Teenage Alcholism Essay Research Paper Most teenagers — страница 2

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they think it take to make them be cool. It is easier to see the effect alcohol has on a teenager, than to find out what makes them drink. There are the obvious effects, hangovers, blackouts, and doing things that you will regret the next day. Hangovers happen the day after you get drunk. Symptoms include Headaches, fatigue, and an unquenchable thirst (Troubled Drink, www.alcoholismhelp.com/help/youth/letter2.hml). There are plenty of “cures” for a hangover, but usually the best is cure is plenty of rest (Cross, 1979). Blackouts are like amnesia. The teen will be able to carry on normal events while they are drinking but will have no memory of it later. Blackouts are caused by the alcohol robbing oxygen from the brain. If the teen experiences blackouts it is a sign of a

severe drinking problem (Troubled Drink, www.alcoholismhelp.com/help/youth/letter2.hml). The teen also has to worry about what stories they are going to be faced with when they return to school. Research has shown that in 75% of males and 55% of females involved in sexual assaults or date or acquaintance rape cases among teenagers and college students alcohol was involved (Facts and Statistics, www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html). This is a dangerous effect alcohol has on a teen, especially teenaged girls. When everyone is drinking at a party guys can get the wrong idea and girls can get raped. The rape or any unprotected sex could result in pregnancy or and STD, just because of a couple of drinks. Sixty percent of all STDs that are reported are related to alcohol abuse. Teenage boys

and girls need to be very careful if the y chose to drink. Choices you make while under the influence can affect the rest of their lives (Facts and Statistics, www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html). Alcohol abuse can cause teenagers to get depressed. Teens do not realize that alcohol is a depressant, they assume that it is an upper, because of the buzz or high they get. Teens might drink because they are depressed, but since alcohol is a depressant, they are left felling down even more and start to feel hopeless. This can start a continuous cycle: you drink more, you feel more depressed, so you drink even more, and so on (Facts and Statistics, www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html). A depressed teenager can eventually commit suicide. The most dangerous effect alcohol has on teenagers is

death, either by drunk driving or alcohol poisoning. Each year up to 360,000 of the countries 12 million undergraduate students die from alcohol related reasons. This is more than the number of students that will receive their Masters or Doctorate degrees (Facts and Statistics, www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html). Alcohol abuse is responsible for 40% of all traffic fatalities in our country (Facts and Statistics, www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html). Students that are binge drinkers are at risk of dying from alcohol poisoning, a medical emergency that needs immediate attention. When a person has alcohol poisoning it is hard to tell if they are just passed out or in danger of dying (Facts and Statistics, www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html). A common effect of alcohol poisoning is choking to

death on ones own vomit. Death by asphyxiation happens when alcohol depresses a teenager’s body’s reflexes to the point where they can not vomit properly. This causes the teen to choke to death (Facts and Statistics, www.glness.com/ndhs/stats.html). When teenagers make the choice to drink alcohol, they are putting their lives at stake. Now that we know what a big problem teenage alcoholism is and the effects it can have on a teenager’s life, we need to find a way to discourage teens from using alcohol. Parents play a large role in what decision teens make about drinking. Cross (1979) says that parents should educate teens so they can make responsible decisions about drinking. Parents should not tell their teens that they can not drink, this make alcohol a “forbidden

fruit” (Cross, 1979). The same way parents can pressure their teens to drink; they can help their teens not to drink. Parents own drinking habits effect what attitude a teenager could have about alcohol (Cross, 1979). A recovering alcoholic once said “If a parent forbids a child to drink at a party, he may keep him sober for one night. But if he teaches him how to respect alcohol, he will keep him sober for a lifetime.” (Cross, 1979, p.86). The most important way a parent can stop a teen from drinking is to teach the child responsibilities and what alcohol can do. North and Orange (1980) say that teens might not drink if they have other alternatives or activities available. I disagree with them because there are many teens that are very involved in school activities that go