Drink example essay topic

Paper 5 -- Final Research Essay Alcohol use is extremely prevalent in our society. Young people grow up seeing their parents and other adults make toast of wine and champagne at special occasions, as well as casually enjoying a few beers at a picnic. Today alcoholic beverages are frequently as common at business lunches as they are at college frat parties. Underage drinking is a huge problem which everyone must face. Under age drinking not only has devastating effects on those who drink but also on our society.

"Young people illegally consume almost 3.6 billion drinks annually which is 10 million drinks each day". (web) Underage drinking has serious social, health and economic consequences. It is a major factor in crime, violence, mental-health problems, and injuries including both those that are fatal and non-fatal. Unfortunately, these are problems that all of society will have to deal with. There are a number of reasons why teenagers feel the urge to drink. Social environment, peer influence, stresses, and even factors such as media influence contribute to under age drinking. Peer pressure is a powerful predictor of alcohol use among teens.

Americans have a burning desire to be accepted and liked by their peers. Everyone wants to feel a sense of belonging. Many adolescents feel that they need to drink alcohol to gain this acceptance by the others around them. Stress is also another reason why teens may feel apt to drink alcohol. Stress causes teenagers to look for a quick escape from the problems, which they face, in their day-to-day lives. This quick escape can be found in the shape of a bottle.

In the eyes of an underage drinker, alcohol is the cure to all problems, a way to forget all of stress and pressures that are facing them. They feel that it will numb their pain and continuing to use alcohol will result in maybe another problem, substance abuse. The effects of underage drinking on society are practically immeasurable. Alcohol use can effect a teenager's health, put strains on relationships between family and friends, and can also place other members of society in danger. Alcohol is involved in nearly one-half of all murders, accidental deaths, suicides, crimes, and fatal automobile accidents. (web). Alcohol causes problems in both one's school and work career.

It has a tendency to lower productivity and the quality of work being done. Economic costs are also an issue when it comes to underage drinking. Approximately 13 billion dollars each year is spent for the treatment and recovery of alcoholics. (web) This puts an enormous strain on our economy. It seems unfair that taxpayers should have to pay out of their own pockets for the problem that teenagers cause. These problems could be prevented if only teenagers would be more responsible and think about what they are actually doing, not only to themselves but also to our society. Most teenagers don't realize that underage drinking is a crime.

It is a first-degree misdemeanor and a $1000.00 fine. This in itself is a good reason to not drink underage. Underage drinking is a form of deviance, or behavior which in some way or form violates social norms. For some teenagers though, drinking on the weekends or even during the week has almost become normal. These teenagers see drinking as normal behavior because "hey, if everyone's doing it, then it must be okay". Drinking is a behavior which can only be learned by social interaction with others, whether it is with friends of CO-workers.

You are not born knowing to drink alcohol, you learn by watching the others around you. For most teenagers, drinking seems to be the only easy way out. Material culture has made these teenagers feel that what they are doing is not wrong. Children imitate what they see and if what they are constantly seeing are magazine ads and billboards showing beautiful people having a great time holding their beer or wine, they to are going to think, "Wow, if I drink that I will be having just as much fun as they are!" These types of media are found everywhere you look and can be potentially dangerous to our society. Although drinking seems to be a normal activity in our society, it is only meant to be for adults, or those who are over the age of 21. For ideal culture this idea that only adults will drink is fine, but in real culture a problem actually exists.

Teenage drinkers are becoming younger and younger everyday. Underage drinking is continuing to ruin not only their young lives but also the lives of those around them. As society, together, it is our job to gain back the social control. We must take control of the situation before even more lives are ruined. Underage drinking is a problem, which everyone must face. It is not going to go away until something drastic is done.

Through conformity and perseverance we can make that change which will lead to a much safer, brighter future for each and every one of us.