catholic Church and this background gave me a strong moral base. I always laugh and I have fun doing the simplest things so it was easy for me to find activities to be a part of besides drinking. It was only the summer after high school graduation that I began to feel peer pressured to drink and the fact that I am always sober started to make me feel a bit isolated. When high school began, none of my close friends had ever drunk alcohol or had any interest in it, but as years went by, more and more of them began to try alcohol. Drinking is a personal choice and I had no problem with them experimenting, but by the end of my senior year some of my friends began to try and convince me to try it myself. Everyone knew that I am conservative when it comes to that sort of thing and people joked about me going crazy once I got to college and was no longer governed by my parent’s strict rules. Unbeknownst to them, this kind of talk repeated over and over, though I always denied it, began to make me feel curious. However I couldn... ... middle of paper ... ...ound. So I always try to make everyone feel included, although I am still one of the more quiet people in the world. Lastly, my parents have taught me to work hard for the rewards that I gain. This has always been a major driving factor in my desire to do well with my schoolwork and in sports. I know that if I work hard enough I can do well and if I don’t get the results I want, it is no one’s fault except my own. With regards to drinking, I know that my parents would have been disappointed in me if I made the decision to start drinking in high school. When I take into account all the wonderful lessons they have taught me and all the love they have given me, it never made sense to make them unnecessarily upset. As cliché as these things sound, I honestly know that these morals have helped guide me through my life and helped me make the best decisions I could.
“80 percent of teen-agers have tried alcohol, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide” (Underage, CNN.com pg 3). Students may use drinking as a form of socializing, but is it really as good as it seems? The tradition of drinking has developed into a kind of “culture” fixed in every level of the college student environment. Customs handed down through generations of college drinkers reinforce students' expectation that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for social success. These perceptions of drinking are the going to ruin the lives of the students because it will lead to the development alcoholism. College students who drink a lot, while in a college environment, will damage themselves mentally, physically, and socially later in life, because alcohol adversely affects the brain, the liver, and the drinkers behavior.
Teenage drinking is something that goes on every day. No matter how many videos you show to kids about drinking they will still drink. Surveys show that the average teen seventeen and up spends $475.00 a year on liquor, mostly beer; that's more than books, soda, coffee, juice and milk combined. Most parents don't know about teenage drinking unless they catch their kids doing it. Parents usually say "oh, my my kid would never do that ", and they're the ones whose kids probably drink more that the average teen. One might ask, how do kids get alcohol? Alcohol is almost as easy to get as a carton of milk, except a teen has to get someone older like a friend, brother or even someone off of the street to purchase it. Another way underage teens get alcohol is a fake I.D. A lot of stores don't care, they just need to ask for an I.D. because they are being watched by security cameras. No matter what city your are in, one in every five stores will sell beer to a minor. If stores stop selling to minors they would lose a lot of business. Looking at the surveys I took at Lincoln on this topic it can been seen what teens think about teenage drinking. The results were shocking! The first Question I asked was "Have you ever drank alcohol?" Of the students surveyed, 16% said no and 84% said yes. The second question was, "How often do you drink?"
Kremer and Levy (2008) analyze to what degree college students who consume alcohol influence their peers. College students could affect their peers’ alcohol consumption, which in turn may lead to damaging effects. For example, peers could potentially disrupt classrooms, be exposed to disease, and lower their grade point average, start binge drinking, abuse illegal drugs, and even die. These affects may generate multiplier effects in the future.
According to "Peer Pressure Statistics & Facts," the statistic for the number of young adults who consumed alcohol due to peer pressure was more than 75%. Drinking is a social activity, therefore adolescents will most likely never drink on their own (Gibbons et al., 2003; Pomery et al., 2009). One's years as an adolescent are highly stressful, and there's a lot of pressure on them to fit in with their peers. Teens begin to highly value their relationships with their peers during this time period and the importance of the opinions and attention of others are highly increased (Burnett et al., 2011; Nelson et al., 2005; Steinberg, 2008). An article on "Psychology Today" adds that "…brain imaging studies have shown that several areas of the brain make adolescents more sensitive to the rewards of peer relationships than adults" (Albert, Chein, & Steinberg, 2013). They crave social acceptance so they will turn to their peer norms to see how much they should be drinking, how they should behave when they are drinking, and so on. Another quote says that "Indeed, several studies showed that peer norms are predictive of adolescents' willingness to drink (Blanton et al., 1997; Gibbons et al., 2004; Ouellette et al., 1999). With that said, it is clear that there is a strong connection between the influence of others and the teen's willingness to drink. An article on "Drug Rehab Services" talks about how around 40% of Canadian tenth grade student had a consumed alcohol in the past year, show by a survey in 2001. Of those teens, many of them drank at an even younger age which was shown to be some form of peer pressure including from friends, or movie, and music industry influences. It is much easier said than done
An average of one teen dies each hour in a car crash in the United States, and nearly 50 percent of those crashes involve alcohol, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHSTA). Alcohol is the drug most widely abused by teens. Alcohol abuse occurs among all geographic, ethnic and racial groups. Teens easily succumb to peer pressure when deciding whether or not to use alcohol. Unfortunately, they lack the coping and judgment skills necessary to handle alcohol wisely.
Insecurity is another incentive to why students binge drink. Drinking alcohol has been a large part of society for many years. People find that it is easier to meet people when they have been drinking. Drinking has also been used as a way to get close to some one. There are also many social events drinking has created. There are cozy bars “where every body knows your name,” cocktail parties, and the high school favorite, house party.
According to Windle et al. (2009) adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15 are beginning to consume alcohol. Adolescents are going through puberty at this stage. This means that they are experiencing greater emotional mood swings, greater emotions when dealing with emotional events, and tend to break more rules and exhibit rule breaking behaviors (Windle, et al., 2009). 19.5 percent of 8th graders and 42.1 percent of 10th graders reported having been drunk in their lifetime (Windle, et al., 2009). It is said that the adolescents that consistently drink through this period of time are more likely to have a harder time transitioning into adulthood (Zhong, et al., 2010).
Although this may be true, some people will still argue that alcoholic drinks are not always a bad thing, especially if you are a teenager that wants to experience a little bit of danger and living to the fullest, as the Americans say live wild and free. Most of the new students in college feel that they are free from their parents; they can do anything want to do without worrying about the watchful eyes of their parents. The feelings of excitement that drive teenagers to try new things and experiment, for example drinking alcohol. Nowadays young people often ...
At first, my peers reacted confused asking me if I was okay, or if I was sick. As if not drinking was worse for me, others reacted negatively, getting annoyed that I would not drink or “turn up” with them. They would continually try to get me to drink throughout the night one way or another. At some points of the night they would buy me drinks, telling me I was even obligated to drink them. As the night went on, my friends came to the realization that I was going to remain sober.
Let’s ask a question: why do people start using alcohol at the first place? And why they start doing it at such young age? Well, just “like other adult drinkers, college students expect alcohol to produce a series of positive effects – relaxation, socialization, sexuality – and the strength of these positive expectancies is related to drinking” (Walters & Baer, 2006). And who wouldn’t take a couple drinks to gain a group of friends? It lowers social inhibitions, so it is very well known among shy individuals as well. However, this activity can be also pressurized by peers. In this case, pressure wouldn’t be effective on people who do not accept or see positive aspects of occasional drinking. That means, everyone starts by saying ‘yes’ to a glass.
Schuckit & Smith (1997) and Read, et al. (2003) reported that alcohol expectancies and alcohol motives have an impact on the emergence of alcohol dependence and drinking outcomes. There are four motives that were observed to influence alcohol drinking behaviours: social motives, conformity motives, coping motives and enhancement motives. • Social Motives represent the decisions to drink alcohol because of the anticipations of social rewards, especially among social drinkers rather than heavy drinkers. • Conformity Motives refer to the tendency to drink so as to escape social disapproval and to conform to peer - pressure, especially among the adolescents and young adults.
I have seen great high school athletes get scholarships taken away just because they thought partying was more important than their studies, and this is a real-life issue with teenagers. I see what can happen if I make the wrong decision only once. I learned that I cannot give in to peer pressure, no matter how tempting it might be. Also, my reputation can be hurt if I was to party, this would affect my relationship with my friends and possibly my family. Regarding my grades, they have been amazing because of my decision, and I am thankful for that.
All teenagers would love to say that they have not fallen victim to peer pressure, but most of the time a teenager’s first drink occurs due to peer pressure: simple suggestion, for example “Just take one drink” or “You’ll have more fun once you start drinking” carry weight when spoken by a BFF, a popular athlete, or a respected peer. Teenagers see and hear about alcohol while watching tv, listening to music, and just hanging out with friends. Teenage drinking occurs for one reason: to get drunk so you’ll be someone else, outgoing and more confident with yourself so maybe you’ll talk to that person or actually interact in a group. This generation takes the idea of binge drinking alcohol to a whole new level, one that has the potentiality of
Peer pressure is when we are influenced to do something we normally wouldn't do because we want to fit in with other people or be accepted by our peers (A peer is someone you look up to like a friend, someone in the community or even someone on TV).
Children grow up and move into teenage lifestyles, involvement with their peers, and how they look in other peoples eyes start to matter. Their hormones kick in, and they experience rapid changes in their minds, and bodies. They also develop a mind of their own, questioning the adult standards and need for their parental guidance. By trying new values and testing ideas with peers there is less of a chance of being criticized. Even though peer pressure can have positive effects, the most part is the bad part.