Effects Of Underaged Drinking

All kids get to that age where they feel that they have to rebel against their parents and their lives. They tend to go about this in traditional ways. They listen to music that their parents do not approve of very loudly, they sometimes set small fires, change their clothing style and experiment with drinking. It is very common for a teen to drink. Each previous generation knows that they did it and that it was wrong, but cannot convince their kids of that fact. But why is the idea of underage drinking so scary?

Studies have linked the age at which one has their first drink to alcoholism. The younger a person is when they have their first drink, the more likely they tend to be to become alcoholics. The younger you start drinking, the less you think of drinking as a “big deal” so you are more likely to do it more often and become addicted. These studies have shown that many alcoholics grew up drinking underage and not thinking of it as doing anything wrong. They are also more likely to try to solve problems this way, by drowning their sorrows, leading to alcoholism.

Also, alcohol is known as one of the gateway drugs. They call them gateway drugs because children or teens who drink are more likely to think of doing drugs as normal. They figure they are already doing something to alter their perception so why not try something else that does the same thing. Each drug leads to a worse one and eventually to addiction to hard core substances. Teens who do not drink are far less likely to decide to try drugs because they have never even had a drink. It is all about how people, especially young people, perceive alcohol. If they think of it as no big deal, they are more likely to feel that way about things like marijuana and cocaine.

All in all underage drinking is a big deal. Talk to your children about why they should not do this even if everyone else seems to be doing it and give them examples of what might happen. Drinking as a teen can lead to so many other issues as well. Why take the chance?

Underage drinking may seem almost harmless since as adults most people remember doing the same thing at that age. The difference is that we know more about the effects of underage drinking now than we did then. Talk to your teens and stop it before it starts.