Underage Drinking Essay

The Effects of Underage Drinking
Is it possible for one's life to be thrown away seconds after a first sip of alcohol? Statistics show that drinking under the influence is the cause of thousands of deaths annually, including nearly 40% of fatalities in car crashes, 32% in homicides and 6% in suicides (Mally, 2022). Underage drinking is becoming a big problem in today's world as it heavily affects teenagers on a daily basis and the individuals they grow to be. Underage drinking refers to when an individual under the legal drinking age, consumes alcohol (Clinic, 2021). Some people say that adolescents are more prone to the effects of alcohol as they are not fully developed until the age of 25. As well as most of the time, they consume alcohol

Presently, the media has huge influences on society's daily activities and these influences can be especially more prone to adolescents as it is a society they grew up in. With that, it is obvious that youth will be encouraged to do things everyone else may be doing and most of the time, many will resort to alcohol as a way to fit in. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that by the age of 18, 60% of teenagers have tried alcohol (Mally, 2022). Underage drinking and its consequences is a threat for all teens due to the fact that this social issue systematically targets youth. The most common ways alcohol affects teenagers is that it causes many issues later in life affecting brain and physical development; increases rates and costs of under the influence activities by glamourising this topic on social media; and it may cause more teenagers to become addicted daily by further influences of

That being said, there is no doubt that under the influence activities and costs will increase due to the high demand for alcohol. It is known that the media plays a massive role in today's society and by this, teenagers are exposed to alcohol on a daily basis through pop culture, celebrations or watching others consume it (Hayes, 2023). With more exposure to the substance whether it is introduced in family events or displayed on social media, one may get the idea that alcohol is not bad for them and instead make them feel as though they increase their chances of fitting in with the general population. Furthermore, Alcohol advertising generally focuses on creating positive experiences with the substance and may make one feel like they are missing out on not drinking (Harmony Square, 2019). Majorities of teenagers are occupied with trying to fit into a group, alcohol companies generally capitalize this by glamorizing the substance in showing that alcohol brings people together. This is a common marketing strategy so that more people will want to buy their product and therefore have an increase in consumers as they are believing this false