Alcohol is the most widely used and abused drug among youth. It kills more teenagers than all drugs combined. Seven million kids under 18 live in alcoholic homes and about one-fourth of them will become alcoholics. The average age to start drinking alcohol is 13. Peer pressure is one of the main causes of this. 90% of kids who get caught drinking say that they just did it to impress their friends. In 1998 an estimated one in five teenagers were current drinkers and one in thirteen teenagers were binge drinkers. A survey was conducted with 4,390 high school seniors and dropouts and it proved that 80% reported getting drunk,

Between the ages of 12-14 kids tend to believe that the positive benefits of drinking alcohol, such as feeling good and fitting in with peers, become more likely to occur than feeling sick and having health problems afterwards. They also believe that drinking will give them greater social acceptance.

binge drinking or drinking and driving in the preceding year.

In 1997, 3,336 drivers died ages 15-20 and 365,000 were injured. 30% of those drivers had been drinking. A survey of respondents reported that 14.6% drove after drinking. 38.8% admitted riding with a driver who had been drinking.

The majority of 12-16 year old adolescents are light drinkers. But although only light drinkers there have been problem behaviors reported. About 4.4% said they have tried to hurt or kill themselves and 7.9% have thought about suicide. The criminal behavior report for light drinkers said that 29.5% got in a physical fight, 4.9% were on probation, 9.9% had been arrested and 6.3% had driven under the influence.

Nearly 4 million young people suffer from alcohol dependence. People who begin drinking before 15 are four times as likely to develop alcohol dependence

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