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Binge drinking is a serious social problem. In the year 2000, every one in five people, aging twelve to twenty, was a binge drinker. A binge drinker is someone who drinks five or more alcoholic beverages in a single sitting within a two week period. The rate of binge drinking among underage people was almost as high among adults aged twenty-one or older. Among young adults aged eighteen to twenty-two, the rate of binge drinking was higher among full-time college students than among those who were not full-time. These are just a few statistics I have gathered to write this essay on a social problem I believe is strongly affecting our society. After reading over them, I have tried to understand why this is happening and how exactly it is upsetting our society.
Research shows that many teenagers begin consuming alcohol at the age of fourteen instead of the age of seventeen, which was the research documented in 1965. With the brain continuing to develop until about the age of twenty, teens are hurting their brain development. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “A single, moderate dose of alcohol can disrupt learning more powerfully in people in their early twenties, compared to those in their late twenties. The effects of repeated alcohol consumption during adolescence may also be long-lasting. Studies in humans have detected cognitive impairments in adolescent alcohol users weeks after they stopped drinking, and a different pattern of brain response to tests of memory than among non-abusers.”
It has been reported that 42% of college students have participated in binge drinking—the amount of drinking varying from college to college. Studies show that college is the peak of binge drinking due to the environment, such as: drinking traditions, no enforcement against it, and easy accessibility to cheap alcohol. However, only 25% of college students find that alcohol hurts their grades, so drinking is still very much...