Stop Underage Drinking Act example essay topic

The War on Underage Drinking serious epidemic is overtaking this country. Underage drinking is spreading like a virus. Teenagers are drinking everywhere you look. It is not just teenagers in college that are drinking; there are numerous teenagers in high school, middle school, and even elementary school! How have we let it get this far? As a society, are we oblivious?

Do we think there is nothing wrong with some underage drinking, or are we just incapable of fixing this problem? There is no excuse to be oblivious anymore. Underage drinking is right in front of our faces. It is killing our children.

The good news is that this is a problem that can be fixed. There is no way of completely eliminating underage drinking, but it can be greatly reduced. With efforts from the government, parents, and the media, we can diminish underage drinking a great deal. We need to start educating our children that alcohol is a dangerous drug. We need to start setting better examples for our children.

The government needs stricter laws for underage drinkers. The government needs to also enforce these laws more effectively. The media needs to quit targeting today's youth. Our society needs a change of mind.

Drinking at a young age is happening; it is severe, but it can be prevented. Drinking starts at a young age. One third of fourth graders have been pressured to drink alcohol and more than half have been pressured by sixth grade. By eight grade, nearly fifty percent of all teenagers have had at least one drink.

Then by the twelfth grade over eighty percent of all teenagers have had a drink and sixty-four percent have been drunk (Youth and Underage Drinking: An Overview). These are shocking and startling facts for some. But the truth is, it's there. What is the problem with all of these minors drinking? There are quite a few people who do not think that drinking at a young age is bad for you. There have even been advocates for changing the drinking age to eighteen.

This is absolutely absurd. Alcohol can cause many problems for anyone but more so in adolescents. By raising the minimum drinking age to twenty one in 1975, an estimated 20,000 lives have been saved (Alcohol Alert). Drinking and driving has a lot to do with that statistic. Even though alcohol is illegal for people under the age of twenty-one, adolescents have twice the number of fatal drunk driving accidents than drivers over the age of twenty one. Everyday three teens die from drinking and driving (Alcohol Alert).

These statistics are incredible, considering that alcohol is illegal for these teens. Can you imagine what would happen if it was legal for these teens to be drinking? There are some teenagers who are smart enough not to drink and drive. But they are not smart enough to see what alcohol can do to their brain and their decisions. There is a reason why we have the law set at age twenty one. A human's brain is not done developing until the age of twenty-one.

Drinking before this age can contribute to alcohol-induced brain damage which can hinder a teenager's performance in academics (Alcohol Alert). There is also a risk that teenagers that drink are four times more likely to develop an alcohol dependency sometime in their lives. Risks in sexual assault also plague underage drinkers. Sexual assault is already more prevalent during adolescent ages. By introducing alcohol, sexual assault cases are much more likely to happen.

It has also been shown that when alcohol is involved, the more likely sex will result in unwanted pregnancies and STD's. There is also a much higher risk of suicide. In one study, thirty seven percent of females that drank heavily had reported attempting suicide compared to only eleven percent that did not report drinking (Armstrong, Elizabeth). "Smart" college students will even tell you that alcohol affects them.

According to Hank Newer in Wrongs of Passage, four out of every five students in the collegiate Greek system are binge drinkers. These drinkers will tell you that this has caused them to engage in risky sexual behaviors, act irresponsibly, and hurt their academic standings. From elementary school ers to college students, alcohol has detrimental effects on the body. Alcohol is a dangerous drug that needs to be treated like one, because it is killing and affecting our teenagers. Alcohol is all around us. Turn on the TV.

It is very hard to watch anything that you would not see an alcohol commercial on. Today's media is throwing today's youth right into the world of alcohol. Teens today are very knowledgeable about alcohol. They can tell the difference between Sky Blue and Mike's Hard Lemonade.

Famous renaissance writer Francis Bacon says, "A man is but what he knows". When teenagers know about alcohol, they are more likely to try it. The media is introducing too much knowledge to today's youth. From 2001 to 2003, there was an increase of about 18,000 ads that "overexposed" underage youth (Executive Summary). Statistics show that these commercials and ads are working.

Underage girls saw sixty eight percent more beer advertising than women over the age of twenty one and an incredible ninety five percent more malt-based drinks commercials. These numbers are much greater than the male counterpart, and the number of underage girls that drink is also greater than the males (Armstrong). These commercials are everywhere. The worst, yet most effective part about these alcohol commercials is that they glorify drinking.

They are funny, sexy, and cool. They don't show the hangover that comes afterward or the alcoholic at age twenty five. The media won't tell anyone this, but they know what they are doing. They are targeting younger audiences to get costumers for life. Sixty percent of visitors to alcohol company websites were under the age of twenty one. What are they doing on these websites?

They are playing games or listening to music (Executive Summary). Alcoholic advertisements are succeeding with underage drinkers. They get consumers hooked on alcohol before they reach college. Once in college, their obsessions can grow.

College students spent $5.5 billion dollars each year. That's more than what they spend on pop, tea, milk, juice, coffee, and school books combined (Youth Statistics). Commercials and ads aren't the only places were teenagers are bombarded with alcohol. Go watch a movie. Try "classics" such as, Animal House, Old School, or Road Trip.

The majority of time spent during these movies involves watching drunken college students. These movies are comedies; so of course, all of the characters are having a great time when they are drinking. The heaviest drinkers are also the most well-liked characters. Granted, these are movies set in colleges, so we " ll give them the benefit of the doubt that the characters are all over twenty one (very unlikely).

But they still show that to be the "life of the party", you " ll have to get drunk. There are also movies such as Varsity Blues that show high school ers getting completely drunk and having a wonderful time. What's worse is the high school ers are caught by the police in this particular movie, and the high school ers aren't even reprimanded. What do these movies show today's youth?

You " ll be popular if you drink, you " ll have a good time, you " ll get away with it, and you " ll have to drink to fit in. The media is making the effort to stop teenagers from drinking nearly impossible. No matter how wrong something is to do, people (especially teenagers) will do it if they want to. The media is making teenagers want to drink. Obviously, the media isn't the only factor involved in promoting the underage drinking epidemic. Imagine that you are the parent of a teenager.

You have just found out that your son or daughter drinks and that he or she has been going to unsupervised parties quite frequently. You decide to step in and do something to help your child. How about having the parties in the safety of your own home with parental supervision so the kids can be safe while they drink? You can even make the kids sleep at your house so they won't drink and drive.

This sounds like a great plan, right? Many parents believe so. They reason that since their child is already drinking or will drink in the near future, at least they can make sure he is safe while doing it. The fact of the matter is, this is the wrong way to make sure their children are safe. By letting their children drink in "safety", the parents are setting a horrible example for the children; they are endangering their children, they are endangering themselves, and they are making the problem worse.

Drinking under the age of twenty one is illegal. By letting kids break the law in their own home, parents are showing their teenagers that law is a matter of opinion. The parents show that they don't agree with the law, so they are going to break it. This is a horrible example for teenagers. It also says to the teen that its okay that you drink. Once a teen gets approval from his parents, he " ll be more likely to drink anytime.

What if there isn't a supervised party this weekend? Do you think that will stop these teenagers from going to an unsupervised one? They can easily go out and make their own party. Today, about sixty six percent of teenagers that drink can buy their own alcohol (Youth and Underage Drinking). There is also the matter of the physical harms that alcohol does to teenagers. Alcohol doesn't do any less damage to a teenager because the party is supervised.

There is also the risk that the police do show up at the party. Not only are all of the kids in trouble, but the supervisor himself will be in the most trouble. Having parties supervised is not the right answer in fighting underage drinking. Parents need to do more than just supply alternatives. Getting teenagers not to drink is very hard.

Most parents don't want that responsibility. There are things that parents can do though. Talk to your kids. Let them know the dangers of alcohol.

Start early, too. By the age of thirteen, your child may be drinking already. Talk to them early and often. Set clear concrete rules with them.

Let them know that drinking is not an option. There are many parents out there that think it is okay for their child to drink. If you are smart enough not to be one of these parents, make sure your child knows where you stand on this issue. Also, set an example.

Realistically, no one is asking you to completely give up drinking. But do it in moderation while your child is around. Show them responsibility. Don't even tell them about stories about your underage drinking parties. The "do what I say, not as I do" attitude does not work with teenagers. If they see that it was okay for you, they " ll think it is okay for them.

Remember that kids learn the most from their parents, so teach them the right things. The government needs to step in and do more. The approach that is going on right now isn't working. Underage drinking levels have stayed constant for the last decade. We need to do something more. We can start with the "Don't drink and drive" campaign.

With the numbers of drunk driving fatalities, this is a great idea. But it is also the wrong idea. Most of the "Don't drink and drive" commercials you see on TV are directed towards adults. When teenagers are the ones that are dying at twice the rate of their adult counterparts, the commercials should be directed at teens. Now, some of these commercials are directed at teens, but they aren't good enough either. When someone is drunk, their judgment is impaired.

This is much greater in the case among adolescents. When it is time for them to drive home, do you think they " ll remember the commercial telling them not to drive? These commercials also have the same mentality that the supervised party has, its okay to drink as long as you are safe from driving drunk. It is not okay. There needs to be more commercials and tactics to teach kids not to drink in the first place. There are ads that tell kids not to do drugs.

That is great, but teenagers do not think of alcohol as a drug. They see these ads and think not to do cocaine or heroine. Alcohol and tobacco kill more than fifty times the amount of every other drug combined. Yet, our government spends $1.8 billion each year to combat drug use and only $71 million to stop underage drinking (STOP Underage Drinking Act). The war on drugs is not the only war we need to be fighting.

We also need to fight the war on alcohol. Hope is on the way. The government has seen how big of a problem underage drinking is. On July 21, 2004 a bill named the "STOP Underage Drinking Act" was presented to Congress. This is exactly what our government needs to be doing.

This bill is pushing our government in the right direction. In the bill, the Senators responsible for writing it recognized how much of a problem underage drinking is. They also provided some answers to fixing this problem. If implemented, this bill will provide many of the changes that need to be done.

It outlines that our government has recognized the need to step up to the challenge by forcing alcohol companies to stop marketing towards children, starting a national media campaign against underage drinking, educating adults, reducing alcohol's availability for teenagers, enforcing laws better, and providing more resources for communities (STOP Underage Drinking Act). This is all definitely a step in the right direction. Without a question, our nation has a problem with underage drinking. Our nation cannot afford to be oblivious to this anymore. Our children are dying and ruining their lives. We cannot afford to think underage drinking is okay or that there is nothing we can do.

As a society, and individually, there are things each of us can do to reduce this epidemic. It is time to wake up. We need to take responsibility for the youth of our nation now before it is too late.

Bibliography

Alcohol Alert". National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. April 2003.
December 9, 2004 web Elizabeth.
The New Face of Underage Drinking: Teenage Girls". The Christian Science Monitor. July 8, 2004.
December 9, 2004 web "Executive Summary".
Alcohol Advertising on Television 2001-2003.
2003. The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. December 9, 2004 web Hank.
Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking. Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1999"STOP Underage Drinking Act: An Important First Step.
July 21, 2004.
December 9, 2004 web "Youth and Underage Drinking: An Overview".
Alcohol and Drug Information. Health. org. December 9, 2004.
web "Youth Statistics". Stats and Resources. MADD. December 9, 2004 web.