Underage Drinking
Alcohol, when enjoyed by people who are of legal drinking age and who act in a responsible manor, can be an enjoyable beverage. However, many people abuse alcohol, and when this is done, major damage can occur. In the past several decades, underage drinking has become a severe problem, claiming the lives of many underage drinkers, and also the lives of those around them.
Underage drinking is a problem that has existed for many years. However, over the last couple decades the increase in underage drinking has been substantial. In fact, a recent study suggests that 87 percent of high school seniors have drank alcohol, 63 percent of high school seniors have smoked cigarettes, 32 percent of these students have used marijuana and 6 percent have used cocaine. While all of these numbers seem to be increasing, the percentage of students who consume alcohol is almost unfathomable. Underage drinking can be extremely dangerous, especially because people under twenty-one tend to have a subconscious immortality complex. Because of this, young adults take more risks that older people, and when combined with alcohol, these risks can sometimes be fatal. The leading causes of death for people 15 to 24 are car crashing, homicides, and suicides. Within these causes, alcohol is a leading factor when determining what lead to the death of the young adult. Children, like adults, loose their ability to think clearly when the drink, and sometimes fatal actions occur because of this. Alcohol has also aided in many sexual assault cases. Alcohol has been reported to be present in about two thirds of all date rape and sexual assault cases among teenagers and college students. This damage is not only horrific, but is also expensive. Alcohol related abuse and injuries is estimated to cost the global society $86 billion dollars a year! To put this in perspective, this is more money that the cost of Desert Storm. The money that society pays because of alcohol related abused includes money used for law suites, hospitals bills, funerals, law enforcement, and much more. While some underage drinkers think that their drinking habits only affect themselves, they are extremely wrong.
The initial age of drinking has also decreased in somewhat recent years. In fact, the average age of the first use of alcohol is around the age of 13! This seems extremely young, but so many children can get alcohol, that the numbers should not be that astounding. Adults who provide alcohol to minors, through home or through the store, have to begin to take greater control over their school. A study showed that one third of sixth through ninth grades has obtained alcohol from their own homes. It has also been shown that approximately 2/3 of teenagers are able to buy their own alcohol. Fake IDs are prominent positions about underage drinkers, and with increased technology, these IDs look more real than ever. Because of these two factors, it can be said this great certainty that adults play a major role in underage drinking, whether they intend to or not. If this evidence is not enough, there are more statistics and facts that prove adults play a large role in underage drinking. Out of all the wine coolers sold in stores, junior and senior high school students purchase 35 percent of these drinks. These same students also consume over 1.1 billion cans of beer, also purchased in stores or obtained from parents. Still another fact that proves adults play a role in underage drinking is that when children were surveyed and asked where the most common setting for drinking was, they responded with the answer of “other peoples homes”. Some parents try so hard to be the “cool” parent and their child’s friend, that they loose focus of their main role as a parent, which is to protect their child.
While many children, young adults, and even grown ups think of drinking as a harmless activity, the truth about underage drinking is much more serious. Students who drive underage are more likely to fail in school, get raped, and even die, when compared to students who don’t drink. Drinking can be a fun activity, but should only be done by people who are legally aloud to drink, and who are responsible when they are drinking. If this amount of people who drink underage continues to increase, the reality of the consequences will be devastating. It is time that society’s youth and adults take responsibility for the underage-drinking problem that has evolved over the past decades.
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