Teenage alcohol has been a well-known issue for decades. In the United States, alcohol is the most commonly used substance in teenagers. The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 14% of teenagers during a set 30 days binge drank, 5% drove intoxicated, and 17% accompanied and rode with an intoxicated driver.
Drinking and driving kill 28 people a day in the United States and over 10,000 people in a year. Kids have even started to normalize drinking in middle school, whether it be 6th grade or 8th.
Starting to drink alcohol at such early ages damages the adolescent brain. For example, the hippocampus is an essential part of your brain that is responsible for memory and learning. “Blacking out after drinking occurs because alcohol damages hippocampus cells. This is extremely dangerous for a developing adolescent brain because it can lead to a smaller hippocampus and how well it will work. This affects short-term memory and learning capabilities which affect everything in day-to-day life."
Teenagers who drink are persuaded by societal norms, peers, and possibly stress and other personal issues. As it is undoubtedly common nowadays for teenagers to drink, the consequences are something to really understand. Memory problems, disruption of normal growth, school/social problems, altered brain development, and alcohol poisoning are just some of the many serious effects. As the article says, “Intoxication is associated with suicide attempts using more lethal methods, and positive blood alcohol levels are often found in people who complete suicide” (MedicineNet).
Alcohol heightens many aspects of yourself, but that's not always the best thing. It has also been recorded that three times the amount of eighth-grade girls who drink alcohol to an extreme amount have attempted suicide than the other girls in the same grade that do not drink. It is disturbing how much of an effect alcohol can have not only on the body but the mind. Drinking can even lead to kids trying and using other substances such as marijuana or heroin.
Even though most teenagers know that drinking underage is not the best thing for their bodies, it still happens and will continue to happen because of the normalization and society we live in today. This can lead to adult alcoholism and severe repercussions. It is also important to recognize that family genetics may be a key role in some teenagers’ alcohol usage.
Family households may play a role in alcohol usage as well. As for peer pressure, it is prominent in alcohol usage but oftentimes than not nowadays it is not other peers that influence alcohol usage. Instead, it can be the person him/herself who feels out of place and not “normal” for not drinking alcohol. Teenage alcohol withdrawal is also another effect of teenage alcohol use and it can damage memory, cause headaches, cause vomiting, and much more.
All in all, alcohol and teenagers do not mix well on paper. However it is undoubtedly clear that teenage alcohol usage will never come to a full end and so the best thing to do is at least inform kids of the severe effects it can have. As the issue becomes more acknowledged, it is up to teenagers themselves to figure out their own decisions.
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