Teenagers are America’s greatest natural resource, and they need to be protected from some of the evils that lurk in the world. A subject that needs special attention is the abuse of alcohol by teens. Statistics show that there is a problem currently between teens and alcohol. There are many causes of teenage drinking and effects that prove that drinking is an important issue that needs to be dealt with to preserve American teenagers. Teenage drinking will become worse of a problem if it continues unchecked on its current path to destruction. Alcohol abuse among teenagers in the United States is a plague that is destroying the structure of American society.
Statistics show that there certainly is a problem with teens and alcohol
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There are some complex causes to teenage drinking. There are social, emotional, and physical causes that influence teens to drink alcohol. The most prevalent cause of teenage drinking is peer pressure. Every problem has a beginning, where the domino effect starts. In most cases people get started drinking not because they like it, but because it is illegal and it gives them a chance to rebel. The so-called “rebel” becomes bored of drinking alone and eventually seeks “company” when they are drinking. The only catch is that the “rebel” can not be the only one drinking so the “company” has to drink. This is where the problem with peer pressure and teenage drinking begins and the first domino starts the chain reaction. There are two types of peer pressure. There is direct peer pressure where a subject’s peers actually force him into having a drink. There is also indirect peer pressure where the subject enters a setting and his peers are drinking so he decides to have a drink to fit in with the rest of his peers (Articles-Teenage Drinking 2). Surveys show that alcohol abuse is related to teenage activities such as going on dates and going to parties (Teenage Alcohol Misuse 2). Teens have emotional reasons for drinking alcohol. Teens choose to drink to relax and allow their bodies to unwind after a stressful day. Teenagers also choose drinking as a way to escape the harsh realities of the world such as, problems at home and
One of the main reasons why young teenagers drink is because of peer pressure. Some teens believe that all teenagers drink therefore they start drinking. Also some of their friends might drink and then they think that they have to drink to fit in. Teens are also influenced by parents. If their parents drink a lot they are more likely to drink
If we want to stop the alarming rise in the number of high school and college kids abusing alcohol, we have to figure out first why they 're doing it. (Ruth Ann.). There are many reasons of teens drinking, such as: enjoyment, stress, social groups, etc. In countries where socialization to drinking is the norm, teens learn how to drink with moderation and avoid to get drunk. Imagine a young boy who started drinking on his early
Many might ask why most teens have the urge to drink? Some might say we all go through that “stage” but people have done studies on why some go through this “stage”. People use alcohol for numerous reasons; peer pressure,
Everyone hates to see their parents fight and don't like being in the middle of it. Some teens feel the need to drink because it's a way out of their sticky situations. Parents need to pay more attention to their kids and they need to realize that their kids are watching them and following in their footsteps. If a teen has a parent who is a drinker they have a greater chance of becoming a drinker. Alcohol causes people to be unaware of their surrounding and causes people to make bad choices.
Just a few known reasons for under age drinking are: peer pressure, partys, etc. But the most common reason for drinking is “breaking the law.” 87% of high schoolers have drank alcohol.Alcoa leads us to believe that a large amount of kids under the age of 17 or 18 have drank at least once before. We are all aware why kids drink, I mean is common
A possible reason why teens consume alcohol would simply be just for the risk of doing it (Underage Drinking). According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which is a very respectable health and government organization that “supports and conducts biomedical and behavioral research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems”, scientists believe that since the brain continues to develop well into a person's twenties, a teen may not fully understand the consequences of underage drinking and some teenagers fulfill their risk needs by consuming alcohol (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). This could possibly explain why teenagers
Why do teenagers choose to drink? This question is ever-present in the minds of parents and caregivers. Teenagers who drink do not comprehend the widespread and longterm effects of their actions. Consuming alcohol is very harmful to the teenager, friends, family, and even strangers. Nearly ten million young people ages twelve to twenty reported consuming alcohol in the past thirty days, with “consumed” being defined as more than a couple sips (“11 Fact About Teens And Alcohol”). These are not good numbers for underaged individuals. Teen drinking is an important factor which can lead to serious injury or death. Teen drinking is a serious issue with life-altering consequences and cannot be ignored.
Social influences include low socio-economic status of the individual, low levels of parental guidance and education, family or domestic issues at home, presence of a history of alcoholism in the family, lack of rules on alcohol use in the family setting and peer pressure.
By definition and federal law, underage drinking is any person under 21 who are consuming alcohol. In 2011, Missouri had 258 total alcohol impaired fatalities. Forty-six, or thirty percent, of these fatalities were under the age of twenty-one (Century Council). Surely, it does not happen in small towns like Warrensburg. Yes, in fact, it does happen in Warrensburg, the reason being it is a college town, and Whiteman Air Force Base is just twenty minutes outside the town. Here are stories of underage drinking incidences that occurred in Warrensburg, Jackson County, and St. Joseph.
Drinking alcohol is not only affects an individual but also damages relationships and society in general in terms of violence and crime. The risk of accidental and violent injury increase because of adolescent drinking behavior. A young adult is typically entering a new phase of independence from their parents through college or the workforce. They are more susceptible to binge drinking without control. Besides, adolescence is a time of physical and emotional changes as they pass from childhood into adulthood. Their emotion changes very quickly which may be negative or positive. If they are continues to binge drinking, their actions and behavior could cause lots of trouble to others especially friends, family, and sibling. Also, research shows
Did you know that over a third of young people engage in binge drinking or hazardous drinking? Alcohol use and misuse by teenagers seems to become a big problem, but what is the problem for that and what is encouraging the youth to drink? In this essay I want to find the reasons for all those problems.
Nearly 25 percent of teens drink alcohol because they think it is fun; however the problems it may bring are not so fun (Hyde 22). There over six times more teen deaths per year from alcohol than any other drug (O’Malley 30). Alcohol affects the body of teens as well as all of the developmental processes. A major issue of teens drinking is that it increases the chance of becoming an alcoholic in the future; which leads to lowered self-control, impaired judgment, and lowered inhibition (Heath 12). Alcohol can completely change the life of a teen from the time they start drinking till death. Alcohol affects so many aspects of a person’s life and once it does, it is so hard to get life back to normal. Alcohol effects teens by harming them
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.
Research suggests boredom is another reason for young people to drink as this gives them something to do (Hayley Jarvis 2009) also depression can have an effect on the amount young people consume as alcohol acts like a depressant this can make the young person feel very low (Erica Wittenberg & Jim Parker 2003).
Alcohol is the number one drug problem among America’s youth. More senior high school students use alcohol than any other psychoactive drug. Family doctors, pediatricians, schoolteachers, and parents know that alcohol is overwhelmingly the drug of choice among today’s youth, although trendier substances such as cocaine are often given more attention in the headlines (Carla Felsted, p. vii). Furthermore, it is widely acknowledged that drinking alcohol is a part of the youth culture in America; it may also be understood as a culturally conditioned and socially controlled behavior.