In our society today, alcohol use among teenagers is increasing steadily and causing major problems everywhere. Alcohol use in our society is thought of as a minor thing. It is seen as something everyone does. Teenagers across the nation today not only accept alcohol, but also view it as almost mandatory in order to insure friendship and good times.
By the time most teenagers reach twelfth grade, they will all have been offered the choice to drink alcohol. Although alcohol use is illegal for people under the age of twenty-one, a large percentage of teenagers still choose to do it. Most that drink in high school are aware of the penalties and laws against underage drinking but do not care. Obtaining alcohol is easier than most think, and many parents are unaware that their teenagers are involved in underage drinking.
Alcohol is the only drug that kills more teenagers in America. Most deaths result from driving under the influence, and causing an accident, or an over dosage. Not only do teenagers die in alcohol-related accidents, other problems arise also. Abuse of this drug is responsible for physical and emotional disabilities, lack in academic performances, aggressive and disruptive behaviors, problems with friends and family, individual financial ruin, and possible criminal behavior.
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Despite all the problems caused by alcohol to people of all ages, society sends a mixed signal to its youth. Television, movies, and magazines present alcohol as something mandatory for a normal happy life. Many adults fail to take teenage alcohol problems seriously because they believe their teenager is too young to worry about it. When they think of an alcoholic person they think of a homeless person on the street. Other teenagers live in a family where alcohol is part of a normal life. Their parents tend to view drinking alcohol as a normal activity and a part of growing up.
If teenage drinking is not looked at more cautiously, it will turn into a larger epidemic than it already is.
