Underaged drinking is a social issue and causes many problems from learning problems to alcoholism. Alcohol is a depressant and people tend to fall back on it in times of trouble. I can’t figure out why person’s under the age of twenty-one want to drink alcohol. Is it to get acceptance from their peers? Or is it to relax and sit back after a bad day?
The people that binge drink the most have more severe problems. These people are more likely, than people who do not drink excessively, to miss class, get behind in their homework or class assignments, involve themselves with sexual activity, not using protection during sexual activity, getting caught by campus security, or maybe even wounded, or seriously injured. “Such heavy alcohol use among American college students has received considerable attention because of high alcohol-related morbidity and mortality is widely considered a public health concern with serious immediate and long-term consequences” (Saylor, 2011). Many college campuses have considered taking serious actions to control the behavior of college students that are binge drinking. Administrators on college campuses have establish a zero tolerance policy for alcohol so that the campus is a dry campus.
It might still be valued as a taste or popular past time, but the latter promotes binge drinking. Binge drinking is detrimental to the health of an adult, let alone a developing brain. From past experience, I know for a fact that alcohol can impede the intelligence of teens who constantly binge drink. Not even in the long term either, it seemed like they began to decline within a year. Teens are not going to drink alcohol to taste it, they are going to binge drink to get wasted.
Most kids binge drink when they drink they don’t do it in moderation or casual drink. When kids drink it’s mostly on the weekend and parties so they want to have a fun good time as fast as they can so they drink the alcohol fast so it will hit them harder than just drinking them regularly. Binge drinking is associated with a serious social harm, economic costs as well as increased disease burden. Binge drinking is more common in males, during adolescence and young adulthood. Most binge drinkers are not familiar with the risks associated with binge drinking.
The issue of binge drinking has been a problem on college campuses for decades. Binge drinking has many horrible effects, but the problem starts with the causes for it. If the causes could be controlled then the issue would not get out of hand. Many college students give different causes for their drinking problems, and experts on the subject have their explanations as well (Courtney & Polich, 2009). The causes of underage drinking include peer pressure, family history, low self-esteem, and of course curiosity (Courtney & Polich, 2009).
Alcohol dependence and drug abuse The abuse of alcohol and drug abuse can effect a person’s economic, psychologically and physically. Drug and alcohol addiction is said to be the worst kind of addiction that one can have its common and costly. It can cause or worsen many medical problems and destroy families. With most street drugs outlawed in the United States the question still remains: Why is alcohol legal when it has been proven to be a leading cause of death? With that being said alcohol and drug addiction also takes a toll on wallets and families.
Although many students claim they can manage with only a few hours of sleep, it has been proven that there are many detrimental effects of missing out on something many overlook as a minor daily activity. Doing poorly in your classes due to sleep deprivation can cause one’s grade point average to drop, which can lead to different problems such as losing scholarship or chances at getting more scholarships or internships, entry into certain programs, and losing membership to Dean’s List. From the athletic stand point, as a good population of college students participate in athletics, students may lose athletic scholarships or the eligibility to participate when their grade point average drops. The reasons which cause sleep deprivation can be fixed with simple steps and help
A serious social problem has emerged in the wake of alcohol consumption among college students. Individuals going away to college know they are taking on huge responsibilities to care for themselves, get to class, do their homework, and so forth. They also know they will not have the adult supervision that prevents them from consuming alcohol. In a three year span at Monmouth University there was a total of 504 alcohol violations, a number derived from the combination of arrests and campus disciplinary action records (www.monmouth.edu/mupd). This number is a gross misrepresentation of the prevalence of alcohol consumption in universities since many students get away with it.
I wonder why this warning is not on TV shows like “Jersey Shore” and “Skins.” Obviously people think it is now acceptable to go out underage, hang out with friends, and drink until they pass out. Because of shows like “Jersey Shore” and “Skins,” teenagers feel like they can live a dangerous life Another major cause of drinking underage would be peer pressure. Teenagers are almost expected to drink before they are 21 these days. If they don’t, they could easily be cast out of the social circle and be made fun of. People also are not tolerant of alcohol.
“Health centers can systematically screen all students that come in to see if they are at risk for alcohol misuse or abuse. If students meet the criteria, the students could then be referred to evidence-based interventions or treatment programs.” So it seems that a lack of communication, or perhaps adequate policy, could be part of the problem. If campus police are unaware of the benefits of sending a student to a health screening instead of a issuing a fine, then the problem will continue to grow. And this isn't only for alcohol abuse, but other drugs as well. According to a study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), students said they drank or used drugs to relax, reduce stress or forget about problems.