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Underage Drinking

            
            
            
            
             The number one problem among young people today is underage drinking. More than 11 million drinkers in the U.S. are adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20. The average age to start drinking is 13. Of the young drinkers, 20% engage in binge drinking (consuming 5 or more drinks on a single occasion) and 6% were heavy drinkers (consuming 5 or more drinks on a single occasion on at least 5 different days). Out of these 11 million, 10.4 million have had at least one drink in the past month, of these 6.8 million were binge drinkers and 2.1 million were heavy drinkers. By the time these young people are high school seniors, more than 80% have used alcohol and approximately 62% have been drunk. This information is not surprising when more that 50% of the attempts to buy alcohol by minors were successful.
             Due to underage drinking there are many more alcohol-related accidents than before. In 1998, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) completed a seven-year study on under age drinking. This study found that young people who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism and twice as likely to develop alcohol abuse (a maladaptive drinking pattern that repeatedly causes life problems) than those who begin drinking after the age of 21. About 40% of these who begin drinking before age 15 become alcohol dependent at some later time compared to those 25% who begin drinking at age 17 and those who begin drinking at ages 21 and 22. Teens who start drinking before age 15 are more likely to have sex than those who have not. You can come to a conclusion that most sexual assaults and "date- rape cases happen while one or both people are under the influence.
             Alcohol abuse can have life-threatening, life-altering, and life-ending consequences. There's a thin line between alcohol use and grade point averages. Students who drink are more likely to earn lower grades than those who don't drink.


Essays Related to Underage Drinking

1. Underage Drinking and it's Consequences

... . Additionally, AIM provides information stating that it is illegal to drink and purchase alcohol in Libya because of the Muslim culture. Research continually provides evidence of the differences among underage drinking rules and regulations globally. According to Doweiko, alcoholism was rampant among youth in England during the early 1800's (pg 283,2002). Looking at the differences between other countries ... and Youth states that adolescents are between 4 and 10 times to become alcoholic more likely than adolescents from families with no alcoholic adults. Research has also been done on ...

  • Word Count: 2758
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Underage Drinking - Who's Responsible?

... the nation as a whole" (CDC; Office). The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)'s research, which mainly focuses on the prevention of drunk driving, underage drinking and alcohol abuse, advises that alcohol beverage advertising along with lack of parental guidance and peer pressure is what urges youths to drink alcohol. On the other hand, the ... the causes and consequences of alcohol-related problems, and then develops treatment and prevention tactics to improve them. Through its various research, the NIAAA finds underage drinking, a major public health problem. ...

  • Word Count: 1424
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Graduate

3. Drinking Age Laws: Practical Or Waste Of Time?

... will continue to drink and experiment with alcohol. There have been many studies that have produced some alarming statistics. Numerous clubs and special interest groups have been founded to combat underage drinking and underage drinking laws. One such example that has had a profound effect on societies views is the organization known as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). But yet despite all of these methods ... in vast amounts of money each week. So what actions is the government taking to prevent teens from buying alcohol? In 1998, Congress appropriated $25 million to initiate the C...

  • Word Count: 1570
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Lowering the Legal Drinking Age to 18

... that more than three in four teenagers consume alcohol when they are high school seniors. A big issue for underage drinking is where the underage drinkers actually do the drinking. It is known to people that underage drinking goes on, but where and when they do it, is something to look for. Because no one wants ... anyone. People will bring alcohol somewhere, like a party, and drink it without their parents knowing. The police search for underage drinking, but, even they know that once the underage drinkers are caught, they will keep doing it. The difference is that this time, they will b...

  • Word Count: 1648
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Minimum Drinking Age in the United States

... during a sorority pledging. Obviously, this was far more than her body could cope with. She was passed out, despondent, and abandoned by her sorority sisters, who feared being charged for underage drinking. The girl was found the next day, dead. If the sorority members had not been worried about the laws, that girl might still be alive today. Or at least, received ... . Small mistakes and minor one-time offenses should not evolve into a burden for the student to haul around for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, consequences of underage drinking in teens often does have negative life...

  • Word Count: 1153
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography

6. Underage Drinking

... decisions on our own. The only way we can be trusted is by being given the right to drink when we turn 18. Underage drinking will be minimized if the age group of 18 to 20 is allowed alcohol. Through education, we in the United States can move forward and overcome ... has a goal and a very practical plan to change the legal age to 18. RALLY, which stands for Realistic Alcohol Laws for Legal Youth, knows that underage drinking is a problem and wants to see changes made to give 18 to 20 year-old adults their deserved rights. RALLY is designed for college students, by the ... . Coors is the ...

  • Word Count: 1713
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography

7. The Ramifications of Underage Drinking

... by American teenagers. It is consumed more than all other illegal drugs combined and is also the drug that is most associated with injury or death. Underage drinking is a serious problem for teenagers in the United States. People do not realize the effects that alcohol have on young growing adults. Alcohol is a ... drug that can affect judgment, coordination, and long term health. Underage drinking has no positive aspects to it. How can we say "yes" to underage drinking? The legal age to drink is twenty-one, and people should abide by the laws. Back in the 1960s and early ... needs to be...

  • Word Count: 896
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

8. National Drinking Age

... be solved with increased regulation. But this seems to be an obvious answer and many are beginning to feel that the reason why the enforcement of underage drinking is so lax could be because having a national drinking age of 21 years old is just too high. Before 1984, states individually decided how to regulate the sale liquor, but then a push by the federal ... is drink more than the person can handle in one occasion, are those who are under 21 years old. There is an easy access to alcohol, regardless of age. The underage drinking laws are not very effective as shown in a study by Colu...

  • Word Count: 1792
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Underage Drinking and Alcohol Abuse

... illegal drugs; therefore, encouraging other drug use, especially among teenagers. Condemning the use of alcohol may create the false impression that parents who use alcohol in moderation are drug abusers (Underage Drinking & Alcohol Abuse 1). Scaring teenagers to believe that alcohol is always destructive to the body is ineffective because alcohol in moderation causes no major harm. Therefore, this misguided effort to ... associate alcohol with illegal drugs is not likely to be efficient. Religious groups banning the use of alcohol is another solution for the continuing underage drinking...

  • Word Count: 872
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

10. underage drinking

... suggested that almost all young people use alcohol before they are of age. Unfortunately parents tend to see drinking as a rite of passage and come to accept it (Bonnie 35). As problems continue to grow with underage drinking, researchers have found that the amount of underage drinkers is on the rise, alcohol is a contributing factor in risky behavior, and the media plays an influential ... more likely to be alcohol dependent than adults whose first drink is at the age of 21. 10.7 million underage teenagers drink, 7.2 million of whom are binge drinkers. Illegal alcohol consumption by un...

  • Word Count: 652
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

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