The Dangers of Teen Drinking
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Is teenage drinking a problem?
A lot of parents think it is a normal part of growing up for teenagers to drink. Some parents even allow their teenagers to drink once in awhile as long as they do it at home. When we think about alcoholism, we tend to think about adults binging, not kids experimenting. Even television shows and movies show how normal it is for teenagers to drink—at parties, with friends, or just hanging out.
The truth is that teenagers are still developing physically, and are highly susceptible to developing alcohol dependence problems. We know that drinking alcohol impairs everyone’s judgment. But teenagers who drink are hit especially hard because the last part of the adolescent brain to develop involves areas of judgment and restraint. As well, alcohol can permanently affect a teen’s developing brain.
Video - Underage Drinking: Not a Minor Problem
"Choices" Underage Drinking
What’s the harm of a beer or two?
Teens aren’t just drinking a beer every once in awhile—in fact, of those who are drinking, many are binge drinking. According to a study release in 2007 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teenagers prefer hard alcohol to other kinds of alcoholic beverages.
Liquor is easier to disguise because you can pour it into another drink, as opposed to drinking beer. It is easier for teenagers to sneak hard alcohol from their parents because it is harder to spot some missing vodka out of a bottle than it is to notice that entire bottles of beer have disappeared. As well, younger drinkers might prefer the taste of mixed drinks to beer. There is also the idea of “feeling it faster” when you drink hard alcohol. Teenagers drink to get drunk.
Your Teen’s Impaired Judgment
Allowing your children, and their friends, to drink in your home might make you feel as though you are limiting and controlling your teen’s experimentation, but the same physical harm is occurring as if the drinking happened without your knowledge. Since you are supervising the situation, you can stop anyone from driving or making other poor judgment choices at the time. But what happens when your teen is drinking outside of the home?
First of all, you aren’t there to make sure bad decisions aren’t made. The list of things that could happen is endless, but here are a few:
Drinking and Driving: Even if your kid knows that it isn’t safe to drink and drive, impaired judgment could enable your teen to get behind the wheel after “a few drinks.” Most people, teens included, know when they are ridiculously drunk, but not everyone realizes when they’ve passed into the buzzed feeling. But buzzed driving is drunk driving.
Riding with Drunk Drivers: Maybe your teen isn’t the one getting behind the wheel, but a drinking teenager doesn’t have the capacity to judge whether a friend can safely drive or not. Your kid has just as much risk of being in a serious, even fatal, accident from riding in the car with someone who has been drinking as if they were behind the wheel themselves.
Sex: Alcohol impaired teenagers give into peer pressure a lot easier than those who haven’t been drinking. As well, people who are drinking tend to do a lot of things they wouldn’t usually do. Not only might your teen end up having sex, but the chances of correctly practicing safe sex when alcohol is involved plummets.
Smoking & Drugs: Along the same lines of teens doing things they wouldn’t normally do if they weren’t drinking, is the fact that your kid might decide to try something new while under the influence of alcohol. From starting to smoke, which is very addictive, to trying illegal drugs, like marijuana or even Meth, drinking can be a portal to trying out other things.
Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving - Commercial
Drinking is Cool
Teenagers, and even children, see drinking portrayed as a normal thing that cool people do. Popular television shows, like the current hit Gossip Girl, show teenagers drinking alcohol and engaging in sexual activities on almost every episode. Movies like American Pie. Dazed and Confused, Sixteen Candles, Crazy/Beautiful, and Eurotrip (just to name a few) show teens drinking, and often getting out of control.
These movies tend to have happy endings, or are even funny, but imagine your teens actually out in the world doing these things.
What Do You Do?
Communicating with your teen is very important—talk to your kids about the effects of alcohol. Sure, you don’t want to be the stodgy, uncool parent, but you aren’t trying to tell your kids they can’t or shouldn’t drink ever. You simply need to make it clear that it is not safe for a teenager to drink alcohol because no matter how grown up teenagers feel, their bodies and minds are still developing.
Be aware of what your kids are doing, where they are, and who they are with. Strict parents get a bad rep, but the strict parents are the ones who know what is going on in the lives of their kids.
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Comments
Wendy, that was totally accidental! I bet you slept well. My younger brother was three when he got hold of the wine cooler my mom had left on the coffee table. My mom caught him drinking it, and he said he like how it tasted. Things happen, but this isn't the serious kind of drinking that is problematic for young people.
LOL Stacie, this is one more area where our views are just the opposite.
I strongly believe that most of the problems with underage drinking in US happen exactly because the majority of parents do not let their teens drink at home. When parents among other things teach their kids how to drink properly, kids adapt to "grown up" life much less painfully when time comes.
I stop here, I just wanted to state I do disagree - for the record :)
I think you're partially right, Misha. If we stopped giving our children so much to want through the 'lure of the unattainable' approach, then perhaps they wouldn't get in so much trouble! ;)
Misha, once again you state that you disagree with me, but only address one area of what I discuss. Teenage drinking is a problem anytime it happens anywhere in the world. Whether parents let kids drink or not is different from teaching teenagers about the responsibility of drinking. However, alcohol is unhealthy for developing teenagers--whether it is legal, illegal, or allowed by parents.
I was allowed to drink at home. But my children will be taught that drinking is okay, when you are ready for it--and 13, 15, or 17 might not be the right times if these kids aren't fully developed.
Gamergirl, the whole "unattainable" thing is true. Although I was allowed to drink at home, it was a lot more fun to do outside of the home where I wasn't "allowed" to. At the same time, I wasn't taught how to drink safely.
Stacie,
I think I addressed the key problem related to your hub. I can state my opinion on other aspects that you touched on :)
I don't believe that reasonable consumption of alcohol damages physical health, no matter how young person is.
I do agree that unreasonable amounts of alcohol impair judgment - and it happens equally bad for 20 and 21 years old.
I do believe that drinking and driving is a problem, but I am sure it is much less severe nowadays than, say, texting and driving, and is greatly exaggerated by MADD mothers.
I agree that teens drink to get drunk - this cannot be avoided, but this could be greatly mitigated by parents teaching them to drink.
Things like unsafe sex and drugs are caused by bad judgment, which is caused by getting too drunk, which is caused by the lack of drinking skills and the 'lure of the unattainable', which is caused by parents not teaching their kids to drink...
Did I miss anything? ;)
Misha, we do differ on opinion. But we also differ on fact. How nice that you have the opinion that you "don't believe that reasonable consumption of alcohol damages physical health, no matter how young person is." However, scientific studies have shown that younger people who are still developing should not consume alcohol because it is damaging to their health.
I'm not saying that parents should never teach their kids about drinking--that is as irresponsible as not teaching them about sex. What this article says is that allowing your teenagers to get drunk--anytime, whether in your home or not--is unacceptable. I am not talking about the occasional glass of wine on a special occassion. Just because you personally haven't witnessed or read about these things happening does not mean they aren't happening.
I think we actually agree that parents NEED to teach their kids about drinking. That doesn't mean they should encourage them to actually drink until they are older. We teach our kids a lot of things, but don't expect them to really use these tools until they are adults.
As well, it is one thing "to be sure" about stuff, but maybe do some research. I don't mean to be rude, but I didn't merely base this hub on my opinion--I based it on various statistics and studies I have read throughout the years.
Link me to those studies, please
You again making assumptions on what my life experience is.
And no, parents need to teach their kids HOW TO DRINK, not about drinking, those things are different ;)
Honestly Misha, I think we really just misunderstand each other, but have the same basic ideas. When you teach your children about sex, do you show them how to do it? Or, do you teach them about it? Drinking is a bit different because it is acceptable for parents to drink with grown kids--emphasis on "grown"--not growing, or developing.
I will send you info on studies--many of them I have printed copies of, so I can't send you links. Or, you could take the initiative and do some research yourself. But, here is a link I actually have on hand (I'm currently at work, so I don't have my bookmarked links): http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/9416.html
We definitely agree to some extent :)
As for research - I'm going to look for the flaws in a this report you linked me to. I am really sure that small occasional amounts of algohol cannot harm even baby, let alone teens. And I am sure the opposite cannot be honestly proven...
Okay, Misha. You can search for flaws, but I'm not talking about small amounts of alcohol in this article, so you won't be convincing me of anything by pointing these things out. Plus, I don't even know what you mean by small amounts--a sip? A glass? Of what? Half a glass of wine is way different than half a glass of whiskey.
Hi Stacie;)
Very informative hub and interesting comments debate which i hope will highlight the seriousness of the problem regarding teens and drinking..
Kids!! it's not clever drinking excessively! you have been warned!!
Thanks compu-smart. I think education is the most important part.
Very informative. I have a teen, and she'll be driving next year. Will take all the help I can get! Thanks!
Great hub. I have a brother who has just entered the age where kids are in danger of drinking, and I've been trying to keep lines of communication open with him. I'm undecided as to whether I should say, "Never drink, ever!" or encourage him to tell me no matter what or what. I have NO idea what I'll do when I have kids of my own!
A funny story about kids drinking by accident, though:
I was in the Caribbean with my family when I was about 7 and LOVED strawberry margheritas (virgin, obviously). I had one and asked my mom to order me another. She asked for "Another strawberry margherita" but didn't specify virgin, as she expected the waitress knew it was for me. Needless to say, this second one was NOT virgin.
I told my parents that it tasted weird, and they said, "You don't have to drink it, but I'm not buying you another one."
So I drank it. And passed out. And my parents were horrified when they realized what they had let me drink!! lol
Helena, the exact same thing happened to me in Reno with strawberry margaritas! The first one was virgin, second wasn't! I thought it tasted weird too, but my mom said I had to drink it. We found after I finished it that it wasn't virgin. I was about 10 or 11.
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Wendy08 says:
5 months ago
When I was a little girl around twelve I think, I had my first tasteof it! ACCIDENTLY
Well I was a soda nutt then, and dad left some soda on the table. I couldn't resist. I took the cup of soda into the living room with my brother. I had a sip, I noticed it tasted funny then the usual Pepsi. I looked in the fridge to see if it was something new, it wasn't just the same ordinary one. So I kept drinkng it, then mty parents came in the kitchen. Then dad said "What happened to my soda?" Then mom came in the living room thinking it was there. "Nope, It's not here, John" then he came and saw I had his mug. He told mom, then told me,"Wendy, You drank Jack Daniels!" For the rest of the night I was giggly and fell asleep fast. I havn't touched a drop since.
sorry I couldn't resist. =) good hub by the way. =D