Effects of Underage Drinking
Morgan Herbert
L. Kraft
English IIIB
14 March 2013
Effects of Underage Drinking Many young people are experiencing the effects and consequences of alcohol. In the past few years, underage drinking has become a serious problem for many teens. It is estimated that 10 million young people under the age of 21 have drank alcohol within the past few months. Not only does alcohol effect the child, but also effects their family, friends, and everyone around them. Drinking in high school has become the "cool" thing to do. Nearly 80% of high school seniors admit to at least trying a drink, 50% admit to having consumed alcohol during the last month. This issue began to become a major problem between 1970-1980. Since then the amount of teenagers that have admitted to drinking alcohol has went up quite a bit. Peer presure doesn 't have to be overt, it can be very subtle. Because it is so important for teens to feel cool, peer pressure is a very powerful force. One major problem with underage drinking is drunk driving. When underage kids get behind the wheel drunk they are very likely to harm themselves and other innocent people on the roads. Every 22 minutes someone dies in an alcohol related car accident. On any given weekend evening, one in ten drivers has been drinking, but the worst part of this is that a very high number of drunk driving victims are between the ages 15-24. A lot of young people are dying way before they should due to underage drinking. As many people know, most efforts to stop this issue have failed. Americans have a history of high school and college alcohol use. The media and some activists groups, governments agencies and foundations constantly promote the idea that most teen drinking is extremely risky and has a high probability of causing alcoholism or even death. Teenage drinking has been linked to ac increased rate of alcoholism in adults. This means that alcohol use in teens could result in long term issues for the individual
L. Kraft
English IIIB
14 March 2013
Effects of Underage Drinking Many young people are experiencing the effects and consequences of alcohol. In the past few years, underage drinking has become a serious problem for many teens. It is estimated that 10 million young people under the age of 21 have drank alcohol within the past few months. Not only does alcohol effect the child, but also effects their family, friends, and everyone around them. Drinking in high school has become the "cool" thing to do. Nearly 80% of high school seniors admit to at least trying a drink, 50% admit to having consumed alcohol during the last month. This issue began to become a major problem between 1970-1980. Since then the amount of teenagers that have admitted to drinking alcohol has went up quite a bit. Peer presure doesn 't have to be overt, it can be very subtle. Because it is so important for teens to feel cool, peer pressure is a very powerful force. One major problem with underage drinking is drunk driving. When underage kids get behind the wheel drunk they are very likely to harm themselves and other innocent people on the roads. Every 22 minutes someone dies in an alcohol related car accident. On any given weekend evening, one in ten drivers has been drinking, but the worst part of this is that a very high number of drunk driving victims are between the ages 15-24. A lot of young people are dying way before they should due to underage drinking. As many people know, most efforts to stop this issue have failed. Americans have a history of high school and college alcohol use. The media and some activists groups, governments agencies and foundations constantly promote the idea that most teen drinking is extremely risky and has a high probability of causing alcoholism or even death. Teenage drinking has been linked to ac increased rate of alcoholism in adults. This means that alcohol use in teens could result in long term issues for the individual
Cited: T, Buddy. "Teen drinking and behavior problems." About.com. Feature, 1 Apr 2012. Web. 14 Mar 2013. Lopez, Melissa. "Teenage Drinking Effects." Livestrong.com. Demand Media, inc., 7 Sep 2010. Web. 14 Mar 2013. . DeSiena, Heather. "Side effects of drinking under the age of 21." ehow.com. Demand Media, inc.. Web. 14 Mar 2013. .