It’s Friday night after a big homecoming win over the rival school and Jack is throwing a huge party. “Everybody is going to be there and plans are to get “messed up””. Or “it’s Senior Prom and we have bought so much alcohol it’s not even funny! We are getting wasted and aren’t going to remember who we are” This is the mindset of many high school students across the nation today. Even though teenagers are not legally allowed to drink in the United States, alcoholism and alcohol abuse is a major problem for many young Americans. There are many factors to analyze that may lead a young adult to drinking and many more consequences.
There are several different factors that can lead a young adult to start drinking at an early age and in some cases highly depend on it for happiness. One way a young adult may get lead to drinking is by the influence of their parent. For some kids, a problem drinking parent may not show the love and the sort of guidance needed. So since they cannot turn to their parents for their problem they need to find an alternate way to deal with their obstacles and challenges in life. This can lead to a higher risk of this child developing the want to turn to a drink. In addition, a parent who abuses alcohol has a higher tolerance of their child drinking. These parents have acceptance of their child drinking because they see no problem with it. Another key reason that leads kids to drinking at a young age is social pressure. One of these pressures is by your peers. Peer pressure can lead high school students to do many things. They believe that since all their friends are doing it they will not be cool if they say no, so they go along with it and go to the party or social and drink. Then there is the media world that promotes alcohol. When you have “The most interesting man in the world” on television selling you beer or see how peaceful it is sitting on a beach with a beer in your hand, gives the message to youth that it is ok to drink. Also in the area of media is shows and movies. When a young adult sees a movie about a wild high school “Project X” or the celebration after a football game, they get the urge to want to go out and go to one of these many exciting parties. Young Americans can be introduced and develop a habit for drinking several different ways, from parents to social media to peer pressure. Moreover, if they do develop this habit young it can lead to some dangerous or even fatal consequences.
Drinking as a youth may lead you down the wrong path in a voluntary or involuntary manner. Many young Americans these days do not realize the danger that alcohol abuse can get you into. One major issue we encounter today is when people decide to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Especially the youth who go to parties and have to be home before a certain time. So they decide that they won’t drink as much so they can drive home but so not realize that any amount of alcohol in your system can impair your driving ability. Not only could this lead to a wreck that injures or kills the driver, it can lead to the “manslaughter” of another person on the road. There is a zero- tolerance policy on teenage drinking a driving. Therefore, if an under-age youth is caught with alcohol in their system while driving they will get a DUI immediately. In addition, that it only a start it can lead to jail time and will receive more punishment if somebody is injured or killed. This can get not only an adolescent in major physical trouble it can lead to emotional struggles the rest of that person’s life knowing that somebody died because of their own stupidity. No physical punishment that is received will compare to the emotional punishment that will have to be dealt with the rest of a lifetime. Another danger of alcohol abuse in teenagers is the effect on health. Alcohol speeds into the bloodstream and toward the brain. It affects the brains production and alters the body’s ability to function properly. It goes from the drinker feeling calm and carefree to loud and rowdy. Over time, alcohol wears the body and can lead to liver disease, heart disease or cancer. Likewise, the things that alcohol can bring people into doing actions that they would not do otherwise. Alcohol can make someone become aggressive and reckless. They might try to start a fight over an idiotic reason. Also teenage alcohol abuse can lead to sexual behavior. Teenagers who drink are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than those who do not drink. This can lead to a faster spread of sexually transmitted diseases and a higher rate of teenage pregnancy. These are only a few effects that alcohol abuse can have on a teenager, and many adolescent drinkers do not realize these risks so they simply do not care. Even though alcohol abuse in teenagers will never leave, we can do some things to help it out. Steps like restricting advertising can help this cause. Maybe if we did not make drinking so socially acceptable then so many teenagers would not partake in the act. The feeling is that since everybody else is doing It then why can’t they? Teenage drinking will always be around so all we can do is take steps to make it better. Right now, the number of minors under the age of 21 who die due to alcohol consumption is approximately 5,000 a year. So we can strive to lower this number slowly and maybe over time it will decrease dramatically.
Works Cited
Egendorf, Laura K. Teen Alcoholism. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2001. Print.
Gottfried, Ted. The Facts about Alcohol. New York: Benchmark, 2005. Print.
Cited: Egendorf, Laura K. Teen Alcoholism. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2001. Print. Gottfried, Ted. The Facts about Alcohol. New York: Benchmark, 2005. Print.
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