Did you know that five thousand people a year die from underage drinking related accidents? These deaths include motor vehicle accidents, homicides, suicides, and drowning. Underage and binge drinking is the illegal use of alcohol towards minors or underage civilians in the United States. Underage drinking is a significant problem in Leland, North Carolina because it is illegal and leads to mischief for teenagers. Underage drinking in Leland is caused by peer pressure, hereditary factors, and stress, so the local police force. A solution for underage drinking is to increase the consequences for binge drinking. Peer pressure is one of the leading cause in underage drinking. Peer pressure is influence that an individual exerts that encourages others to change their attitude, values, or behaviors to comfort the group’s norms. Studies show that fourteen percent of underage drinkers, solely drink because of peer pressure according to Rashmi Katyal (26-30). Peer pressure is an atrocious action because it manipulates another individual’s mentality. Some objections to this idea of peer pressure is that an individual is always in control of their own actions no matter what the case is. This is true however, Dr. Falk says that twenty-seven percent of people under the influence of others will actually stick to their own ideas or moral beliefs (26). Peer pressure contributes to the problem of underage drinking because one’s peers have a substantial influence on one another and if one is drinking, the other is allured to do the same. Peer pressure is not a sufficient cause of underage drinking by itself because there are many people who do not fall under the influence of it, but if it is mixed with other extraneous causes such such as heredit... ... middle of paper ... ...ience and Public Health 2.1 (2013), 26-30. Dohmen, T., and A. Falk (2011): “Performance Pay and Multi-Dimensional Sorting: Productivity, Preferences and Gender,” American Economic Review, 101 (2), 556-590. Dick, Danielle M. "Family History and Genetics." NCADD. N.p., 31 Sept. 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Morse, Robert M. "Family History and Genetics." NCADD. NCADD, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. "Drinking Alcohol To Relieve Stress...A Dangerous Choice." Http://www2.fiu.edu/. Florida International University, 2003. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. Health, Columbia. "Drinking for Stress Relief - a Problem?" Go Ask Alice! Columbia Health, 18 July 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. "Drinking Alcohol May Prolong, Not Relieve, Stress." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 15 July 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. "NC Alcohol Laws." NC Alcohol Laws. Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies,, 01 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
Saitz, Richard, M.D. "Unhealthy Alcohol Use." New England Journal of Medicine (2005): 596. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Lyall, Katherine C., PhD. "Binge Drinking on American College Campuses." August 1995. October 14, 1998. (available online). http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas/RWJ_S.htm
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.
Growing popularity of alcohol is one of the many problems in the community, especially among those who are younger than twenty-one years old. Underage Drinking is a complex problem that has emerged to the society. Legislative laws limit the consumption of alcohol to youths under age of twenty-one. Though many teenagers start drinking during their high school years and continue throughout college. Also, the proportion of the underage drinkers in the United Sates is increasing at a huge rate. It may seem normal to many people. Yet, drinking at a younger age can cause a tremendous effect not only to the consumers, but also to the community. Thus, underage alcohol abuse should be reduced by more effective strategies in order to prevent the negative effects.
One article that covers the results of a national survey states that ¡§Adolescents¡¦ levels of alcohol and drug use have been found to be strongly associated with peers¡¦ use. However, other studies have shown that a student¡¦s drinking was more strongly influenced by how much he or she thought close friends drank than by perceptions of the extent of use by students in general¡¨(Results 2). This is a statement that I can agree with because growing up I have watched many young people become greatly influenced by their friends. Now a days the phrase ¡§peer pressure¡¨ concentrates on pressure from a direct group of friends rather than a students peers as a whole. Another reason the article gives for the cause of Binge Drinking is that ¡§Students who perceive that more drinking occurs than actually does provide themselves with an excuse for drinking more because ¡¥everyone is doing it¡¦¡¨ (Results 2). Everyone knows that most youngsters want what every other kid has, this idea relates in the...
So why the hike in usage over such a short span of time? A few tentative conclusions have surfaced in response to the rapidly growing numbers. Research has shown that the absence of a parental figure within the household has proven to be an effective catalyst in spurring youth to participate in what would otherwise be considered reckless behavior. An additional explanation for the use of alcohol by an underage demographic can be the self-justification, created by youth, based on parental observation. If an adolescent actively participates in the consumption of alcohol, in an attempt to emulate the actions of their parents, then psychologically, that action would warrant that much more credibility.
Many do not clearly understand how serious alcohol abuse really is. According to CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention), “Excessive alcohol use is responsible for approximately 88,000 deaths in the United States each year”. In addition to that, the NIH (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) claims that alcohol is a risk factor for cancers like liver, breast, mouth, esophagus, and many more. According to Steven Reinbersg’s article titled as “Third of Americans Have Alcohol Problems at Some Point”, more than “30 percent of Americans say they have had problems with alcohol”, proven by studies. Numerous Americans take advantage of alcohol frequently, but do not realize what kind of side affects it can bring for themselves. Though, alcoholism is often brought to awareness, one may feel like they are not educated enough about it.
Whereas, drinking may have some positive effects, it have a lot of negative effects. For instance, it can cause violence on the ...
"Underage Drinking: Why Do Adolescents Drink, What Are the Risks, and How Can Underage Drinking Be Prevented?" National Institue on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Jan. 2006. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. .
Alcohol drinking is becoming one of the most severe issues in a developing teenager’s life. The benefits of alcohol for teenagers are miniscule and hundreds of thousands of teens participate in the drinking of it. In any one month, according to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (U.S.) 31% of high school student’s binge drink at least once. Binge drinking is when a person drinks alcohol with the primary intention on being intoxicated. When going out, 31% of students drink with the intention of getting drunk. They also state, 11.4% of all alcohol consumed in the United States, is consumed by teenagers. Although drinking may seem like the cool thing to do as teenager, about 5,000 teens die every year due to alcohol use and death does not make a person cool. (“Teenage Drinking”) Another anonymous story says, “I had way too much and puked all over the bathro...
Marcus, D. (March 27, 2000). Drnking To Get Drunk. U.S. News & World Report [On-line], Available: www2.gasou.edu/library/ (Galileo)(EBSCOhost)(Search=Alcohol Abuse).
Underage drinking causes people to make bad decisions, such as; driving while intoxicated, becoming pregnant, and making a complete fool out of themselves. While intoxicated, are just being a few instances that can and will impact your life forever. Some individuals don’t understand what alcohol really does to the body. Beer has empty calories that will make you gain weight. Which is why a lot of alcoholics have larger stomachs, or another term many people use for these large stomachs is, “beer belly.” Some people may say that alcohol helps you escape your problems and is a stress relevant. Alcohol will not only bring more stress onto your life, it will also bring more problems. As much as people may feel alcohol helps, it really won’t help.
Alcoholism is known to be one of the largest illnesses that affect individuals in the world today with nearly 32 million Americans who have struggled with it in one year alone. It is becoming a much larger problem that is reoccurring and wiping out a large portion of the population. Some individuals might think that excessive drinking isn’t a problem, but others find that it is completely
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