This week I am going to address the underage drinking and its effects it has on teenagers in the United States. Alcohol use among teenagers and young adults is a prominent health problem in the U.S. According to an article from Alcohol Research and Health, the national surveys of “adolescents, college students, and other young adults in the US reveal high rates of alcohol use among these age groups as well as high rates of dangerous drinking practices such as binge drinking and daily drinking” (Michael Windle, 2003). The effects of drinking everyday and drinking excessively lead to alcoholism. This is not a good way to start your adult life with and addiction to alcohol before even being legally able to consume it.
Surveys conducted suggest that approximately 28 percent of seniors in high school and 40% of college students admitted to binge drinking during a two week time frame. Binge drinking is consuming “five or more drinks in a row” in a short period of time. This type of binge drinking is very dangerous, especially for underage and young adults because of the inexperience they have with alcohol which could lead to alcohol poisoning. Also it has a major contribution to death from a car crash or suicide in this age group. Alcohol can lead to disturbances in personal life including family, school and work.
Alcohol use among adolescents can also lead to risky behaviors, including, sex, smoking, violence, drinking and driving, and suicide. In a study done by Windle, he used over 4000 participants from the ages of 13 to 18 and “2000 people reported strong relationships between binge drinking and smoking…adolescents who reported binge drinking in the 30 days before the survey were 17 times more likely to have smoking during that time than adolescent who did not report binge drinking” (Michael Windle, 2003). Drinking and smoking are hazardous to your health especially when done all the time. I started smoking at the age of 16 and it’s a nasty habit and hard to quit it’s important for teenagers and adolescents to never start.
i agree with your blog about alcohol among adolescents and young adults and how much damage does it cause them. i cant even imagine my younger brother going out with his friend and drinking. i work in a high school and every monday when we get back to work form the weekend i hear the craziest stories about what these kids do? sometimes i wonder where are the parents? but then some times i think to myself there is so much that a parent can do for a child and it is up to the child to follow their parents advice. i really hope that these adolescents take into consideration their parents and how much they suffer when something happens to them or when theyre in trouble.
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