The Dangers of Alcohol Use by Minors
“Plastered, Hammered, Wasted, Drunk, Lifted.. These are all terms my friends use on any given Friday or Saturday night to ask if I want to party for the weekend! When we do get to parties, kids are doing keg stands (Where someone holds your legs up in the air, you grab the keg with both hands, and someone else feeds your beer through the hose upside down.) We play quarters, beer pong, and flip cup. The drinking games are endless as in the alcohol available to teens. “Hey Ryan, let’s go out tonight, find a few girls, and throwback a few brewskies!” Temptation to drink alcohol as a minor is everywhere! Some corner stores sell it to us, older brothers and sisters get it for us, or we can just wait for someone who looks cool to go in and buy it for us.
Before having to do the research on teens and alcohol, I truly did not think it was that big of a deal. I though alcohol was acceptable because everyone does it casually and in order to be popular, you want to fit in at the parties. I believed I could drink 6 beers and 2 shots and probably arrive home safely. I’ve seen kids drink 11-17 beers and still be standing. The amount teens are drinking is truly scary. I have even seen kids get behind the wheel, not realizing how intoxicated they were until they had to get out of the car. These things all frighten me. I know my mom would completely devastated if she knew I was drinking and driving. I have seen tragedy in alcohol related events with my friends, and I do not want to end up being statistic like they were. In March of 2011, 6 of my friends were consuming alcohol and taking Zanax Bars. They weren’t driving, but were so intoxicated, the home caught on fire, and they didn’t wake up in time to get out. All six of my friends died. I’ve seen my friends get arrested and thrown in the back of Police cars for Intoxication. I’ve had a friend fall asleep because she was so drunk and died from crashing her car. The dangers