Underage Drinking

Underage Drinking is a serious problem that can lead to alcohol dependency in adulthood. Underage drinkers can be a threat to themselves and anyone around them. Underage drinkers tend to take risks that could be hazardous that they would not normally do otherwise. Some children begin to drink in middle school and even before which is dangerous to their health and can lead to violent crimes and sexual assault. Underage drinkers tend to have more problems in school. Many youth drink because they want to fit in and to be thought of as cool. Every year almost two thousand people die in car wrecks due to underage drinking. A teen that drinks is more likely to have unprotected sex and take a chance of contracting STDs or unwanted pregnancy because of impaired judgment. Often underage drinkers will experiment with other drugs like marijuana, cocaine or heroin. Prevention of underage drinking must first start at home.

1. Decreases the ability to pay attention
2. Can cause alcohol poisoning
3. Half of all teen drownings are alcohol related
4. About 5,000 people under 21 die from drinking
5. 1,900 of the deaths are from drinking/driving accidents
6. Alcohol affects your brain
7. Imposes health risks on liver, brain, growth and endocrine system
8. Can result in brain damage, possibly permanent

1. 3 or 4 students have consumed alcohol by the end of high school
2. 2/5 of students have consumed alcohol by the 8th grade
3. The average student took their first drink before the age of 13
4. Alcohol use before the age of 15 more likely to be alcohol dependent as adults
5. U.S. Spends 53 million a year due to underage drinking
6. Kills 6 times more young people than all drugs combined
7. 88% of 10th graders and 75% of 8th graders say its easy to get alcohol

Disclaimer: The content in this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact your doctor for more information on Underage Drinking.

• Google News: Underage Drinking Search
• The New York Times: Can Sips at Home Prevent Binges? (March 26, 2008)
  • "I found ample evidence of the dangers of abusive drinking. Recent studies have shown that heavy drinking does more damage to the teenage brain than previously suspected, while the part of the brain responsible for judgment is not even fully formed until the age of 25."
• CBS News: Underage Drinking Hits Grade School (April 31, 2007)
• ABC News Video: Dr. Tim: Underage Drinking (Time 6:57)

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Youth Drinking Clinical Trials

• Alcohol Problems and Solutions: Legal Drinking Age

• Underage Drinkers Against Drunk Driving (UDADD)

• FOXNews.com: Straight Talk: Time to Rethink the Drinking Age (April 11, 2007)

• Join Together: Panel Debates Merits of Age 21 Drinking Law (June 14, 2006)

• Journal of Studies on Alcohol: Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws... (September 23, 2005)

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