Parties Under Their Roofs - ABC NEWs

Watch the following video:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/maryland-governor-hopeful-doug-gansler-explain-underage-drinking-20676259

To teens drinking and throwing parties (with or without the consent of their parents) remember that you are the only one's at risk. By partaking in underage drinking you put yourself, the host/hotess, and parents of the property at stake of legal punishment. Imagine if your parents got thrown in jail for a year because you had a party at your house. Still want that beer? Imagin you drove home and killed somebody's mother because you drove across lanes. Still want that beer? Imagine you had to walk home, but you pass out on the side of the road and suffer from hypothermia in a Minnesota winter. Still want that beer?

Risk Taking and Reasoning

"Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings (1–5)." -- National Institute on  Alcohol Abuse and Alcohism

Teenagers love to take risks and be rebellious. I, myself a teenager, love to drive last, go into the city, push my parents' buttons and test my limits. But, how much risk is too much? Where does the line cross between risky and poor judgement? "For some teens, thrill-seeking might include experimenting with alcohol. Developmental changes also offer a possible physiological explanation for why teens act so impulsively, often not recognizing that their actions—such as drinking—have consequences." Across the country, teens are educated in health classes, presentations, and mock-crashes on underage drinking. Is it not enough, or is there more of an incentive to break the rules? I believe that teenagers are knowledgeable about underage drinking. I think that there is an incentive to be rebellious. Mostly though, I think teenagers think "Oh, but it won't happen to me."



quote sources:http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA67/AA67.htm 

Preventing Teen Drinking

4 Ways to Prevent Teen Drinking:

1. Schools should require health credits for graduation. These classes should be taken preferably earlier in a student's high school career. These classes should go in depth of the consequences of substance abuse.

2. States should raise the price of alcohol. Implamenting taxes could defer teens from being able to afford such drinks.

3. City police should continue to step up the Zero-Tolerance law. The community can work together to crack down providers, ID issuers, etc. Likewise, the community show supply a "safe ride home" team.

4. The school should require a 0.0000 reading upon admission to dances. This has proven successful at Edina High School in 2014.

Statistics, Quick Facts, and Consequences

According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 35%  of high school teens have drank some amount of alcohol in the last thirty days. For a class size of 30, that means ten and a half of them had partaked in underage drinking! Do you realize how high that is! Likewise, 21% binge drank, 10% drove after drinking, and 22% rode with a driver who had been drinking. These numbers are so horendous its concerning. Do not get in the car with someone who is under the influence. I repeat, do not get in the car with someone who is under the influence! You may save your own life waiting a few minutes in the cold for your parents to come scoop you up.



While researching this topic I came across this list and thought it was interesting. It is from the cite: http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm

"Consequences of Underage Drinking

Youth who drink alcohol are more likely to experience

• School problems, such as higher absence and poor or failing grades.
• Social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activities.
• Legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk.
• Physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses.
• Unwanted, unplanned, and unprotected sexual activity.
• Disruption of normal growth and sexual development.
• Physical and sexual assault.
• Higher risk for suicide and homicide.
• Alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, and drowning.
• Memory problems.
• Abuse of other drugs.
• Changes in brain development that may have life-long effects.
• Death from alcohol poisoning."

Teen Drinking Collage

Here's a collage I made about teen drinking.

Health Risks to Underage Drinking

As a teenager, your body is still developing. Your brain is expanding and filling itself in. Many environmental and gentic factors can influence your brain's development. Specifically, underage drinking can have significant long term impacts. "Research has shown that animals fed alcohol during this critical developmental stage continue to show long-lasting impairment from alcohol as they age (47). It’s simply not known how alcohol will affect the long-term memory and learning skills of people who began drinking heavily as adolescents."  Alcohol will effect your performance in school. Yes, you're more likely to get an "A" if you don't engage in underage drinking. In addition to affecting your brain, alcohol affects your liver and endocrine glands. Alcohol can lead to liver damage and weight gain. it can upset the critical balance of hormones for the development of your organs, muscles and bones. Drink alcohol, risk developmental damage. Drink milk, grow strong bones.