Underage Drinking And Alcoholism Research Paper

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Recommended: Effects of alcohol misuse essay

Jason McKelvey
Mrs. Potts
Lit. of the Americas
16 October 2015
Underage Drinking/Alcoholism Research Paper Topic Sent. Underage drinking and Alcoholism is a huge problem in the United States, and as a society we need to make a change with how everyone sees this problem. Adults and young teens take this topic too lightly and it should not be taken lightly because of how many deaths there have been from poor decision making. “Every year in the U.S., roughly 5,000 people under the age of 21 die from an alcohol-related incident including car crashes, homicides, suicides, alcohol poisoning and other related injuries” (11 Facts About Alcohol Abuse). That is 5,000 more teens or young adults that could be saved from this plague in our society (11 …show more content…

Also, the effects can be long term and effect the human brain. (Fact Sheets - Underage Drinking) In addition, the human brain continues to develop until a person is around age 25. Underage drinking may impair this neurological development, causing youth to make irresponsible decisions, encounter memory lapses, or process and send neural impulses slower (Hanes 4). However, drinking can lead to much bigger and worse things. So someone may not think anything of it, but drinking can be just the beginning of a depressing and dangerous future. Youth who start drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after age 21. Teens that drink alcohol more are more likely to get transmitted diseases, experience unplanned pregnancies, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum. This fact really shows why underage drinking is a big problem. (Fact Sheets - Underage …show more content…

Accordingly, numerous approaches have been developed and studied that aim to prevent underage drinking. Some approaches are school based, involving curricula targeted at preventing alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana use. Other approaches are extracurricular, offering activities outside of school in the form of social or life skills training or alternative activities. Other strategies strive to involve the adolescents ' families in the prevention programs. Policy strategies also have been implemented that have increased the minimum legal drinking age, reduced the commercial and social access of adolescents to alcohol, and reduced the economic availability of alcohol. Approaches involving the entire community also have been employed. Several programs (e.g., the Midwestern Prevention Project and Project Northland) have combined many of these strategies. The immediate and long–term risks associated with adolescent alcohol use underscore, the need for effective prevention and treatment programs. Research on the personal, social, and environmental factors that contribute to the initiation and escalation of drinking is essential for the development of such programs. It should be noted that preventing and identifying alcohol use disorders in youth require different screening, assessment, and treatment approaches than those used for

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