Mestre 1 Toni Mestre Humanities-3/4 15 March 2013 Binge Drinking As Maya Angelou once said, When you know

w better, you do better. Angelous words should be learned by teens so that they know better than to participate in harmful activities like binge drinking. If teens were taught what binge drinking was actually doing to their bodies, they would probably not do it. Binge drinking is when a person consumes an excessive amount of alcohol in one period of time, and do it with the purpose of becoming highly intoxicated. Binge drinking can make young people become very ill and throw up, and it can also take away their ability to think rationally, which can cause them to make decisions they would not normally if they were sober. Unless society educates teens on the effects binge drinking has on their bodies, teens will continue to give into peer pressure, get into accidents, and become very ill due to binge drinking. Teens binge drink for many reasons, including pressure by their peers, and the overall acceptance of underage drinking. Teens are pressured into drinking by their peers because all of their friends do it. For example, Especially the freshman year, its the fun thing to do. You show up, you don't know anyone, you take four shots and everyone is your friend! (Binge Drinking Dangers). This quote shows how teens believe that binge drinking is okay because it is the fun thing to do. This causes teens to binge drink because they think that if they do, they will keep, or make more friends. However, this is not the only reason teens binge drink. Everywhere there are teens that think binge drinking is acceptable behavior. The social acceptance of alcohol and, in particular, excessive drinking is another reason to explain why teens drink. Positive beliefs about alcohol's effects and the social

Mestre 2 acceptability of drinking encourage the adolescent to begin and continue drinking (Underage Drinking: A). This quote shows how teens use the social acceptance of underage binge drinking as an excuse to begin drinking excessively themselves. Teens think that it is acceptable to binge drink because of how often they see people drinking on television and films. Magazines also show images of many famous people drinking, causing teens to think it is acceptable for them to drink too. There are many reasons to explain why teens binge drink, however peer pressure and social acceptance of alcohol are the main causes. Binge drinking can have many harmful effects on a teen, including alcohol poisoning and reckless behavior. Teens who binge drink are more likely to get alcohol poisoning. Symptoms of alcohol poisoning may include vomiting (can lead to choking on vomit), seizures, unconsciousness, irregular breathing, and pale or clammy skin (Teen Binge Drinking.). This fact shows that if teens obtain alcohol poisoning, the symptoms can be fatal. Teens with alcohol poisoning can obtain any of these harmful symptoms that, if not treated by a doctor, can lead to an intoxicated teens death. In fact, binge drinking causes 80,000 deaths in the United States per year (Parker-Pope). However there are other effects binge drinking has on a teen. Another effect is reckless behavior. These reckless behaviors include violence, risky sexual activities (unwanted pregnancies), drunk driving, and other drug use (Teen Binge Drinking.). This fact shows that teens under the influence of excessive amounts of alcohol are more likely to take part in a variety of reckless behaviors. Many of these behaviors can lead to the death of the teen, or even other innocent people around them. Teens bodies are often not used to filtering the alcohol in their systems, so drinking excessively can make them very intoxicated, very quickly. The intoxication makes the teens attempt behaviors they would normally not do if they were sober, like fighting

and taking part in sexual behavior as well. Reckless behavior and alcohol poisoning are just two of the

Mestre 3 long list of negative effects binge drinking has on teens. There are some solutions to help reduce teen binge drinking, including educating teens, while also teaching teens to avoid pressure by peers to drink. Avoiding the pressure to drink can reduce binge drinking among teens. Many research-based interventions target the childs relevant behavioral skills such as his or her ability to react appropriately to peer pressure to drink, as well as his or her knowledge, attitudes, and intentions regarding alcohol use (Underage Drinking: A). This quote proves how if teens are taught appropriately, it can chan ge the way they view alcohol and how they handle peer pressure. If teens do not respond to peer pressure, then they will be less likely to binge drink, or take other harmful drugs. Avoiding the pressure to binge drink, underage, can help solve the problem altogether.By avoiding alcohol, the teen is lessening their chances to develop an addictive personality, and therefore leading their attention away from drinking. Other than avoiding peer pressure, educating teens on binge drinking is another solution. Develop community coalitions that build partnerships among schools, community and faith-based organizations, law enforcement, health care, and public health agencies to reduce binge drinking (Binge Drinking Nationwide). This quote shows how if society helps develop organizations that educate teens on the effects of binge drinking, it can help solve the problem. If more teens knew what binge drinking was actually doing to their bodies, they would be more resistant to doing it. Most people do not like to talk about topics like

binge drinking. If organizations offer information to help educate teens, it may help solve the problem of binge drinking

Mestre 4 altogether. Avoiding peer pressure and educating teens are two solutions that can help alleviate the problem of binge drinking. Teens will continue to give into peer pressure, get into accidents, and become very ill, unless society educates them on the effect binge drinking has on their bodies. Teen binge drinking can be caused by peer pressure, and the social acceptance of underage drinking. It can affect teens by giving them alcohol poisoning and making them have reckless behavior. Educating teens and having them avoid peer pressure would help reduce the problem of underage drinking. This issue is important because binge drinking is killing teens all over America. If society puts focus on the problem of binge drinking, then people might be able to help prevent countless teens, across the nation, from hurting themselves or others.

Mestre 5 Works Cited Binge Drinking Dangers Uncovered. WPRI.com Eyewitness News. 13 Feb. 2013. TVL Broadcasting, Inc. 27 Feb. 2013<http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_ news/bingedrinking-danger-uncovered-sweeps-feb13> Binge Drinking Nationwide Problem, Local Solutions. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 7 Nov. 2012. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/ fact-sheets/bingedrinking.htm> Parker-Pope, Tara. Americas Drinking Binge. New York Times. 11 Jan. 2012. The New York Times Company. 6 Mar. 2013 <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/ 2012/01/11/americas-drin king-binge> Teen Binge Drinking. Teen Help. 2013. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://www.teenhelp.com/teen -alcohol-use/teen-binge-drinking.html> Underage Drinking: A Major Public Health Challenge. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. June 2003. National Institute of Health. Department of Health and Human Services. 21 Feb. 2013 <http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm>