In our Alcohol e-book, we break down the risks of underage drinking, why it appeals to young people and what you can do to protect your child from its harms.
Alcohol is the most widely used substance among America’s teens and young adults, posing substantial health and safety risks.
Teens try alcohol for a variety of reasons – to exert independence, to feel more carefree or escape from stress, peer pressure and even boredom. Many tend to do so without fully recognizing alcohol’s negative effects or health risks.
So what do you do if you find out your child is drinking?
Our guide will help you learn to foster regular and productive communication and address issues calmly and directly.
Alcohol is the most widely used substance among teens and young adults, and it poses substantial health and safety risks. Although young people tend to drink less often than adults do, when they do drink, they frequently drink more or more intensely compared to the average adult. That’s because young people consume more than 90% of their alcohol by binge drinking.
Regardless of whether a young person drinks “to feel good” or “to feel better,” their environment often shapes their beliefs and attitudes toward alcohol. Sometimes friends urge one another to have a drink, but it is just as common for youth to try drinking because alcohol is readily available. They see their friends or older siblings enjoying it and, to them, alcohol use is part of a normal teenage or young adult experience. Popular media reinforces this idea. Ads often glamorize alcohol use to attract new drinkers and rarely show the downsides of alcohol use.
Drinking at a young age can impact the health and safety of young people, now and in the future. The human brain is not fully developed until early adulthood, usually the mid- to late-twenties. There is rapid brain development in adolescence and young adulthood, especially the parts of the brain responsible for decision making and judgment. Exposure to alcohol interferes with this development.
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