What do car crashes, cancer, and domestic violence all have in common? The answer is alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse has been proven to have negative effects on people ranging from horrible hangovers to even cancer or death. Alcohol not only has negative effects on the abuser but also on the loved ones around the abuser. Other countries outside of the United States have shown to have problems related to the rate of alcohol consumption. Not only is drinking rates in other countries out of control but the rate of underage drinking is shown to be on the rise as well. The negative effects of alcohol consumption is causing human to think and do irrational things in every country around the globe. People have different views on alcohol depending on …show more content…
However, out of adolescence ages 12-20 in the United States 11% have already consumed alcohol before the age of twenty- one. More than 90% of the adolescence that consumed alcohol before age 21 consumed alcohol while binge drinking (Fact Sheets). Binge drinking is defined as "an usually brief period or bout of excessive alcohol consumption."(Binge Drinking). Teenage drinking is on the rise because adolescence are experiencing lifestyle and emotional changes. While 11% if our youth underage drinking may not seem like a very large number it is more than most people might think. Underage drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths among our teens and young adults. While you cannot always prevent what teens are going to do you can always look for signs that they are struggling in some aspect of their lives, whether it be emotional or just everyday life. As stated by (Underage Drinking) As children move from adolescence to young adulthood, they encounter dramatic physical, emotional, and lifestyle changes. Our brains are not fully developed until well into our twenties. Adolescence and young adults are not fully developed at this age and may cause them to think irrationally. Adolescence are trying to fix or cope with their life issues by using alcohol. The brain not being fully developed gives some incite as to why adolescence are so adamite to risk taking. This is further exemplified by …show more content…
Risk for certain heart diseases have been shown to lower because of moderate alcohol consumption. As stated in (Park, Alice) "Alcohol, in moderation, has a reputation for being healthy for the heart." Studies show that women drinking a glass of wine per day, and men drinking two glasses a day can have added health benefits. These benefits include lower risk for heart attack, stroke, and death related to heart disease. As stated in (Park, Alice) "Non-drinkers had a 33% higher risk of unstable angina and and a 56% higher risk of dying unexpectedly from heart disease, compared to people who drank a glass or two of alcohol a day." Angina is defined as a condition in which the heart is not getting enough blood flow. Although alcohol has been shown to lower the risk for some of the most common types of heart of diseases, it has not been shown to help lower the risk for some less common types of heart diseases. Alcohol has shown not to improve disease such as certain types of milder strokes. The article also states, "It’s not clear from the current study why alcohol lowers the risk of some heart conditions and not others (Park, Alice)." Therefore, it has been concluded people who drink in moderation have shown to have lower risk of certain heart
Teenage drinking has become a big problem around the world the studies have shown between seventy to eighty percent of every teen has had an alcoholic beverage. (ClayPool 2) That is about half of the students in a public school. 1.9 million teens from the day they turned twelve to the age of twenty are considered heavy drinkers. (Well-connected 21) But only twelve out of fifteen actually have a problem drinking alcoholic beverages. (Goodwin 63) Many teens die in traffic accidents each day from the age sixteen to nineteen. There has been around 2,700 teens in the United States killed and almost 321,000 were treated for injuries suffered by motor-vehicle crashes, but then were released to go home. The cost to repair the damages of an alcohol-related accident is estimated to be around one-thousand, five- hundred all the way up to one-hundred, forty-eight billion dollars. ("Teenage" 64) But alcohol-related crashes also cost American taxpayers one-hundred billion dollars not just the driver. ("Drinking") Days of the week with the highest deat...
Teenage drinking is something that goes on every day. No matter how many videos you show to kids about drinking they will still drink. Surveys show that the average teen seventeen and up spends $475.00 a year on liquor, mostly beer; that's more than books, soda, coffee, juice and milk combined. Most parents don't know about teenage drinking unless they catch their kids doing it. Parents usually say "oh, my my kid would never do that ", and they're the ones whose kids probably drink more that the average teen. One might ask, how do kids get alcohol? Alcohol is almost as easy to get as a carton of milk, except a teen has to get someone older like a friend, brother or even someone off of the street to purchase it. Another way underage teens get alcohol is a fake I.D. A lot of stores don't care, they just need to ask for an I.D. because they are being watched by security cameras. No matter what city your are in, one in every five stores will sell beer to a minor. If stores stop selling to minors they would lose a lot of business. Looking at the surveys I took at Lincoln on this topic it can been seen what teens think about teenage drinking. The results were shocking! The first Question I asked was "Have you ever drank alcohol?" Of the students surveyed, 16% said no and 84% said yes. The second question was, "How often do you drink?"
The article "Alcohol Abuse is a Serious Problem for Teenagers," was written by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The article states, "Nearly four million young people suffer from alcohol dependence," and the average age at which children begin to drink is as early as 13. The article goes on to say that the number of children who experiment with alcohol has been rising steadily over the years. The article points out the unfortunate effects of drinking which range from an array of physical illnesses like liver problems and cancer. From the article we learn that because teenagers tend to indulge in binge drinking, they are at higher risk to suffer the consequences of alcohol consumption. According to the article these consequences include developmental problems like lack of growth, a reduced ability to learn, and to psychological problems like depression and suicidal tendencies. Alcohol abuse in turn leads to social problems which include dropping out of school, robbery, and "risky sexual behavior." We learn that alcohol serves as a "gateway-drug," leading to more addictive drugs like cocaine. The article substantiates this claim by citing a study conducted by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. The article also touches on the problem of alcohol used by parents though the primary focus of this piece is about teenage drinking. The purpose of the article is to jolt readers into an awareness of the magnitude of the problem of teenage drinkiing. Most people know that teenagers like to experiment, try the new and forbidden, but the Center assumes that no one is fully aware of how serious this problem can be if it is not addressed.
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.
There are an estimated 3.3 million teen-age alcoholics in the United States. Adolescents who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin drinking at age 21. Youth who drink alcohol are five times more likely to smoke cigarettes, four times more likely to smoke marijuana and three times more likely to use an illicit drug. Teens that use alcohol tend to become sexually active at earlier ages. Teens who use alcohol are more likely to be victims of violent crimes such as aggravated assault, robbery or rape.
Since this country was born it has been raised on alcohol, even the prohibition couldn 't stop the Americans from doing what they love to do. But back then they were lenient on the age to consume alcohol. But in 1980’s Ronald Reagan passed the Drinking Age Act which permanently raised the drinking age to twenty-one through out the nation. Which people asked themselves is this right? When at eighteen you 're legally allowed to be on a official jury, vote for the next president and fight for your country. So lowering the drinking age to 18 would make sense.
“According to the U.S Surgeon General, about 5,000 kids under 21 die every year as a result of underage drinking—from crashes, homicides, and suicides” (Bellenir 65). Reducing underage drinking can reduce drinking-related harm, and even though there are programs in place to help prevent these suicides, alcoholism continues to ruin the lives of underage drinkers. Alcoholics in general are walking billboards to major companies that advertise their products—especially underage drinkers that in the process make these companies wealthier. Alcohol abuse gives a false sense of security, self confidence, and maturity to underage drinkers that later commit crimes, violence, and are victims of homicides. Underage drinkers not being able to get back on their feet after falling in so deep into alcoholism, eventually hit rock bottom and wake up to a world they no longer belong to. Underage drinkers realizing that the turning point is far from close commit suicide.
Alcohol is the most widely used drug among youth. It causes serious and potentially life-threatening problems for this population. Research indicates that drinking is associated with risk-taking and sensation-seeking behavior among adolescents. Alcohol has disinhibiting effects that may increase the likelihood of unsafe activities.In 1997, 21 percent of the young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes were intoxicated. For young drivers, alcohol involvement is higher among males than among females. In 1997, 25 percent of the young male drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking at the time of the crash, compared with 12 percent of the young female drivers involved in fatal crashes.According to national data, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death among adolescents and young adults. Factors contributing to youth drowning include alcohol which can severely affect a swimmer's coordination and judgment. Forty to 50 percent of young males who drown were drinking when they died, and an equal percentage of all diving accidents are alcohol related.Approximately 240,000 to 360,000 of the nation's 12 million current undergraduates will ultimately die from alcohol-related causes.
Everyday teenagers are faced with many decisions. One of the most important of these is whether or not to join in with the trend of teenage drinking. The decision teenagers make can be crucial to their future well being and success in life. Teenage drinking has many causes, namely peer pressure, the attitudes of society, parental influence, and addiction. Changes need to be made in each of these areas for teenagers to be protected from alcohol related problems.
It is a known fact that many Americans drink alcohol on a weekly basis. Depending on the rate and volume of consumption, alcohol has many different effects on the human body. Light drinking has been proven not to be a problem, and is even considered to be healthy. A glass of Red wine once a day is known to be beneficial to the heart. It helps prevent coronary heart disease by reducing plaque deposits in the arteries surrounding the heart, preventing blood clotting, while also helping to dissolve clots that already exist (Rehm 1210). Moderate and heavy drinking is a different story though. When drinking to the point of moderate to heavy consumption, there is a greater risk for personal injury. Car accidents are not the only causes of injury when under the influence of alcohol. Many incidents of injury are directly related to alcohol consumption including violence, and accidental personal injury. This being said, drunk driving is the main cause of death associated with alcohol consumption (Rehm 1220). Researchers have found that with increased volumes of alcohol consumption on...
A lot of the time, teens think it is ‘cool’ to drink because everyone else does it. Almost every television show that young people watch have some underage substance abuse, leading adolescents to believe that it can’t be that bad. While society plays a big part in this huge problem, both teens and parents need to learn that there can be severe consequences from as little as one drink. Allowing them to think this kind of behavior is acceptable will haunt them for the rest of their lives, even if they are not alcohol related. Believing that such behavior is acceptable now will lead them to bad decision-making skills in the future when faced with an ethical decision. Teens need to know the major effects can come from underage drinking before going to that party or when being pressured into something they may not be willing to participate in. It is obvious that the long and short-term effects of alcohol abuse can be easily avoided by getting educated and thinking before engaging in any self-destructive
“For every family that is impacted by drugs, there are another 10 to 15 families impacted by alcohol abuse. It's a pretty big deal. We have a tendency to only look at part of the puzzle.” (Kevin Lewis). As a society we tend to categorize the severity of addiction in a way that drugs are the most dangerous and alcohol being just a problem. Because alcohol addiction can be a slow progressive disease many people don’t see it in the same light as drug addiction. An addiction to drugs is seen as being a more deadly and dangerous issue then that of alcohol because a drug addiction can happen more quickly and can kill more quickly. Alcohol is something that is easy to obtain, something that is found at almost every restaurant. People with an alcohol addiction can not hide from alcohol as easy as a drug addict. Approximately 7 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse and another 7 million suffer from alcoholism. (Haisong 6) The dangers of alcohol affect everyone from children with alcoholic parents, to teenagers who abuse alcohol, then to citizens who are terrorized by drunk drivers.
Whereas, drinking may have some positive effects, it have a lot of negative effects. For instance, it can cause violence on the ...
Inclusion, drinking alcohol may yield some health benefits, particularly for your heart. While On the other hand, consuming too much alcohol may escalate your risk of health problems and damage your heart.
As the current legal drinking age remains to be 21, adolescents today are increasingly drinking large amounts of alcohol behind the backs of others. Along with this being illegal, alcohol-related dangers within our youth like dependency, disease, and irresponsible behaviors are problems that many are finding ways to prevent by increasing awareness; some people have even suggested that raising the drinking age would be the ultimate solution. However, is the constant routine of warning adolescents and preventing them from drinking really working? Based on the vast number of anti-alcohol programs in schools and existing laws forbidding the use of underaged drinking, today, there are still increasing reports. Instead of repeatedly preventing our