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Youth and challenges of peer pressure
Youth and challenges of peer pressure
Peer pressure among teens
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Alcohol abuse in teens has become a big problem in the U.S. and because of it, that's an obstacle to not succeed in college. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a report that youth under the age of 21 drink alcohol, therefore, the statistics show that youth ages 12 and 20 drink 11% of all alcohol ingested in the U.S. (Unknown Author) but, there are reasons youth under 21 consume this substance which these include peer pressure, increased independence, desire to do it, stress, other reasons are family problems like: parents divorced, family member sick or passed away.
The 1st cause for a teen to drink alcohol is peer pressure. What does pressure mean?
It is when one’s age group is inspired to do something whether they like it or not. There are a couple of different types of peer pressure. For example: Verbal pressure: is when someone makes a direct comment to peers their age group to influence them to do something.
In the Article “Facts on Peer Pressure & Teen Drinking” the author points out that,
75% in the age group from 12-17 yrs of age have uttered that they are influenced by their peers to begin consuming alcohol when they see their friends drinking. (Kay Uzoma)
I have a couple of friends Sandra is a year older than me and Kyssha is two years older than me, I’m 21 years old and every time that i talk with Kyssha she always tells me that I should visit her in Las Vegas and that “we” as in some of her friends including myself, “should go have some drinks and that i should too” I always tell her that “I don’t want to drink that, and plus my parents don’t approve of me starting to drink. she always replies “I will make sure you have at least one drink now that you are 21, plus your...
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...sh. This is the biggest form of injuries caused by alcohol.Violence, like: partner violence and mistreating children. Risky sexual behaviors like: unprotected sex, sex with multiple partners. Which can cause consequences like: unintended pregnancy and/or STD’s and STI’s.
Alcohol poisoning is a medical emergency that resutls when there’s high levels of alcohol in your blood that can put a person in a coma, respiratory depression, or even cause death. (cdc.gov)
In Conclusion, I think that Alcohol Use on teens is a big problem and we need to change that by: Talking with our children about the short and long term effects on their body.By always knowing with whom they hang out (who their friends are) which the can be a bad influence. Also by always knowing what kind of music they listen to and what they watch on TV because that’s another cause of teen drinking.
“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.
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.
Alcohol is the most abused drug in the United States. There are more than 5,000 deaths of people below the age of 21 every year due to underage drinking. Many teens drink due to stress or difficult home life. Underage drinking can affect all aspects of life, including physical, psychological, and even your social life.
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
The article "Alcohol Abuse is a Serious Problem for Teenagers," was written by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The article states, "Nearly four million young people suffer from alcohol dependence," and the average age at which children begin to drink is as early as 13. The article goes on to say that the number of children who experiment with alcohol has been rising steadily over the years. The article points out the unfortunate effects of drinking which range from an array of physical illnesses like liver problems and cancer. From the article we learn that because teenagers tend to indulge in binge drinking, they are at higher risk to suffer the consequences of alcohol consumption. According to the article these consequences include developmental problems like lack of growth, a reduced ability to learn, and to psychological problems like depression and suicidal tendencies. Alcohol abuse in turn leads to social problems which include dropping out of school, robbery, and "risky sexual behavior." We learn that alcohol serves as a "gateway-drug," leading to more addictive drugs like cocaine. The article substantiates this claim by citing a study conducted by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The article also touches on the problem of alcohol used by parents though the primary focus of this piece is about teenage drinking. The purpose of the article is to jolt readers into an awareness of the magnitude of the problem of teenage drinkiing. Most people know that teenagers like to experiment, try the new and forbidden, but the Center assumes that no one is fully aware of how serious this problem can be if it is not addressed.
There are an estimated 3.3 million teen-age alcoholics in the United States. Adolescents who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin drinking at age 21. Youth who drink alcohol are five times more likely to smoke cigarettes, four times more likely to smoke marijuana, and three times more likely to use an illicit drug. Teens that use alcohol tend to become sexually active at earlier ages. Teens who use alcohol are more likely to be victims of violent crimes such as aggravated assault, robbery or rape.
Teenage alcohol abuse is one of the major problems that affect academic performance, cause health problems and is responsible for the death of teenage drivers and sometime their passengers. Many teens drink because they think it is cool and do not understand the dangers of drinking alcohol. In 2008 a survey on the students views on alcohol was conducted in the Atlanta Public School System of 4,241 students surveyed results showed 74% of sixth graders felt there was a health risk while 25% felt there was no health risk; 81% of eighth graders felt there was a health risk, while 19% felt there was none; 82% of tenth graders felt there was a health risk, while 18% felt there was none, and 84% of twelve graders felt there was a health risk, while 15% felt there was none. Given these results on average of all grades, 20% of the students surveyed were unaware of the dangers of alcohol use. If one calculates, using the formular of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2003), “three teens are killed each day when they drink alcohol and drive. At least six more die every day from other alcohol-related causes” (table 79). The impact of this student population’s lack of knowledge equates to 49 of those students per week who most likely will die because they do not understand the dangers of alcohol.2
One common consequence of drunk driving is peer influences. People have hard relationships between alcohol consumption and risk of experiencing social consequences. In addition at a young age or believing that alcohol use is not harmful, peer influence, family experience, school factors, alcohol being a peer interaction, and disapprover of alcohol use or do not drink. Peer influences can be a problem with drunk driving because having friends who use alcohol or who believe that alcohol is use acceptable. “High school students who use alcohol or other substances are five times more likely to drop out of school” (Hingson). Family experience can also be a problem with drunk driving because heavy alcohol use by parents, sibling, or any parental supervision can be cause of the start of drinking. Peer friendships are viral due to the lack of peer influences. “Teens who drink alcohol teen to have opposite sex friends who do the same thing” (Join Together Staff). Peer drinking is more than an influence. It could come from their own parents who start drinking. If kids see parents or friends drinking they will think it is okay to drink. When kids were little they looked up to their parents and thought everything was okay to do. When a little kids saw an adult drinking they thought it was okay to do while growing up.
Overuse of alcohol is becoming a large problem across the United States of America. Drinking is always considered a problem if it is not being done responsibly or in moderation. Teenagers that choose to drink illegally usually drink as much as they can hold; in result, parts of their memory can disappear. Teenagers do not drink in moderation; as a result, they drink much more than they can handle just to be “cool” in front of their friends. Drinking can be a problem in all ages, but the most problems arise in the younger generation. Teenagers drinking are not only harming themselves but also the surrounding lives. Lowering the drinking age would cause a significant increase in school drop-outs and even deaths. Teenagers do not think about how
Increased abuse of alcohol leads to physical damage to the body. Alcohol is absorbed directly into the brain, dulling one’s senses and weakling one's will power. According to the article from the Mayo Clinic Health Information, “Excessive use of alcohol can produce several harmful effects on your brain and nervous system. It also can severely damage your liver, pancreas and cardiovascular system. Alcohol use in pregnant women can damage the fetus” (Mayo 1). Continued ingestion of alcohol affects every organ in the body. Every organ in the body is affected. The liver has serious effects that may lead to cirrhosis and death.. At first the liver adapts and tolerates alcohol. It works harder and finally damages itself in time. Alcohol leads the liver to the inability to metabolize facts. Furthermore, it leads to increase in cholesterol and triglycerides leading to clogged arteries. Red blood cells are also affected leading the individual to become anemic.
One article that covers the results of a national survey states that ¡§Adolescents¡¦ levels of alcohol and drug use have been found to be strongly associated with peers¡¦ use. However, other studies have shown that a student¡¦s drinking was more strongly influenced by how much he or she thought close friends drank than by perceptions of the extent of use by students in general¡¨(Results 2). This is a statement that I can agree with because growing up I have watched many young people become greatly influenced by their friends. Now a days the phrase ¡§peer pressure¡¨ concentrates on pressure from a direct group of friends rather than a students peers as a whole. Another reason the article gives for the cause of Binge Drinking is that ¡§Students who perceive that more drinking occurs than actually does provide themselves with an excuse for drinking more because ¡¥everyone is doing it¡¦¡¨ (Results 2). Everyone knows that most youngsters want what every other kid has, this idea relates in the...
We live in a society that drinks heavily, and this influences teens. Most Americans use alcohol to celebrate wedding anniversaries, to welcome the New Year, and to enjoy many other special events. Alcohol is a legal drug for people over the age of twenty-one. By the time most teens reach senior high school, nearly all will have faced a choice about whether or not to take a drink. Although this drug is illegal for teenage use a large percentage of teens use alcohol. Many teens die in automobile accidents, which could have prevented if they had chosen to say no. Each year it is blame in the deaths of more than four thousand teens (Claypool, p. 42). No crime kills more teenagers in America. Kids who are drinking regularly in high school seem to be fully aware of the penalties and laws against underage drinking, possession but don't care. They agree that driving while intoxicated is a key role in fatal car accidents, yet they still do it. Many teens also believe cold showers and coffee can sober up a person that is drunk Teens may drink for many different reasons. A big reason for teens to start to drink is because of problems in their family life. Teens could have a bad relationship with their parents or their parents could get in a fight or even get a divorce and this could cause a drinking problem among their child. Many experts agree that the main reason teens are becoming alcoholics is low self-esteem. Sometimes these children have been neglected or abused which makes them feel unwanted or they have been pressured and feel worthless if they fail. They have to deal with problems that he is too immature to handle, or worries about problems, which are problems at all. Many kids drink to make them feel older and mature. It makes you ...
Alert! Alert! We 've all seen it on TV shows and in the movies: a good kid with a good home and a good family life, but questionable friends. Soon enough, the kid is going out every night smoking, doing drugs, and partying. Every parenting book on the planet, it seems, has a section similar to this with warnings all over about how to save your child from the harmful, gripping effects of peer pressure. This all promotes the idea that peer pressure is damaging to school-children and teenagers. As a whole, society has become obsessed with individuals making decisions for themselves, so much so that we 've been trained to hear alarm bells when we think of peer pressure. However, though it is usually connoted as a negative influence, peer pressure perpetuates many positive qualities within a number of social situations.
During their adolescent years, all teens are looking for a way to fit in with others; being different is not the “cool” thing to do, and if that means drinking alcohol, many teens are willing to do that so they can fit in. In the teenage mind, being a part of something and fitting in is everything, and if “everyone else” is drinking then they feel they need to drink to fit in. Through their eyes, if someone is not a part of some sort of group then there must be something wrong with them, and in many cases, that can lead to bullying and ultimately that person being seen as an object to poke fun at. Data from an Alcohol Alert survey done in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, which was featured in Alcohol Research & Health, showed that: 3/4 of 12th graders, more than 2/3 of 10th graders, and about two in every five 8th graders have consumed alcohol. And when they drink they tend to drink intensively, often consuming four to five drinks at one time.
What is peer pressure? Peer pressure is the influence of a social group on an individual. It is one thing that all teens have in common. You can't escape it. It is everywhere. No matter how popular you are or how together you feel, sooner or later you will have to face peer pressure. Teenagers feel social pressure to conform to the group of peers with whom they socialize. This can influence how you dress, what kind of music you listen to, and what types of behavior you engage in, including risky behaviors such as using drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol, and engaging in sex. The intensity and kind of influence of peer pressure differs from situation to situation.