Underage Drinking

During a study conducted by the CDC it showed that “people aged 12 to 20 years drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States. More than 90% of this alcohol is consumed in the form of binge drinks”(CDC-Underage drinking, par. 1. 2016). Underage drinkers are a prominent part of drinking in the U.S. even though it is a illegal activity for them. A big problem with this is not only that they are drinking illegally, but that it is mostly binge drinking that happens with underage drinking. Binge drinking can cause many problems in an individual's life such as “Disruption of normal growth and sexual development” or “Changes in brain development that may have lifelong effects”(CDC-Underage drinking, par. 1. 2016). These sorts of problems are not short term problems but may affect an individual for long periods of time.

I am Brian Reed, an undergraduate student at the University of West Georgia. I’m writing to you regarding my concerns on underage drinking in the United States and ways that I believe would help prevent such a jeopardizing act. There is a bill that provides assistance to my concerns and reasoning called the “H.R. 1717: Sober truth on preventing underage drinking reauthorization act.” According to Congress, this bill was created to provide for programs and activities with respect to the prevention of underage drinking. I strongly agree with the idea of this bill because the programs will influence citizens under the age of 21 to realize how dangerous drinking alcohol can be, which can possibly bring this illegal act an end.

The controversy of underage drinking has been a serious and difficult issue for many colleges, communities, and parents over the past several years. Fifty states in the U.S have already set their minimum alcohol drinking and purchasing age to twenty one. Yet many people, especially teenagers, oppose this legal drinking age and want it to be lowered. Nevertheless, the legal drinking age should not be lowered from twenty one to eighteen because of three main reasons. The higher minimum drinking age can help reduce the number of fatal car accidents, health hazards, and violent/ destructive behavior in teenagers. Underage drinking is overall dangerous to the society and will become more harmful if the legal drinking age is lowered.

Underage drinking has been present for a long time now and time has help discover that the impact of drinking at a such early age goes beyond a social and moral discussion; it can have several negative effects on the teenage brain causing possible irreversible brain damage and a much higher risk for alcohol - dependency later down the road into adulthood years. Teenage drinking is an important issue in the United States, which is needed of some attention since there is a great amount of minors attracted to this practice. According to a National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted in 2013, “35.1 percent of 15-year-olds reported that they have had at least 1 drink in their lives.” Minors start and continue drinking from time to time without

Underage drinking is when anyone under the legal age of 21 drinks alcohol. Teens typically fall back to alcohol in order to cope with the physical, mental, and emotional stress that they endure through this age period. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, by age fifteen, about 35 percent of teens have had at least one drink and by age eighteen, 65 percent have had at least one drink. This is mind blowing, because no one really thinks of teens starting to drink at such an early age. I think the biggest problem with teens is they do what they believe makes them “cool”. Although, they do not realize the consequences that can result. A few consequences of underage drinking include school problems, social problems, legal problems, physical problems, unwanted/unprotected sexual activity, etc (“Fact Sheets-Underage Drinking”). A night out being “cool/popular” with friends could lead to serious issues. The younger people begin drinking, the more likely they are to have alcohol problems in adulthood. Statistics show that one in every twelve adults suffer from alcohol abuse (“Alcohol & Drug Information NCADD”). This problems begins at ages as young as 12 and continues to grow. The question is always brought up as to how the minors get the alcohol in the first place. Majority of teens have easy access to alcohol, whether it is at a party or their parent’s liquor cabinet. Another popular way is by using a fake ID. What teens do not understand is by using their fake ID, they are causing the store to illegally sell to them and put the store in danger of losing their liquor licenses. Parents are another source of alcohol. Nearly one in four teens, and one in three girls, say their own parents have given them alcohol (“Teen Alcohol Access”). This could lead to excessive fines and possibly jail time. The point to get across is that teens do not realize drinking

The facts of underage drinking are a bit shocking in some ways. “Underage drinking refers to the consumption of beverage alcohol…by persons 20 years of age and younger” (“Underage Drinking Glossary”). According to the article, Teens and Alcohol, around one and ten teenagers under the age of fourteen drink, and three in ten teens drink from the ages fifteen to seventeen. If those teens continue to drink it becomes addictive to the body. “They need to drink alcohol in order to function normally, and their drinking causes problems” (“Teens and Alcohol” 2). Nobody should have to turn out like this. The law of the legal drinking age of twenty-one, came in 1988. This law is still to this day not obeyed and causes traumatizing experiences. Although teen Americans drink for two main causes, the effects of drinking are diverse throughout them.

Alcohol is proven to be one of the most substances in the world. Alcohol is found to be linked with many different types of cancers. Alcohol has also been proven to affect the brains of drinkers, making them act out violently. Not only do adults that drink act out, so do underage teens. Due to the influence of their parents or another guardian, individual teens think alcohol abuse is allowed. Alcohol is a dangerous substance that harms the body in multiple ways. This substance should not be messed with because it can take your life or a loved ones in a matter of days. Stronger attention to the dangers of alcohol addiction would reduce the number of cancers, violence, underage drinking, and death that comes along with the consumption of alcohol.

Putting an End to Underage Drinking Underage drinking has become a major problem in society. It is almost inevitable that a majority of teenagers will choose to drink at a younger age because alcohol has become more accessible through the use of fake IDs, and parents have become more willing to provide alcohol to their children in social settings. Once teenagers enter college, they are more susceptible to drink alcohol because of the numerous parties and social experiences that are offered to them, resulting in the constant rise of underage drinking. In order to address underage drinking as a problem in society, I would like to approach an audience of teenagers, specifically college students, and inform them of the consequences that underage drinking implicates. Furthermore, to solve the problem of underage drinking, I would like to offer the solution that the audience should improve their self-control and resist the temptation to consume alcohol to prevent the destruction of their health at a young age.

Anyone who is below eighteen years of age is considered as underage and laws in many countries prohibit such a person from consuming alcohol. Alcohol happens to be the most commonly abused drug not only among the youth but also among adults. This paper explores underage drinking, its effects on the society and outlines what can be done to curb it.

In this day and age, underage drinking is very much rampant among teenagers’ ages 12 years old to 17 years old. It truly cannot be denied that teens of this generation are very much liberated and “out-there”. Because of these traits, the generation of teens is very much likely to indulge in alcohol drinking. This is an issue that must be addressed for it possess a threat to the present generation and the generations to come. An output of being liberated is the tendency for teenagers to frequently socialize with a variety of people and this usually leads to influencing one another in various habits and one common habit is alcohol drinking. Social factors like peer pressure, lack of guidance and a negative family background can profoundly

Recently, the issue of underage drinking has become a major problem for our society. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2009), about 10.4 million young people between ages 12 and 20 have drank more than “just a few sips” of alcohol. Moreover, 5,000 people under the age of 21 die each year in alcohol-related deaths including car crashes, homicides, and other injuries such as falls (NIAAA, 2009). When adolescents go out to drink, they often cause a problem. Alcohol abuse is a significant problem among young people and a solution needs to be found. I believe that there are two approaches to dealing with this issue: many governments have created new,

What should be done about this problem? What is the best solution for underage drinking in America? We often hear about drinking and driving but we hardly hear about the other harmful effect of drinking especially when it comes to underage drinking. There should be revamp of educate in today youth of harmful effect of underage drinking. Not own should it be taught in middle just as sex educating is being taught. You may ask why at such a young age? Why not, at this age kids are very seccpetable age to understand the information. At this age it where most young start thing about sneaking their first drink. If you’re going to tackle a problem why not cut it at the root. I personal know this has work for me at a young at with the D.A.R.E program in the 90’s. The one thing the program didn’t tackle was alcohol. Alcohol is being treated just a adult thing to do. Young adult are not being aware of the problem with alcohol. Think about it ever super bowl one of the major beer company has a commercial idolize alcohol to young adult. They always show people having a good time while drinking. This really show young adult all they need for a good time is a cold beer and this just not true. The own true warning that young adult have is don’t drink and driving (James, D. S., & Wirth, C. K., 2010). This is a good message should we not enforce or message of drinking underage

One of the major problems facing America 's youth today is underaged drinking. This is simply defined as the consumption of any commercial alcoholic beverage while under the legal age restriction of twenty one. A solution is in dire need, as the problem causes exponential harm to many teen’s health. Underaged drinking has been the underlying cause of numerous fatalities over the past several decades. These fatalities occur from the following: inexperienced driving under the influence, alcohol poisoning, self hurt, and physical altercations between people. This occurs often among high school students “By their senior year, 64 percent of high

In an article posted in top news US (Jonathan Sanders, Article published 12/10/11) it was said that “1.2 million people in the United States were hospitalized due to over drinking last year.” The worst part, about 7, 000 of those were teenagers. Peer pressure has contributed to an increase in teen drinking. Society for teens, looks, at them as an “outcast” if they do not drink. Very sad to see that society, advertising and friend and/or parent influence has cause a greater part of our younger generation to feel they need alcohol to prove a point or to feel better about themselves.

compared to only 19 percent twenty years ago; Five percent admit they get drunk once a week or more often; Thirty-four percent say their drinking habit has created problems with school, friends, or police; The average amount of alcohol a teenage drinker consumes is equivalent to four twelve-ounce cans of beer a week; Beer is the favorite alcoholic beverage of teenagers.? More than three million ? 19 percent ? of the 14-17 year olds in the U.S. are considered problem drinkers. (Claypool, pp. 55-56, 85) The society that we live in today drinks heavily and this influences many teenagers.