Alcohol Advertising-Under Age Drinking

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In researching my report on alcohol advertising, I came across underage drinking and what influences someone under the age of 21 to drink. I today’s society, I don’t believe that the under 21 age group is influenced by alcohol advertisements, such as television and magazines, but more so by their peers as well as how they are raised by their parent(s) as well as how much time the parent(s) spend with their children. After one graduates from high school it usually means that the person will go off to college and the perception being that there will be a lot of parties, drinking and just being away from the parent(s). At college, in order to fit in and become part of a fraternity, the person has to through a hazing process which has been part of college life for years and proving to your “brothers or sisters” how much alcohol you can handle in order to be accepted. There has been a lot of repercussions relating to hazing which has caused many young adults to die from this initiation process. Today, many colleges have banned alcohol hazing and put policies in place should one be caught drinking and that individual(s) would have to pay the repercussions, such as being dismissed from the college permanently. Parents know what it’s like going to college and what happens when their child/children are there and hopefully the parents have enough trust and confidence in their child/children that they will take the appropriate actions when it comes to drinking and also the child/children should know what the consequences will be if they are participating in any type campus drinking. A parent can’t always be around their child/children 24/7. One website I found was Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), www.madd.org. I found this website very informative and had a lot of interesting topics and stories as to what MADD is all about. MADD was started by Candy Lightner in 1980 along with other women from California when a “drunk driver who was a repeat-offender killed a teenage girl”. MADD is a non-profit organization, is known nationally and has agencies all over the United States. The MADD Website has many articles on underage drinking including an article on college drinking. A national poll was done with college-age individuals and found that 70% favor 21 as the minimum age to sell or serve alcohol and 65% want strongly to have rules enforced (The Robert wood Johnson Foundation).

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