Underage Drinking affects many of the youth in Arizona. Everyone at least knows someone who knows someone who has drunk while under the legal age. Youth can obtain alcohol at parties, or even from their parents. But the effects of underage drinking are even more serious.
For example, drinking can cause dangers to one’s health. A single drink can cause heavy impairments to the brain of an adolescent. Studies show that by the time students reach the eighth grade, nearly 50 percent of them have had at least one drink, and over 20 percent report having been “drunk”. Approximately 20 percent of 8th graders and almost 50 percent of 12th graders have consumed alcohol within the past 30 days (of when studies were conducted). Among 12th graders, almost 30 percent report drinking on 3 or more occasions per month.
Many ad campaigns are set up to prevent youths from drinking under the legal age. But what really stops a youth from picking up a can of beer, popping it open, and consuming the beer within? Personally, the youth should be actively thinking to his/herself. “Should I be doing this?”
Peer pressure is also a major cause of underage drinking. Picture this. At a party, several high-school students are drinking. One, who has been invited to the party, but hasn’t completely been accepted by his peers; feels that he needs to prove himself. How would he do this? Do what they’re doing. Drink. An underage person (such as myself), does not drink alcohol because he knows the causes and effects of underage drinking. Because I can resist anything that will cause a teenager to consume alcohol underage, and think about the consequences of my actions, I do not drink underage.
--Pranav, Phoenix