Doubts About Future Generations Arise

Consequences of underage drinking are no joke: accidental death or injury, illness, poor school performance, abuse, and addiction among many others. Parents surely won’t allow their children to take these risks, which is why teenagers do it behind their backs.

Many times, kids start drinking at a young age because of peer pressure. Fifteen parties were the ones to first introduce easy access of alcohol to teens. Although everyone is aware that underage drinking is illegal until the age of 18 and about the negative effects these substance can cause in your body, most refuse to listen and keep the drinks coming.

Science Proves Theories

According to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK37591/, accidents or injuries related with driving, homicide, suicide attempts, sexual assault, risky sexual behavior, vandalism and property damage are closely related with drinking. In addition, some of these consequences appear to be more severe and common for those who start drinking at a young age.

Each year, more technological advances and discoveries about the human body are being made. Young adults today will form the future generations that will need to create, design, and keep the world going; unfortunately, from a very early age they are damaging themselves without noticing, and no one is taking the initiative to commence change.

The American Journal of Psychiatry, confirms how the new magnetic resonance technology demonstrated that brain structure of adolescents with alcohol-use disorders is adversely affected. In their studies they observed that the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for forming new memories, was smaller in the youth who had abused alcohol compared to those with little to no contact with such substances.

Awareness campaigns are promoted in many schools, but the alarming issue isn’t getting the importance it deserves. It seems that adolescents hear this information and ignore it; they would rather have a good time at the party than take care of themselves. Also, this is due to social pressure, which pushes teens to do things like drinking to seem “cool” and fit in.

“Teenagers sometimes tend to drink in excess, and besides that, I believe that they are very immature and that they shouldn’t drink at least until they are 18,” Patricia Correa, a concerned mother, said.

Millennials becoming the Black Sheep

Even parents know about this new trend their children take part in, but there is nothing they can do, except attempting to talk to their kids so they realize the gravity of their actions. Some parents might be concerned their kids are going down a dangerous path, while others might not care at all and leave them on their own, with no guidance.  

“Definitely, I believe that society takes you to act and to do things,” Correa said, “and you want to belong to a group, you want to be accepted, so I believe that is a big issue.”

The problem is greater than what you imagine, since peer pressure, bullying, and exclusion are very serious, real issues in today’s society, which are only intensified with trends that not everyone participates in, like drinking.

“They didn’t want to drink because they were afraid of getting caught by their parents, but finally their friends–their closest friends–convinced them,” David Perez, former TCS student, said.

Making decisions is a crucial part of growth and maturity, so everyone who is actively drinking must know the appropriate situations to do so, what boundaries to set, and that no one should influence their decision to drink. If someone decides to start drinking, at a legal or not, those recommendations should be followed.

“The appropriate age to start drinking is when you mature enough and can control what you drink. Having the capacity of accepting or denying a drink somebody offers you,” Perez said.