Introduction The article that I chose to review is titled, “Parental and Peer Influences on the Onset of Heavier Drinking among Adolescents.” The major research question suggested by the researcher was whether or not there is a relationship between parental and peer influences and the onset of heavier drinking tendencies or regular drinking tendencies among adolescents? The authors of the article realized there is a problem with adolescents participating in heavy drinking acts prior to the onset of college. It is believed that when an adolescent reaches the point of drinking more than five drinks at a time, it will eventually turn into drinking problem later on in life. The cause for adolescent alcohol use are often the social influences around them.1 Therefore, in order to get to the bottom of this issue, parents and peers became a big factor of the investigation of how they impact adolescent drinking. Research suggests that there is a relationship between teen drinking and their parent’s morals and attitudes towards drinking.2 Although there has been previous research done on adolescent’s alcohol consumption, research has been geared to the reasons as to why adolescents take part in this kind of behavior in the first place.1 Studies have shown that there is a connection between adolescents drinking tendencies and parental and peer influences.2 Studies also suggested that parents make good candidates with helping their children change their behavior when it comes to
One fact that the authors point out is that youths are beginning to drink at lower ages and with more frequency. The statistics range from 47 percent of high school students drinking heavily to 10 million, 28 percent of children that age, reporting alcohol use in the last thirty days. College students reflect those same statistics. Concern is raised about how alcohol use patterns developed in the teen years is not an issue that time resoles. The article then bridges into alcohol’s effects on teens.
“According to the CDC, about 90% of all teen alcohol consumption occurs in the form of Binge Drinking, which experts say peaks at the age of nineteen.” (qtd by Listfield). Binge Drinking is the consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. The author, Emily Listfield, defines that the standard alcohol consumption over a two hour period is considered to be four beers for women and five beers for men. This has become a great distraction for college students nationwide and a major dilemma on college campuses. Nearly two hundred thousand students visit emergency rooms each year due to the abuse of alcohol, and more than one thousand seven hundred students die. In the article “ The Underage Drinking Epidemic”, Listfield identifies the problems that underage drinking can cause, the dangers that could happen, and four solutions on what parents can do to keep their kids from binge drinking.
A youth’s social abilities can be destroyed by underage drinking. Socialization skills are key when a minor is growing up. A minor struggles to find their own independence and find themselves, therefore creating a distance from family relationships and creating new bonds with peers. The youth tend to try to be similar to each other to fit in with the rest, and as a result, children may be pressured into drinking alcohol. When these minors start to drink heavily and frequently, they may develop self esteem issues, depression, disorders, antisocial behavior, and anxiety. This makes underage drinkers more withdrawn from their peers and families than their peers who choose not to drink. Peers who don’t drink do not tend to associate and be friends with the group of people that do drink. This can lead to isolation and also disdain from those who do
Teenagers rarely think before they do many things. Many times teenagers go to big blowouts or little get togethers with their friends. Their first thought is not about death, their grades, or alcoholism; their main purpose is to get drunk fast and sober up before going home by their set curfews. At parties, teenagers have an average of five or more beers in one night. In the United States teenage drinking has become a major problem, with about 3.3 million teens as problem drinkers. ?One-fourth of all seventh through twelfth graders admit to drinking at least once a week?(Nielson 47). About forty percent of twelfth graders said they had one episode of heavy drinking in the past two weeks. Although no one knows why teens turn to drinking, various studies show that the amount of alcohol changes by their geographical location (Nielsen 47).
“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
Young people have continued to consume alcohol especially on weekends. Consequently, young people have continued to experience the aftermath of drinking too much alcohol at the tender age. As a result, most of the countries categorize underage drinking as the leafing problem in public health. Teenagers always find a way to avoid being noticed by their parents. Even though it is their choice, most initially know what they are doing is wrong, but do it anyways. The social choice theory is vital when examining why young people make the decision to drink beer on Fridays when their parents are away.
The immediate cause of binge drinking in college is the lack of supervision for college students. Fresh out of high school and living alone for the first time without mom and dad in sight. This feeling of freedom without the worry of parents lecturing on what and not to do surely inhibits college students to do rash and irresponsible activities. Drinking alcohol underage is ingrained as taboo in this society. College students view the consumption of alcohol like a
Parental and peer influence plays an important role in adolescent substance abuse. Peer pressure can influence each adolescent either indirectly or directly. Peer pressure is the most frequently discussed risk factor. Peer substance abuse is the leading cause of adolescent substance abuse. Parental influence can be positive or negative. They can have a significant influence on adolescents. Parents can influence their kids
The social influence that I have identified is peer pressure in alcoholism. Allen, Fretz, et. al (2008) explain that the increased use of alcohol among adolescents can be related directly to peer pressure. This stand is supported by Bourke (2010) of ABC News who reports that teenagers usually end up drinking alcohol even when they do not plan or want to just so that they can be counted as part of the crowd. She identifies this as peer pressure coupled with the desire to belong (Bourke, 2010).
First off, alcohol addiction and abuse among teenagers today is a bigger problem than ever before. The root of the problem lies in the fact that the teens are so exposed to the culture of this day and age, leading them to where they have easy access to alcohol. For example, their parents may already be alcoholics, and it's merely a few bad decisions later which could cause the child to have a few drinks and cloud their judgement. This is a big problem because their young bodies have never encountered anything like alcohol before, so in turn, the body does not know how to process it, and therefore leads to their downfall. A publication released by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAA) suggests that by age 18, an astounding 60% of US teens would have had at least one drink. Moreover, according to the NIAA, youth between the ages of 12 and 20 will often binge drink as well.
Alcohol abuse is also a large issue for high school students. “In the U.S., teens abuse alcohol more than any illicit drug. 68% of 12th graders have tried alcohol. 37.4% of 12th graders drank in the last month. 23.5% of 10th graders drank in the last month” (Drug Use in High School). With the upperclassmen in high schools gloating and talking about ‘the party they went to last weekend’ or ‘how they got so wasted they could not remember anything’, and the underclassmen being exposed to believing these actions are acceptable is causing underage drinking to begin younger and younger. “Among high schoolers, within the same month they were surveyed: 35% drank some alcohol. 21% binge drank (consuming an excessive amount). 22% rode in someone’s car who'd been drinking. 10% drove after drinking” (Drug Use in High School). By beginning underage drinking in high school, “Youth who start drinking before age 15 years are six times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after age 21 years” (Facts Sheet- Underage Drinking). The alcohol abuse can be a result from peer pressure presented by other students in the schools. Learning right from wrong can be difficult especially when in high school in which an individual is finding themselves. Students are the most vulnerable during their teenage years to abuse of alcohol and
To gauge whether or not engaging in binge drinking as a young adolescent makes one more likely to become an alcoholic studies and tests should be performed. A survey given to young adolescent’s ages 10 to 14 would ask such questions as: How old were you when you first drank and alcoholic beverage?; Have you ever drank an alcoholic beverage?; How often do you drink an alcoholic beverage?; Have you been drunk within the past 30 days? The same survey questions would be given to late adolescents’ ages 15 to 24. A follow up study would be necessary to learn if the young adolescents drinking continued and got heavier as they aged as well as those in late adolescent years. A follow up study for those in late adolescents could ask whether or not they have gone to rehab or joined a support group for their alcoholic behavior. Family members and close friends of those old enough to drink alcohol legally could be surveyed and asked if they believe that the person has an alcohol addiction. Additional surveys could be given to those in the young adolescent category that looks at why they choose to consume that first alcoholic drink. The late adolescent category could be asked this
Alcoholism is not a new topic. Dependence and abuse of alcohol has been the source of constant study and research for years now. Even less unknown is alcoholism among teenagers today. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism report that “more adolescents use alcohol than cigarettes or marijuana,” and that a national survey in 2014 reveals how “8.7 million young people ages 12-20 reported that they drank alcohol beyond ‘just a few sips’ in the past month.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that while adults drink more often than youth, “underage drinkers consume more drinks per drinking occasion than adult drinkers.” They also discovered that “excessive drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths among
86.2% of the selected adolescent lived with both their parents and 11% with a single parent. Of both mother and father; 30% graduated from high school, 30% a college diploma, and another 30% graduated with a university degree. Measurements used during the test were words associated with alcohol by the adolescents tested and reports of perceived parental alcohol use. The results from test 2 stated, 41% of the adolescents became a drinker. However, 60% of the adolescents reported no alcohol memory associations, 23.2% with one memory association, 12.5% with two memory associations, and 4% with three or four alcohol related memory associations. These findings indicate that parents’ alcohol behavior is related to children being sensitive about alcohol before they drink themselves. Thus, that there is a positive correlation between parental drinking and the onset of adolescent alcohol use. Previous studies presented that young children gained knowledge and expectancies about alcohol, such as considering alcohol as a social norm in certain situations and recognizing the smell of alcohol (Van Der Vorst et al., 2013). Furthermore, adult drinking patterns vary between countries, the frequency and intensity of adults’ consumption of alcohol has an influence on adolescence alcohol use. The study, Adolescent Alcohol Use: a Reflection of National Drinking Patterns and Policy, included tests
Underage drinking is a big issue that should be controlled within teenagers. Especially those who have family issues or stress. Sometimes children see the older people that live with them as role models, which means that if they see that one of their parents drink constantly they will think its fine since they do it. Family conflict is the most common reason for adolescents consuming alcohol, which makes adolescents go back to drinking because they see alcohol as their safe place whenever there is a family conflict.