Underage drinking is the act of an individual under the age of 21 that consumes alcohol. It does not only affect the individual drinking, but also their families or communities. One survey from 2008 showed that 29% of people between the age of 15-20 have had alcohol within the past month. Luckily, these numbers have declined over the years to show about 23% of the same age group have drank in the past month. Unfortunately, people who drink prematurely can experience difficulties throughout life. Underage drinking can be affected by peer pressure and impact cognitive development and academic career.
Peer pressure can be defined as a social influence from members of one's peer group. Peer pressure plays a big role in everyone’s life, whether
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The frontal cortex is the part of the brain that helps to control decision making. By the age of 17, many big decisions have already been made, even ones that turn out to be mistakes. Some of these mistakes may include choosing to watch TV instead of studying, or even choosing to drink alcohol even though they may not be of age. If one chooses to drink excessively, the frontal lobe will be effected in a way that one will have little self-control and continue to make more poor decisions. At the age of 17 if one decides to drink without having a fully developed brain, then the development process will be slower. Another part of the brain that is impacted is the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that controls memory. When drinking, this part of your brain is negatively impacted, thus causing memory loss. Studies show that the reduction in size of the hippocampus can reach up to 10%. All of this combined could lead to many more problems in the …show more content…
One must excel in their classes and receive good grades to get into the college of their choice. When drinking alcohol, this is not the case. Many teens that drink alcohol show a lack of motivation to do school work and their grades increasingly drop. This is due to the fact that drinking alcohol causes a decrease in concentration for the user. Also, memory is affected when drinking alcohol. This causes students to be more forgetful and not remember what material was previously taught. Once the teen becomes behind in schoolwork, they will have a lack of motivation to get caught up, and therefore will be stuck in a vicious cycle. This can lead to a damaged future. With bad school work, one will not be accepted by a good college. This causes them to get jobs that are not as good as what they could have been if they did not participate in underage drinking.
Underage drinking can be affected by peer pressure and impact cognitive development and academic career. Peer pressure plays a role in drinking among teens, whether it be direct or silent. Teenagers, or preteens, have brains that are not fully developed, and drinking only seems to slow down that process. Also at this age, school is arguably one of the most important things to be focusing on. After drinking, memory, attention, and motivation decrease, along with the teen’s grades. Underage drinking is a problem throughout the world that most people are attempting to
According to Center for Disease Control and Protection, about 4,700 people under age twenty one die from injuries involving underage drinking every year. Illegal alcohol consumption has been a major problem with high school students around the nation. Lowering the drinking age from twenty one would result in major consequences for America’s adolescents. By lowering the drinking age, alcohol would be more accessible to those who choose to participate in underage drinking. The desire to drink for teens and young adults between the ages of fourteen and twenty can be caused by peer pressure or an act of rebellion. One beer might not seem like a big deal at the time, but it could lead to a life of addiction and alcoholism.
...them when they take just one drink of alcohol, even if it is just one shot or one beer, it affect you. Most college student drink to socialize and that is not a good thing to do. When a students, or anyone, drink to be social there are more likely to have more then what they intended. Alcohol will affect the way that students think, feel, act, and socialize with others. Drink is a dangers action to participate in but that is a choice that one needs to make on their own. It is always fun at the time, but at that same time one does not think that they are permanently arming to their bodies. Whether children and teens drink 15,25 or even 30 percent of the alcohol consumed, the reality is that America has an underage drinking epidemic and alcohol is by far the drug most used by children and teens and poses the greatest threat to their well-being” (Underage, CNN.com pg2).
Lowering the drinking age to under 21 can cause young adults to be medically irresponsible. For example, young adults under 21 years old can violate properties or other valuable items that might cause them penalties because of underage drinking law. People at any age who has had alcohol and other drug problems often diagnosed with severe treatments and discrimination (Youth Facts). Youth Facts claims that people at any age have been determined with some type of treatment when they were overdosed with alcohol. In addition, drinking under the age of 21 can severely cause major health problems among themselves and to others.
Engs,Professor at Indiana University has been studying the topic of lowering the legal drinking age for the past twenty years. He has found that “a majority of the college students under this age consume alcohol but in an irresponsible manner. This is because drinking by these youth is seen as an enticing “forbidden fruit” (Why the drinking age should be lowered,1). This is not the first time that this policy has been discussed. During the National Prohibition in the 1920s these laws made every state change their MLDA to 21 years old. But these laws were repealed because they were unenforceable and caused other social problems. Facts show that young adult underage are more likely to be “binge” drinkers. 32% of heavy drinkers were underage while only 24% were of legal age (Why the drinking age should be lowered, 1). Research from the 1980s reveal that there has been a decrease in drinking and drinking among students before the law that made every states MLDA 21 years old. But many other factors may have decreased this rate. “There has been an increase in other problems related to heavy and irresponsible drinking among college age youth. Most of these reported behaviors showed little change until after the 21 year old law in 1987. For example from 1982 until 1987 about 46% of students reported "vomiting after drinking." This jumped to over 50% after the law change. Significant increase were also found for other variables: "cutting class after drinking" jumped from 9%
Should the Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21 be lowered to the age of 18? After the legal voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1971, 30 US states ended up lowering their MLDA to 18, 19, or 20. When the states started implementing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age, they saved approximately 20,000 lives. They also decreased the number of alcohol-related youth fatalities among drivers by 63 percent since 1982. By 1982, only 14 US states had the MLDA of 21. In 1984, all of the states that have recently lowered their MLDA from 21 have all raised their MLDA back to 21. In 47 of 50 states age 18 is the “age of majority”, but the Minimum Legal Drinking Age is still at the age of 21. The minimum legal drinking age should stay at the age of 21 and not be lowered to 18 because of the medical reasons behind it, and could help prevent traffic accidents from happening.
...ately lose their lives. Many underage drinkers have been disappearing without being noticed by society. Males in their early teen years that turn to alcohol to feel empowered, often turn into full-blown alcoholics by the time they are 21—those that make it to 21—have an extremely hard time rejoining the sober population around them. The false sense of security, self-confidence, and maturity they once felt while being inebriated did not prepare them for what came after the life of crime and violence they chose to live. For those that are still under the spell of alcohol-making companies, and that are still living in the dark, thinking that that is the way of living may never get the wake up call. Many of underage drinkers will continue to increase the already large number of deaths involving alcohol; after all, they will only be a number on chart—a statistic a board.
These consequences include homicide, physical violence, sexual assault, and suicide. Based on the statistical facts, every year almost 700,000 college students are assaulted by other drunk schoolmates, more than 70,000 students between 18 to 24 are victims of sexual assaulted related to alcohol, and nearly 300 alcohol-connected teenager suicides happen in the whole states. Young people are usually lack of self-control and careful conscious, that’s why they can be more dangerous when they get drunk and cause many serious consequences to the whole society.
The article “Adolescent Brain Development and Underage Drinking in the United States: Identifying Risks of Alcohol Use in College Populations” written by Marisa Silveri, PhD, aims to emphasize the the negative behavioral consequences with underage alcohol use. Silveri is a highly decorated professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who has been studying the neurobiology of brain development and consequences of alcohol and drug abuse using preclinical and clinical models for two decades. Her substantial background in psychology and neurobiology make her a highly credible source, and improves the author’s chance of making the point really stick. The article is easy to follow, and split up in subcategories that each cover a specific point the author is trying to make. Professor Silveri, with great credibility, uses logic and also emotional appeal to effectively convince the reader that alcohol use affects the brain negatively, and the importance to discourage the excessive consumption of alcohol by adolescents.
One should remember that not all peer pressure is bad, although that is mostly what you see today. Good peer pressure needs to be done more, because why would you want to make someone do something bad, instead of helping them do something good and impacting them, because honestly who would want a worse world rather than a better one? Truly the way to improve our lives as human beings lies on peer pressure, it is at the core of ways we can make a change for a better, and not more for the
Also, In a study conducted by www.cdc.gov, youth who begin drinking before the age of 15 are 15 percent more likely to develop an addiction later in life. This can be extremely dangerous, because the more you drink, the more dependent you become. It can be extremely difficult to get rid of addictions and has severe withdrawal symptoms that could be very painful. Another effect of underage drinking is low self esteem. Many teens begin drinking because they are very easily pressured by peers. This can cause them to at first feel more confident and have higher self-esteem. Soon, however, this will wear off and they may be left with a worse feeling than before. Similar to psychological disorders, alcohol abuse can lead to many social
Underaged drinking has effected many people especally those who are consuming large amounts of alcohol at an age younger than twenty-one. The government has the ability to raise not only awareness about the dangers but also can raise the drinking age nationally to a more safer age. At the age of twenty-five, not only has the brain developed correctly but it can also decrease chances of disasters and car crashes in the United States.
We live in a society that drinks heavily, and this influences teens. Most Americans use alcohol to celebrate wedding anniversaries, to welcome the New Year, and to enjoy many other special events. Alcohol is a legal drug for people over the age of twenty-one. By the time most teens reach senior high school, nearly all will have faced a choice about whether or not to take a drink. Although this drug is illegal for teenage use a large percentage of teens use alcohol. Many teens die in automobile accidents, which could have prevented if they had chosen to say no. Each year it is blame in the deaths of more than four thousand teens (Claypool, p. 42). No crime kills more teenagers in America. Kids who are drinking regularly in high school seem to be fully aware of the penalties and laws against underage drinking, possession but don't care. They agree that driving while intoxicated is a key role in fatal car accidents, yet they still do it. Many teens also believe cold showers and coffee can sober up a person that is drunk Teens may drink for many different reasons. A big reason for teens to start to drink is because of problems in their family life. Teens could have a bad relationship with their parents or their parents could get in a fight or even get a divorce and this could cause a drinking problem among their child. Many experts agree that the main reason teens are becoming alcoholics is low self-esteem. Sometimes these children have been neglected or abused which makes them feel unwanted or they have been pressured and feel worthless if they fail. They have to deal with problems that he is too immature to handle, or worries about problems, which are problems at all. Many kids drink to make them feel older and mature. It makes you ...
University of Florida gave me an impression of seriousness when I visited it for the first time. Like what I imagined, the campus is filled with sharp-minded scholars, geniuses, and professionals, who strive to live a good life. As I dive into its environment after the summer starts, I am now discovering its enthusiastic side, surprising me with passion, interests, and love; however, the most unforgettable experiences I have so far are my first fraternity parties. A couple hundreds of well-dressed youngsters huddling inside a small frat house, nasty smells blended with humidly hot air irritating my senses, loud music with somewhat catchy rhythms piercing my eardrums and impacting on my brain, hands waiving in the air while bodies wiggling with beats and the other hands holding the red parties cups carrying some unknown liquids, this is the place where the most underage drinking happens at UF.
As a result of underage drinking, 5,000 adolescents under the age of 21 die annually due to intoxication (taking motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and other injuries while intoxicated into consideration) (paragraph 2). Later in life, underage drinkers are more likely to develop alcoholism, poor performance in school, and risky sexual behavior (paragraph 43). Although this research is not opposed to my argument, there is an importance to acknowledging it as proof of dangerous, underage drinking occurring significantly regardless of whether it is illegal. More importantly, this research stems from adolescents drinking without the supervision of adults and in uncontrolled quantities. Since adolescents must wait a long period of time to drink legally, I believe they fear they must take advantage of drinking opportunities by excess drinking and risk of safety due to their restriction to alcohol. Based on this mindset, I believe exposure to alcohol at a younger age in controlled environments would not only decrease underage drinking in large quantities, but injury and death related to intoxication, as
Peer pressure is when we are influenced to do something we normally wouldn't do because we want to fit in with other people or be accepted by our peers (A peer is someone you look up to like a friend, someone in the community or even someone on TV).