The worst place in the world to basically any teenager is high school. High school is filled with bad influences, especially drinking. Teenagers drink all the time, whether it’s at school in the bathroom, in the parking lot, at parties or even at home in front of their parents. Teen drinking is one of the biggest teenage related problem society faces. There are reasons why teens do these things but yet they don’t understand the consequences to their actions, physical and emotional.

To start off, many teens turn to alcohol because of family issues at home. Some kids are abused or neglected at home which can lead to alcohol use to take their mind off of their parents. Scientists have come out saying that teen drinking or any alcohol abuse at all is genetic, if your parent was an alcoholic you’re going to be one too. Another parental influence for teens to drink is that kids or teens raised around alcoholics feel the need to drink just because they’re so used to seeing it. Some parents might not be alcoholics or abusive parents but still allow their child to drink alcohol. Some parents think it’s okay to let their teen have a glass of wine as long as they are at home with them and not going out. Adding on, media has a big effect on teenage drinking as well. Teens are taught in school to consume media messages as part of their curriculum. It’s also a given fact that teens spend a lot of time watching TV, movies, surfing the web and reading magazines. All of these things that teens spend a lot of their time on all display some type of alcohol ads. In high school, your social status is based off of the friends you have and hang out with.“One of the most predicted reasons why teens engage in substance use is having friends who use.” This quote basically comes out and says this is the main reason that teens engage in alcohol or drug use.

In addition, teens don’t realize the effects that drinking can have on their body. Some effects can last a life time like brain, liver, nervous system or digestive system damage. Alcohol can also cause a person to get heart gland or muscle disease. Abuse can also have an effect on the brain as well. Alcohol can cause the brain to make it harder to complete complex tasks or give the person a bad memory. Alcohol can also cause a person to commit suicide especially if that person already had thoughts of committing suicide. Alcohol abuse has been known to increase depression levels. When you’re under the influence your brain starts to alter your judgment. So, if you already think imperfectly of yourself, being intoxicated is going to make you feel even worse about yourself. Many teens that have committed suicide have had alcohol in their system or have been known to be a heavy drinker while in school.

At the same time, teens that drink or use drugs don’t realize that they are affecting others as well as themselves. To begin, everyone knows that teen pregnancy is a big issue in society as well, so teens that drink and are pregnant don’t realize that they can affect their unborn child too. Mothers that drink during pregnancy most likely give birth to a baby with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Most babies that have FAS come from teen mothers that couldn’t care less about their baby. Teens don’t realize that FAS can lead to mental retardation. Drinking during pregnancy is also a big risk to having a miscarriage or a premature birth. In addition, driving while intoxicated can also harm yourself and others. Drunk driving is the most common crime committed in the United States alone. When you’re intoxicated you don’t take in consideration that you are endangering yourself as the driver, other passengers in your car or other drivers on the road that you crash into. Nevertheless, there are charges that come with the action of drinking and driving. The charges include; homicide and involuntary manslaughter. Although teen drunk drivers can receive harsher court charges and a more intense punishment. Most teens that drink and drive and crash are likely to end up dead due to the intensity of the crash and the force. Date rape is also an action that harms others caused by alcohol. The most common report of the substance used in date rape is alcohol. There has been statements realized that date rape is the second most common crime committed in the United States. Users of meth don’t take into consideration that when you’re on meth you have many feelings that are expressed without even knowing. Meth addicts have been known to be aggressive or violent towards others especially. When you’re on meth your judgment is impaired they you usually don’t take precautions in safe sex. Meth is a high risk for unprotected sex during teen years.

To conclude, I have come to a conclusion that even though many think teenage drinking is controversial, it is not. Parents think that since kids are around them when they drink that it is okay, when it is still illegal and parents could serve jail time. If teens are notified of the dangers and effects of drinking and drugs more in education or even from their parents maybe they wouldn’t want to use at such a young age or even at all. Parents also need to come to a realization that by abusing or neglecting their children or even being an alcoholic themselves will come back and haunt them with their teen drinking heavily at a young age and damaging their life. So after researching teen drinking and coming to a realization that teen drinking can affect so much or be caused by so much, how can people think that it’s ok and avoid it?