Underage Drinking Persuasive Speech

The decision to allow your teen to drink alcohol should be made by you, not by your friends. Have a frank discussion with these parents about your concerns. The issue isn’t whether “kids will be kids.” The issue is who should make the decision about allowing an underage teen to drink, their parent or someone else’s parent.

Educate yourself (and your son) about the risks of underage drinking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have an excellent fact sheet about teens and drinking (http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm).

Underage drinking results in more than 4,300 deaths each year, and injuries requiring 189,000 emergency department visits. Such drinking is correlated with school problems, social difficulties, and unwanted and unprotected sexual activity.

You need to figure out what works for you and your teen. Some families allow their child to drink at certain meals or family gatherings so they can get accustomed in a safe setting to the effects of alcohol. Other parents try to enforce a strict abstinence approach. Have a conversation with your son and make certain your expectations are clear.

Never compromise on one issue---drinking and driving. I recommend a minimum one year penalty for any teen caught driving a car after drinking