Along with disruption of normal and sexual development, physical and sexual assault, higher risk for suicide and homicide, alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries (burns, falls and drowning), memory problems, abuse of other drugs , changes in brain development that may have life-long effects, and death from alcohol poisoning. These are just a few of the many consequences of underage drinking. The law of alcohol consumption is for the age 21 and older for a
Whether the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen or remain at twenty one is a big issue right now to lots of people. The younger crowd will most likely argue that it should be lowered to eighteen, but they have many legit reasons why it should be. The legal drinking age should be lowered because it is already easily accessible to them, the percentage of reckless teen alcohol abusers will be reduced and also because at the age of eighteen you are legally considered an adult. Almost all teens between the ages of 14-17 have tried alcohol before. Majority of the time it is given to them by someone between the ages of 18-21.
Every year in the United States, countless college students acquire underage drinking citations and are eventually charged with underage drinking. These charges are a black spot on the permanent record of said students and greatly affect their ability to get a job after they graduate. The fact that the number of students charged with underage drinking do not change from year to year clearly indicates that students who are not of legal age are going to continue to consume alcohol regardless of the law. That being said, why haven’t we considered lowering the drinking age to eighteen? I believe that this reason and many other reasons should steer us as a country to consider finally lowering the legal age of consumption of alcohol.
During this development alcohol negatively affects all parts of the brain, including coordination, motional control, thinking, decision making, hand-eye movement, speech, and memory (Pg.2 Par.6). This shows that alcohol does affect the underage drinkers mentally and physically. Additional binge drinking is common among teens and can cause liver disease. Lastly, the current MLDA is set to the right age, but it is not
But the main reason for doing so is “breaking the law.” 87% of high school seniors have used alcohol. That means that a large quantity of teens under the age of 17 to 18 have used alcohol before. We all know the reason why teenager drink, is common since. Just the feel that they get of breaking the law is huge. Being rebel and not following the rules is an important role of a teenager life somehow.
The harmful use of alcohol generally originates from young people who binge drink (WHO, 2011). Alcohol abuse is different from alcoholism as this stems from craving alcohol at all times (helpguide, 2011). Young people who binge drink risk serious health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, brain damage, type two diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver which
Results: Having a parent with an ongoing lifetime problem of alcohol is a major factor in determining how an adolescent will respond. If both of the parents are alcoholic the outcome is even more severe. | | 11. Summary/Narrative: Parent alcoholism is a risk factor for alcohol and drug use disorders in offspring and there remains significant heterogeneity in the outcomes of children that have alcoholic parents. Daughters are apt to be more vulnerable than sons to become addicted to alcohol and drugs.
Underage Drinking is Harmful Alcohol is a substance that is very dangerous and if used incorrectly or immaturely, the consequences can harm the users and the ones around them extremely. People have been debating the drinking age for years now, whether it should be lowered to 18 or kept at 21. In 1970, 29 states lowered their drinking age, and things were catastrophic; needless to say, they all raised the drinking age by 1976. Alcohol is a drug; in fact, it is the most widely used drug in the world. People abuse alcohol all the time, especially teens.
Elevated liver enzymes indicating liver damage have been found in some adolescents who drink alcohol. Young drinkers who also shown elevated liver enzymes are subjected to be overweight or obese do to modern levels of drinking. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, drinking too much, slows bodily functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing to a dangerous level, causing the drinker to lose consciousness, which can result in alcohol poisoning. Alcohol has harmful effects on developing brain cells and bodies. Heavy drinking during adolescence years, when the brain is still developing causes lasting impairment functions such as memory, coordination, and motor skills.
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.