Alcohol Problems among Young People in Britain

This essay has been developed to discuss the increasing alcohol problem in young people in Britain, also to raise the reasons behind why young people drink and suggest possible solutions for the young people of today and to also carry on to the next generation.

One of the main reasons for young people to use alcohol is peer pressure, this is when young people socialise with their friends and feels they cannot say no in fear of being left out.

Other reasons could be what goes on in their home environment, it is estimated that 1.3 million children are affected by their parents alcohol problems, Also boredom, many young people feel they have to drink for something to do or to even block out problems they are having i.e. bullying or some other kind of abuse, whether this is at home or school.

Roll model’s like pop stars and movie stars could also be making alcohol seem attractive seeing stars appear in papers and on television falling out of bars late at night into taxis would perhaps look like good fun to the younger person.

Some may also believe that young people have too much money to spend on alcohol, also fruity drinks known as alcopops are reasonably cheap and catch the eye with their bright colours and wide advertisement, also these drinks can be high in alcohol content which means it will get young inexperienced drinkers intoxicated quick at a low pocket money cost.

It has been reported that girls in Britain are the worst in Europe for binge drinking this may also be the reason for the large amount of unplanned pregnancies.

Parents being too strict and banning alcohol from teenagers can lead to them drinking outside unsupervised and parents who are too lenient can also be encouraging heavy drinking without realising t...

... middle of paper ...

...ly unit to resolve this, if teenagers can turn to their parents for advice they might feel better within themselves to be able to express themselves in other ways rather than using alcohol.

Setting ground rules like a curfew to be home by at night making it being earlier during the week for school/college and a little more lenient at weekends, being too strict can result in rebelling against parents.

The final conclusion to this essay is to be able to keep advertising to a minimum and perhaps raise the price on cheap alcopops to bring the attraction away from alcohol, also to help boredom by supplying entertainment for youngsters, talking with professionals and family may help with depression or bullying, more security in enclosed areas to help prevent alcohol fuelled crime, also raising the minimum age to 21yrs and apply the 25yr old policy to purchase alcohol.