Underage Drinking

A serious epidemic is overtaking this country. Underage drinking is spreading like a virus. It is not just teenagers in college that are drinking; there are numerous kids in high school, middle school, and even elementary school! How have we let it get this far? There is no excuse to be oblivious anymore. Underage drinking is right in front of our faces. It is killing our children. The good news is that this is a problem that can be fixed. There is no way of completely eliminating underage drinking, but it can be greatly reduced. With efforts from the government, parents, and the media, we can diminish underage drinking a great deal. We need to start educating our children that alcohol is a dangerous drug. We need to start setting better

Underage drinking is very common in the United States. Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug in the United States, even more so than illicit drugs (Marijuana, Cocaine, etc…) and tobacco. “In 2012 the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 24% of youth aged 12 to 20 years drink alcohol and 15% reported binge drinking. In 2013, the Monitoring the Future Survey reported that 28% of 8th graders and 68%

Episode 4 "Underage Drinking; A National Concern" of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia addresses underage drinking through politically incorrect satire while still focusing on the seriousness of the subject matter. It is widely known and accepted that alcohol abuse by teenagers is not only a crime; it is also a sorrowful situation when it involves ruining lives and it can even result in death. The cast of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia presents a new and obviously demented view point to the subject. The friends portrayed in the show understand teenage drinking is unacceptable and in the opening scenes of this particular episode the cast shares some personal youthful experiences while sitting together in the

According to Andrew Herman, “Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders” (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice as fast as adults and are more likely to participate in “binge-drinking” (Sullivan 473). The problem is evident, but the solution may be simple. Although opponents argue lowering the drinking age could make alcohol available to some teens not

“With such compelling information, the question is why haven 't we been able to do more to prevent the crisis of underage drinking? The answer is: rising the age to 25” is what Lucille Roybal-Allard once said, a U.S. Representative for serving in Congress since 1993. This statement has brought many to speculate of issues and debates. This expression opened the eyes of American people that often struggled to make this truth into a reality. It might be easy to believe that age laws lowered the deaths of the underage but there are still signs of its dreadful company in many pieces of American life. Families who choose to educate their children about underage drinking and driving, seem to have a higher chance of getting through with the child. These underage teens can face jail or death when they give drinking a chance and even attempt to drive, having a sexual intercourse or just plain out doing something out of the teen’s element.

Approximately 2 out of every 3 high school students have drank to the point of getting intoxicated (binge drink), in more than one occasion (Centers for Disease and Control Prevention [CDC], n.d.). Binge drinking has become increasingly common for youth under the minimum legal drinking age, making it increasingly dangerous because of the lack of supervision that young adults have that can consequently, lead to death because of fear of the law (Bonnie & O’Connell, 2004) The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because it is a reasonable societal age limit that can be supervised and used by most of the world and is seen as the age of majority in the United States (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], 2001).

Despite the current legal drinking age being 21, underage drinkers have a virtually unlimited supply to alcohol because parents, siblings, and friends that are of age can easily supply them with booze; 26 percent of underage drinkers receive alcohol from parents or family members. In fact, 40 percent of young adults receive alcoholic beverages from friends and family (2008, Edgar Snyder). “When asked how easy it would be to get alcohol, most 8th, 10th, and 12th graders said ‘fairly easy’ or ‘very easy’” (2008, Edgar Snyder).

An obvious outcome of underage drinking is drunk driving, which we know kills thousands every year. But an effect of lowering the drinking age that escapes the minds of many is the easy access that younger teens and tweens will have to alcohol when their senior friends are allowed to partake of alcohol freely. When 18 year olds are still in high school, they can have legal alcohol at their social events and house parties. There’s no doubt that underclassmen will be allowed in to these events to enjoy the privilege of the older peers. The danger in young drinking makes itself clear in a CDC Fact Sheet: “About 2 in 3 high school students who drink do so to the point of intoxication, that is, they binge drink (defined as having five or more drinks in a row), typically on multiple occasions.”

Underage drinking has been occurring since laws were set in place for age qualifications, but it is better serving American society by continuing it because we can’t accept lowering the national age? Ruth C. Engs, a professor for Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University, finds that the mandated drinking age should be lowered to 18 or 19. If young adults were legally allowed to drink in controlled environments, then responsible drinking methods could be taught, resulting in mature behavior when consuming alcohol (Engs, 1). By keeping the drinking age so high, students or young adults are forced to hide drinking and more often than not, turn to binge drinking, an unhealthy, addictive, and extremely dangerous form of drinking that often results in blackouts and alcohol poisoning. Engs states, “For example, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers.” This is not the only issue that arises from underage drinking. Newsweek writer, Jeffrey A. Tucker, sees that this law is only causing “over-indulgence, anti-social behavior, disrespect for the law, secrecy and sneaking and a massive diversion of human energy.” To diminish these issues, people are turning towards the examples of other nations that have managed to maintain low drinking age laws, with low risk results. In other countries, alcohol is seen as a cultural norm and are taught at young age how to responsibly consume. However, it is treated the opposite in America, instead, it is seen as how Wil Fulton from the Huffington Post sees it, “forbidden fruit”. Fulton states through a claim made by the World Health Organization, that while Europeans tend to consume more alcohol, Americans still die from more alcohol-related causes. In efforts to change this law and hopefully encourage safe and responsible drinking, many are turning towards the Amethyst Initiative, a movement created by John

Proponents argue “The current underage drinking law of 21, has not stopped teen drinking, and has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behavior by teens” (ProCon, 2012, para. 2).

There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen like most of the world or if it should stay at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they can get away with selling to underage teens then they will. A study done by the Academic Search Premier agrees that, ?By now it is obvious that the law has not succeeded in preventing the under-21 group from drinking? (Michael Smith 1).

Do you remember how cool you felt the first time that you drank? All of us younger kids, hanging out with the older kids, everyone getting drunk together. Thinking about this when I was younger really made me raise the question of why we have a legal limit to drink in the first place. Underage kids have had no problem getting alcohol for decades so why put a legal limit on it? When I found myself asking these questions the answers seemed to make sense; or maybe it was my senior year of high school when I got suspended for ten days. After that had occurred it made me think that maybe they have a limit on alcohol for a reason. One of

Underage alcohol drinking can have devastating effects on teenagers. It can affect teens' grades, health and many other things as well. The reasons why teenagers consume alcohol are pretty clear. What aren’t clear are the solutions to eliminating, or at least reducing the number of underage drinkers. It is vital that we do something to at least suppress this problem. By taking action, we can greatly reduce the number of underage drinkers and it could also save not only their lives, but also someone else's life as well. Underage drinking can cause many health problems as well as educational problems in a teen’s life; therefore our country needs to decrease the number of underage drinkers by increasing both the price of alcohol as well as the legal drinking age.

Underage drinking is becoming more of a noticeable problem in society, not only with high school students, but also with younger generations. Drinking is all over the television, the radio, and talked about in schools, public places, etc. Alcohol advertisements are more and more appealing to younger generations. If our youth is educated at a younger age, if school policies were stricter, and if clubs and bars cracked down on underage drinking the problem would not be as serious.

In my generation drinking among underage kids is blamed on peers, accessibility, and adulthood. “Research shows that about 10 million Americans between