Underage Drinking in Australia Essay

These days there are a number of social issues in the community, such as drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is rampant in today’s society, Australian Drug Foundation states that, “Alcohol is the most widely used psychoactive, or mood-changing, recreational drug in Australia.”(Healey, 2002, p. 11). Underage drinking and binge drinking are some of the problems associated with alcohol abuse.

Rather than increasing the age limit to 21, parents to young children can demonstrate good drinking habits to them as children tend to pick up their parent’s drinking habits at a very young age, anything from not drinking reasonably or responsibly, and getting intoxicated in front of your children and or implying to your children that drinking alcohol will ultimately relieve you from stressful times in your life, when there are other safer things to turn to that will take your mind off of a stressful situation (i.e. walking the dog, going to the beach, listening to peaceful music) is never acceptable, instead show them good drinking habits by turning to other things to relieve you from stress, and drinking responsibly or not at all in the presence of your children. Another thing that parents can do is be strict on their children when it comes to what

Alcohol consumption amongst the youth is now the new future and the way teenagers tend to live their life. It is apart of the Australian norm and culture however, what drives the younger youth to drink?. Australians accept alcohol as a social drug yet it is responsible for the most related deaths amongst the teenage population. Social aspects such as ones peers, gender, risk taking behaviour and environmental factors all relate back to alcohol. The idea of culture is linked with religion, Indigenous practices coupled with parenting skills also leading to consumption. Finally, an economical approach can be explored when dealing with commercializing beverages, pricing and health expenditures. All these concepts interrelate then become an excuse for one

In Canada, the legal drinking age ranges from 18 to 19 years of age. The United States, Canada's neighbouring country has an increased legal drinking age limit of 21. For quite some time, raising Canada's legal age limit has been a debate. Raising the drinking age across the country and more specifically in Ontario would not be an effective decision by the legal system for society today due to the detrimental effects that this change might have on the economy as well as young adults' safety and freedoms. Raising of the legal drinking age limit in Canada is not a good choice because businesses will be affected, at 18 years of age people are considered adults and finally, raising the age limit might contribute to the flourishing temptation for teens to drink illegally.

According the Australian Government (druginfo.com), one in eight teen related deaths has alcohol as an attributing factor. And in 52% of these cases the teens have been aged from 14 – 17. An even more shocking statistic is the number of indigenous teens who are involved in these accidents and deaths.

Evidence and research proves that the laws related to the legal drinking age does not reflect today’s societal values and that the legislations ‘Liquor Act 2007 No 90 (NSW) Part 7 Division 1 Sections 117 & 116’ should be reformed to raise the drinking age in Australia from 18 years of age to 21. Through surveying different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds of society, information has been gathered to demonstrate that the current laws do not reflect society’s opinion on the legal drinking age in Australia. Research suggests that there are many social consequences related to alcohol in young people including alcohol fuelled violence and major health issues. Despite evidence from leading health experts,

These drinking habits need to stop, STOP so they will be safe, STOP so that they are not developing lifelong health issues and making a past on their social media accounts, because these days it’s too hard to hide the past on the social media. Drinking at young ages affects multiple aspects of the youth. need to educate the youth about the negative impacts because it only takes one night to wreck a life time.

Simply remarking that such a decision is dangerous fails to suffice as concrete evidence of the negative effects of underage alcohol consumption, and so statistical evidence must be given. Approximately five thousand underage drinkers die each year; the most prevalent cause is, not surprisingly, motor vehicle accidents. What many do not understand is what other factors constitute the other approximately three thousand; sixteen hundred to homicides, that is, murders and other deliberate killings, as well as 300 to suicide, usually caused by an exacerbation of underlying depression or other psychological difficulties. The remaining thousand are usually caused by such grisly circumstances as falling, burning, and drowning. While this may seem a relatively small number in the vast amounts of the twelve to twenty year old age group, estimates are that within the past month one-quarter of underage persons used alcohol, while two-thirds of those were binge drinkers. Not only does underage drinking increase the chance of dying in related incidents it encourages other destructive behaviors: engage in sexual activities, carry a plethora of illegal substances, and correlations have even been found that links underage drinking to poor performance in school. Other observations have been made that negatively link underage drinking with mental

Binge drinking during the teenage years can be a result of parents having drinking problems or just purely from parents not explaining to the kids the damage drinking can have on the body. Parents need to be good role models, even if kids have good role models there is still a chance they will binge drink but if parents are educated and are strict they might minimise the chances of it. Parents need to get educated on the topic. If the government were to hold free session trying to educate parents about alcohol it would be highly recommended that parents attend especially if they are aware that their kids are drinking. Parents are probably not going to be able to stop them drinking but by minimising it they are minimising the chances their kids have of having to deal with the effects of alcohol on the body.

For many Australians, alcohol consumption is a pleasurable part of everyday life (Parliament of Victoria 2004). However in recent years there have been several reports highlighting that the proportion of adolescents consuming alcohol and the amount of alcohol they are drinking is at record levels (AIHW 2008; White and Hayman 2006; Shanahan and Hewitt 1999). The long and short term sequelae associated with risky or high risk alcohol consumption include negative physical, emotional and social consequences (NHMRC 2001). Immediate harms include accidents, injuries, decreased scholastic and sporting performance, aggression, violence, assault, disrupted family relationships, high risk sexual activity,

Anyone who is below eighteen years of age is considered as underage and laws in many countries prohibit such a person from consuming alcohol. Alcohol happens to be the most commonly abused drug not only among the youth but also among adults. This paper explores underage drinking, its effects on the society and outlines what can be done to curb it.

Teenagers are America’s greatest natural resource, and they need to be protected from some of the evils that lurk in the world. A subject that needs special attention is the abuse of alcohol by teens. Statistics show that there is a problem currently between teens and alcohol. There are many causes of teenage drinking and effects that prove that drinking is an important issue that needs to be dealt with to preserve American teenagers. Teenage drinking will become worse of a problem if it continues unchecked on its current path to destruction. Alcohol abuse among teenagers in the United States is a plague that is destroying the structure of American society.

Risks of alcohol use are extremely dangerous for people of all ages, especially teenagers. This is because our brains and bodies haven't been fully developed yet, so engaging in underage drinking reaps social and emotional effects that we shouldn't be experiencing until we are older. Drinking more than one drink of alcohol can have negative effects on your brain which can lead to loss of coordination, poor judgment, slowed reflexes, distorted vision, memory lapses, vomiting, and in extreme cases, even blackouts. When you drink alcohol it is absorbed directly into your bloodstream and about 20% of that drink is absorbed by your stomach. Drinking large amounts of alcohol at a time or binge drinking very rapidly can cause alcohol poisoning, which

To say the least, underage drinking is a very serious problem. Indeed, there are groups and things being done to deal with this problem. Above all it is important to learn all we can about underage drinking to stop it. Furthermore, these kids need to know what can happen to them when they engage in underage drinking. Underage drinking will only cause complete devastation to his or her life, health, and relationships with people.

Alcohol and teenagers are the most likely dangerous threat to a teenagers life. drink driving, random fights ( no control ) and behaviour issues it's all there in Australia and a little sip from a bottle known as wrong decisions could result in serious consequences. Alcohol is the largest cause of drug related deaths among Australian teenagers.