Why Underage Drinking Is Bad
There’s a New York Times article recently called The Grim Neurology of Teenage Drinking which discusses the physical problems that can be caused by drinking at an early age. Alcohol apparently damages developing young brains significantly more than it does adult brains. Moreoever, early drinking seems to foster alcoholism:
The new findings may help explain why people who begin drinking at an early age face enormous risks of becoming alcoholics. According to the results of a national survey of 43,093 adults, published yesterday in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 47 percent of those who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 14 become alcohol dependent at some time in their lives, compared with 9 percent of those who wait at least until age 21. The correlation holds even when genetic risks for alcoholism are taken into account.
In light of the drinking that goes on at Cornell and other universities, the article is probably a worthwhile read. While just one source isn’t going to act as a preventative for the next Matt Pearlstone, it might help students moderate their drinking habits.
I’ll leave you with one last salient quotation:
“There is no doubt about it now: there are long-term cognitive consequences to excessive drinking of alcohol in adolescence,” said Aaron White, an assistant research professor in the psychiatry department at Duke University and the co-author of a recent study of extreme drinking on college campuses.
| This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 5th, 2006 at 2:52 pm and is tagged with drinking on college campuses, assistant research professor, adult brains, cognitive consequences, york times article, adolescent medicine, psychiatry department, aaron white, genetic risks, drinking alcohol, enormous risks, duke university, excessive drinking, teenage drinking, matt pearlstone, new york times, national survey, no doubt, alcoholics, alcoholism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback. |
14 Responses to “Why Underage Drinking Is Bad”
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Excellent point, and the age that teens start drinking seem to get younger and younger. For some relevant anecdotes that are especially for girls – because young girls are not giving up underage drinking as fast as their male classmates – check out http://www.girlsanddrinking.org.
Drinking isn’t bad!!! It help teens and others meet new people at parties and other gatherings where drinking is going on
yes
drinking is very bad!!
very very very very very very very very very very very BAD!!
it kills you and your brain cells!!
HEH HEH
Love Polly Poo
drinking is very bad 4 u cause you can get hurt when you drink its not a very thing to do especially when you young
yes my friend drinks well hes kinda stopping but its VERY VERY VERY badd!!
eeeeee drinkings isnt bad
Yall are ***, drinkin is fine!!
it depends on how you drink…… whos drinking…. how responsible you are.
i total agree im using this sight for homework and i agree strongly
i think drinking is bad for you and you can even die. trust me we found out our selfs and faced the consiquenses.
hi my name is madeline. i am doing a project on underage drinking and how it kills. do you know anything?
by the way, i am in 8th grade and i am 13 yrs. old!
~thanks~
its not bad its good **** all u wana be fake *** ******* who cant drink
i love drinking it the most fun thing in the world and im only 16 theres nothing wrong with it as long as ur being safe
I think that people who are under the age of 21 and are drinking alcohol are extremely naive. underage drinking is bad and the sooner that teens/young adults realize this, the sooner that they will stop drinking. in reply to zack’s comment, I don’t think teens drink just to meet new people, that’s seriously rediculous if you believe that,teens drinks just for the sake of being drunk. they drink because they know everyone else is drinking and they don’t want to feel like the odd one out. A perfect example of this is if you look in the upper right hand you’ll see that Matthew pearlstone was not found drunk, but he was found dead. It’s sad that young people don’t take this issue seriously because it’s true, drinking alcohol can eventually kill you.