Coleman Williams

201623320

The Young Death Drinking Trap

Alcohol is a temptress of many and many young people fall into her trap. Growing up in the use
many kids are introduced and tempted by alcohol due to its popularity and cool factors. There are three
main reasons why young people fall in to the trap of binge drinking and that would because of peer and
societal pressure, wanting to grow up fast, and the lack of knowledge on the dangers of alcohol.
Due to the rise and popularity in social media binge drinking has not only risen but it has become
popularized. The peer pressure kids feel to be a part of the cool crowd is enormous. In high school, most
parents are unaware of the parties that happen with kids. While most parents tell their kids never drink or
do drugs there are always a few parents who want to be the cool mom or Ddad who buys alcohol for their
childrens friends. At these parties kids drink a lot because they do not know when will be the next time
they can drink alcohol. Studies have shown that Underage students drank alcohol less frequently but
were more likely to drink to excess when they drank (Wechsler 2002). While teenagers find these parties
to be fun they can be dangerous. Two of the most popular Social media platforms these days are
Instagram and Facebook. People are always trying flaunt their partying life on these sites due to the peer
pressure to look luxurious and rich. According to Jeibo Luo a computer science professor at the
University of Rochester underage drinkers are willing to share their alcohol consumption experience
in social media (Luo 2015). When society views a person, who is on a yacht partying drinking
champagne they view it as an awesome lifestyle and many others will find a way to imitate it. Likewise,
with underage drinkers seeing their friends drinking. They will want to be a part of the culture. In the
states, many celebrities are now endorsing many different alcohol or even creating their own brand to sell
to their fans. television ads and alcohol can have a major effect on the youth to the point that Exposure to

alcohol advertising during very early adolescence predicts both beer drinking and drinking intentions one
year later. (Collins et.al 2007). One of the most famous is a hip-hop mogul Sean puffy Combs. He has
been endorsing a premium vodka brand called Croc for years. His face is now synomomus with the drink
so many of his admiring public want to be like him , drink this drink, and experience his life style.
When kids first enter society one things their parents always wonder is what do they want to be
when they grow up. Without realizing it people are already putting pressure on the child to think about
being an adult and how to be a successful rich person. Movies and television have always created an
image of drinking and party. While most of the times they promote the fun times that can be had while
drinking they rarely promote the dangers of it. Kids only see the good ever the bad. When kids are at the
impressionable age they always see their parents at an impressionable age drinking and partying away.
Many kids want to be like their parents and mimic the actions they see. It is in human nature to try things
new and it is reinforced when it is suggested to us. Teenagers love gossiping and finding the new thing
thats trendy. In the 90s drugs and alcohol were considered the low of the low. Nowadays drinking is fun
and Marijuana is slowly becoming legal across most states in the USA. The new thing is trying out how
many different ways to get high. Weather it is from Drugs or dinking teenagers want to do it and fast
without worrying about the consequences.
In the states there is no strong alcohol and drug education system in place to teach kids the dangers of
these substances. Most teens believe they are invincible so they dont have a fear about death.
Invincibility is a phase of social-cognitive development of the adolescent and has been associated with
risk behavior involvement ( Wickeman 2013).They see it in the news and Television shows but it appears
far away from them. The first thing that is heard when someone has some disease or death due to drinking
is that they did not know it could happen to them. They were caught unaware about the dangers and now
have to pay the consequences. In the USA teenage drinking has led to more premarital sex. As stated
earlier many kids want to grownup fast and think having sex is great! But when drinking at a young age
people tend to be caught unaware and have sex and many times girls will end up pregnant at the young

ages of 15 or 17. This is slowly becoming an epidemic. Many teens that are drinking at young ages cannot
control themselves and doing hard crime more than before. They are caught and arrested and charged with
the crime of DUI or public recklessness. In the US Of outcomes related to excessive drinking, binge
drinking accounts for approximately half of alcohol-attributable deaths (Naimi 2014). These are the facts
and most young teens are unaware of and do not take seriously.
One might saying lowering the drinking age in the USA would lower the binge drinking rate to due to the
fact that in Europe most kid start drinking at the age of 12 with familys and at age 16 many kids are able
to buy their own alcohol. The level of binge drinking is very low in these countries. While this statements
may ring true. America is a country whose people love excess. The eating habits and drug habits go to
show that people will not only intake and ingest things that will harm them. They will do it in excessive
amounts because they want more and more of a good feeling with faster results.
The rise of young peoples binge drinking is caused by peer pressure, the want to become an adult and a
lack of education on the dangers of alcohol. If there is not a strict education and monitoring of kids when
it comes to drugs and alcohol the pain and sadness from accidents and death. that is occurring now will
only continue and increase.

Collins, Rebecca L., Phyllis L. Ellickson, Daniel Mccaffrey, and Katrin

Hambarsoomians. "Early Adolescent Exposure to Alcohol Advertising and Its
Relationship to Underage Drinking." Journal of Adolescent Health 40.6 (2007)
Luo, Jeibo. Data Mining Instagram Feeds Can Point to Teenage Drinking
Patterns. NewsCenter, University of Rochester , 29 Oct. 2015,
www.rochester.edu/newscenter/new-technology-can-mine-data-from-instagram-tomonitor-and-understand-teenage-drinking-patterns-126442/.
Naimi, Timothy S. et al. A New Scale of the U.S. Alcohol Policy Environment
and Its Relationship to Binge Drinking. American Journal of Preventive Medicine,
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Wechsler, Henry et al. Underage College Students' Drinking Behavior, Access
to Alcohol, and the Influence of Deterrence Policies: Findings from the Harvard
School of Public Health College Alcohol Study. Journal of American College Health,
vol. 50, no. 5, 2002, pp. 223236.
Wickman, Mary E., and Deborah Koniak-Griffin. Invincibility Fable: Tool
Development to Measure Invincibility. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, vol. 28, no. 6,
2013, pp. 575584.