Underage_Drinking

If 1,292 people died tomorrow, would you notice' 100,000 people a year die from alcohol abuse in the U.S. each year, 1,000,000 in ten years. 14 million, or one in 13 adults in the U.S. suffer from alcoholism at any given time. 25% of urban hospital beds are taken up by severe damage from the use of alcohol. * 1,700 college students between the ages of 18-24 die each year from alcohol misuse. * 97,000 college students reported cases of sexual abuse because of alcohol use. * 696,000 reported cases of students being assaulted by someone who had been drinking. * 599,000 college students unintentional injuries blamed on alcohol use. We are all students at college and most likely we have gone to one party with alcohol. Being a college student and under the age of 21, I have researched this topic of underage drinking because I thought this issue would be extremely beneficial to all of us since we are in college and will most likely be going through experiences involving alcohol. Today, I'm here to convince you to think twice about picking up that next bottle of alcohol. Transition: Let's begin by talking about why teenagers should not have alcohol. Underage drinking is illegal in all 50 states. The tolerance that police have to a teenager drinking and driving is absolutely zero. According to Buffalo News from New York that, “the Sherriff Officer arrested eighteen teenagers, several of them are under sixteen, at a charge of underage drinking at an apartment party on Grand Island. Another is, according to a newspaper source at TCCs’ database, that police officers observed a club in Northbridge, in which they are minors taking prohibited drugs and drinking underage. Most parents who find out that their children have been drinking are not pleased with it. Underage drinking is a crime. It is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable with a maximum sentence of six months incapacitation and a $1000 fine. Not only is underage drinking against the law, but it is endangering the person's life, as well as others, especially on college campuses. According to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “in 2003 that nearly 50 percent of adolescents have had at least one drink before eighth grade and more than 20 percent admit to having been drunk.” According to the Alcohol Policy Information System, "Annually, about 5,000 youth under age 21 die from motor vehicle crashes, other unintentional injuries, and homicides and suicides that involve underage drinking." Transition: Now that I have explained why teens should not have alcohol, I will explain to all of you why teens are not responsible enough to drink. Teenagers are not responsible enough to drink. When people drink they use poor judgment, and when underage people drink it is even worse. Several studies have associated heavy drinking in youth with impaired judgment in adulthood, but these studies didn't resolve whether alcohol abuse actually predisposes people to develop bad decision making skills, or if the people who indulged in excessive inebriation were risk taking types to begin with. Selena Bartlett, a director in the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, explains, you cannot put adolescents in a room and ask them to consume alcohol to see what happens. So the more you drink, the more judgment you lose. Transition: Now that I have explained why teenagers are not responsible to drink because of lack of judgment, I will explain how alcohol is harmful to your health. Alcohol is harmful to your health. Anyone who drinks has the chance of seriously hurting his or her body Alcohol is a drug that can cause liver damage, cancer, heart damage or even death. Elevated liver enzymes, indicating some degree of liver damage, have been found in some adolescents who drink alcohol. Young drinkers, who are overweight or obese, showed elevated liver enzymes even with only moderate levels of drinking. Scientists currently are examining just how alcohol affects the developing brain, but it’s a difficult task. Subtle changes in the brain may be difficult to detect but still have a significant impact on long-term thinking and memory skills. Add to this the fact that adolescent brains are still maturing, and the study of alcohol’s effects becomes even more complex. Research has shown that animals fed alcohol during this critical developmental stage continue to show long lasting impairment from alcohol as they age. It’s simply not known how alcohol will affect the long-term memory and learning skills of people who began drinking heavily as adolescents. According to George Washington University, a 19 year old sophomore was discovered dead on their campus last January, died of alcohol intoxication. The sophomore found dead in her bed by her roommate in the university’s Ivory Tower residence hall. Did you know the story of Jacqueline Saburido' A 20 year old young lady who was been rescued and luckily survived the car crash on a dark road of Austin, Texas. Look at her before the accident. She’s a beautiful young lady. Because of Reggie Stephey, an 18 yr old star football player. This what Jacqueline looks like after the accident. She was burned over 60% of her body. No one thought she could survive but Jacqueline lived. Conclusion: Today I've explained to you why drinking underage is harmful to teenagers. Alcohol is widely available and aggressively promoted throughout society. And alcohol use continues to be regarded, by many people, as a normal part of growing up. Yet underage drinking is dangerous, not only for the drinker but also for society, as evident by the number of alcohol involved motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides, and other injuries. People who begin drinking early in life run the risk of developing serious alcohol problems, including alcoholism, later in life. They also are at greater risk for a variety of adverse consequences, including risky sexual activity and poor performance in school. SOLVE PROBLEM Now that you all know that drinking cause death, will you still drink' What if you are involved in a car accident just like what happened to Jacqueline, would you rather choose to live like Jacqueline did after the accident or rather die'