Few people who complain about the abuse of drugs by young people realize that alcohol abuse is rising even more dramatically. Alcoholic treatment centers across the country report that they are seeing a new kind of patient: the twelve to seventeen-year-old, who may have been drinking for two to five years. While twenty-one is the legal age to drink alcohol, many people start early in their teens consuming alcoholic beverages. Alcohol consumption by teenagers is a complicated matter that involves reasons teenagers drink, how teenagers get alcohol, and the consequences of consuming alcohol.
The reasons that adolescents drink vary. One reason that adolescents drink is to escape problems. Whether the problems may be family oriented, or come from problems at school, or self-depression. Teens often think that drinking may solve their problems, but often they end up worse off than they started. Another reason that adolescents drink may be that they see their parents do it; therefore, they think it's okay. When kids see their parents do something, they often get the feeling that its okay to do the same thing. when it isn't always that way. The last reason is that their friends influence the teens into trying alcohol. Like the parents, friends doing something would often make the person want to try it more, or think that drinking is okay. In conclusion, there are many reasons that an adolescent would want to try alcohol. No matter how many reasons there are, it doesn't make it right. .
Also, although all states prohibit the sale of alcohol to people in this age group, most teenagers find it easy to acquire alcohol. One way that a teenager can acquire alcohol is having a person over the age of 21 to buy it for them. Many teens will ask somebody old enough to buy alcohol and give the older person the money to buy it with. Another way that a teen can acquire alcohol is to buy it from a store that does not card.
