Essay, Research Paper: Teenage Drinking

Teenage drinking has become one of the largest social issues among young people in America today. Although more than half of high schoolers drinks on a regular basis, the problem is that they are not aware of how dangerous alcohol can actually be. The reality is that alcohol is often the cause of many problems among these teenagers. Simply put, alcohol ruins many young peoples lives, and is now of the most serious problems young people face.
Drinking and driving is one large problem often linked with teenage drinking. Fatal alcohol related crashes make up 25% of all crashes included among young drivers. Alcohol dulls parts of the brain that are crucial to decision making, decreases the ability to concentrate, and slows the reaction time behind the wheel. Drunk drivers are treacherous on the road and can easily hurt themselves or someone innocent. Something big needs to be done, or this dangerous trend will continue to harm many people in the future.
Another problem with underage drinking is the fact that they lose control of their actions. Alcohol often results in teens having risky sexual behavior. Rapings, unplanned pregnancies, HIV infections, and sexually transmitted diseases are very commonly linked back to when they had been drinking. These young people lose judgement and many times do things they wouldn t do if they were sober. Losing judgement results in many actions that are regretted and they then realize that they could have been avoided.
Alcohol abuse is extremely harmful to ones body, especially to a teenagers. It affects almost every organ system, either directly or indirectly. Unfortunately, drinkers often do not think about what kind of effect alcohol will have on them when they get older; so many people end up learning the hard way. Teenagers that abuse alcohol often develop problems with their liver, heart, stomach, kidneys, and/or mouth and throat. Many adults wish they knew when they were younger how harmful alcohol actually is to a person s body. Young people should know that alcohol abuse not only leads to severe damage to their body, but can often lead to death as well.
In conclusion, teenage drinking is now getting out of hand. The society is aware of this problem, yet not much is done about it. We need to create a healthy environment for these young people and work together to help keep everyone safe.