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Risky behaviours in teenagers
Effects of alcohol use in society by teens
Underage drinking cause and effect
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Recommended: Risky behaviours in teenagers
More than five thousand people under age twenty-one die from alcohol-related injuries every year. The number of teens drinking has only increased, and is causing problems. Many underage drinkers are facing physical and mental health problems. Underage drinking is unhealthy for teens and needs to stop. Teens are not the only people suffering from the underage drinking, adults and children are also affected. First, underage drinking can result in injuries or even worse, death. One example is Shelby Allan. She was seventeen years old when she died. She died because of being intoxicated by too much alcohol. Her friends left her to sleep it off, but instead of sleeping it off, she died. Shelby is just one example of many. Also, according to an …show more content…
A reply made by Jon Sayer, chief marketing officer of Pabst Brewing Company said: "There's a sense that you need to be wasted to go to a party, and if you're not, you won't have fun." Teens are facing peer pressure more than ever causing them to be mentally affected. It's hard enough that teens are dealing with school, hormone changes, and the drama between friendships, but alcohol added to the mix does not help. HHS (Health and Human Services) reports that "the physical, emotional, and lifestyle changes adolescents experience are factors in their attraction to alcohol, including risk-taking and thrill-seeking behavior that comes with an early sense of independence." Which Dr. O'Brien and her colleagues show in a survey conducted on students, "they got drunk twice as often and drank more per session." Teens are drinking every chance they get causing mental changes in their brain. Alcohol is hurting underage drinkers mentally, and it needs to stop so teens can live a healthy …show more content…
CDC reports, "alcohol use is more prevalent among older teens, with approximately 20 percent of sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds reporting that they habitually consumed alcohol in 2015." Also, the HHS reports that "in 2015, 33 percent of teens had consumed alcohol by the time they were fifteen years old; by age eighteen, this increased to 60 percent." The number of underage drinkers is more than doubling in only three years. Furthermore, in a 2015 study, it shows, "about half of underage drinkers in the U.S. said they had tried an alcopop in the past month." The number of teens drinking is not the only numbers rising. But, the number of teens experimenting with the alcohol they are consuming. Since, experimenting, teens are at a higher risk to end up in the
According to Center for Disease Control and Protection, about 4,700 people under age twenty one die from injuries involving underage drinking every year. Illegal alcohol consumption has been a major problem with high school students around the nation. Lowering the drinking age from twenty one would result in major consequences for America’s adolescents. By lowering the drinking age, alcohol would be more accessible to those who choose to participate in underage drinking. The desire to drink for teens and young adults between the ages of fourteen and twenty can be caused by peer pressure or an act of rebellion. One beer might not seem like a big deal at the time, but it could lead to a life of addiction and alcoholism.
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
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.
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.
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).
Lowering the drinking age to under 21 can cause young adults to be medically irresponsible. For example, young adults under 21 years old can violate properties or other valuable items that might cause them penalties because of underage drinking law. People at any age who has had alcohol and other drug problems often diagnosed with severe treatments and discrimination (Youth Facts). Youth Facts claims that people at any age have been determined with some type of treatment when they were overdosed with alcohol. In addition, drinking under the age of 21 can severely cause major health problems among themselves and to others.
Also, 15.8% of underage males and 12.4% of underage females engage in binge drinking. Binge drinking has become a culture in the United States for people between the ages of 12-20 years old. This federal pressure has manipulated states into raising the drinking age so that they would not lose millions of dollars in highway funds. The reason that the drinking age was raised to 21 is because the government promised a 10 percent increase in highway funds to each state if they did so.
These consequences include homicide, physical violence, sexual assault, and suicide. Based on the statistical facts, every year almost 700,000 college students are assaulted by other drunk schoolmates, more than 70,000 students between 18 to 24 are victims of sexual assaulted related to alcohol, and nearly 300 alcohol-connected teenager suicides happen in the whole states. Young people are usually lack of self-control and careful conscious, that’s why they can be more dangerous when they get drunk and cause many serious consequences to the whole society.
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.
...ately lose their lives. Many underage drinkers have been disappearing without being noticed by society. Males in their early teen years that turn to alcohol to feel empowered, often turn into full-blown alcoholics by the time they are 21—those that make it to 21—have an extremely hard time rejoining the sober population around them. The false sense of security, self-confidence, and maturity they once felt while being inebriated did not prepare them for what came after the life of crime and violence they chose to live. For those that are still under the spell of alcohol-making companies, and that are still living in the dark, thinking that that is the way of living may never get the wake up call. Many of underage drinkers will continue to increase the already large number of deaths involving alcohol; after all, they will only be a number on chart—a statistic a board.
Underage drinking causes people to make bad decisions, such as; driving while intoxicated, becoming pregnant, and making a complete fool out of themselves. While intoxicated, are just being a few instances that can and will impact your life forever. Some individuals don’t understand what alcohol really does to the body. Beer has empty calories that will make you gain weight. Which is why a lot of alcoholics have larger stomachs, or another term many people use for these large stomachs is, “beer belly.” Some people may say that alcohol helps you escape your problems and is a stress relevant. Alcohol will not only bring more stress onto your life, it will also bring more problems. As much as people may feel alcohol helps, it really won’t help.
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
...tion. It has not only short-term effects but long-term ones as well. Alcohol can lead to serious problems with the central nervous system, blood, muscles, the liver, and more. Underage drinking is a huge problem that needs to be taken seriously and no one should ever feel pressured into drinking in order to look cool or fit in. One could only wish that more people were educated on the issue and maybe it would be taken more seriously than it is right now.
Alcohol has been linked to several horrible issues. The consequences of these problems include stiff fines, jail time, suspension of privileges and even death. The corollary of drinking alcohol can cause immense guilt, and even rifts in relationships with family and others. With booze being so bad it must be awful to get started drinking young. “…more than half of America’s teenagers have had at least one drink by age 15 and the percentage increases to 70% by age 18.” (Sober Nation) Teen drinking is a definite issue within the U.S.; its effects on an adolescent’s mind is horrendous; however, there is a way to fix this epidemic.