Underage Drinking

1. Underage Drinking Student Group A English 2001 December 2, 2013

2. Background Information • Nationwide Concern • Early Onset • 8th Graders – 40 % • 10th Graders – 66 % • 12th Graders – 75 % • Quantity • Adolescents drink about twice as much per occasion

3. Health Effects • Physical • Alcohol can harm the liver, bones, endocrine system, and brain, and interfere with growth over shorter periods in adolescents • Mental • Associated with suicide, violence, and adolescent brain development • Injury Death • Alcohol is a leading contributor to injury death, the main cause of death for people under age 21

4. Other Effects • Decision Making • Unnecessary Risks • Unprotected sex • Dependence • Those who drink at 15 are 4 times as likely to be dependent as those who don’t drink before 21 • Academic Failure • Underage drinking has a negative effect on academic achievement

5. Why Drink? • Among underage college students, drinking is extremely prevalent. For many reasons, this specific age group is associated with several risk factors. Some of these include: • Brain development-People in their late teens are in a stage of growth in which they desire to seek risky behavior without being aware of the consequences. • View on drinking-Adolescents tend to have a more positive view on drinking, even if they used to have a negative one at a younger age. • Tolerance to alcohol-Young college students are able to take in more alcohol before they experience negative side effects. • Environmental factors-The environment is one of the largest factors in promoting drinking. Adolescents that are around peers that encourage drinking have been proven to engage in binge drinking on a regular basis.

6. What Can We Do? • Even though underage drinkers are prone to many risk factors that are difficult to control, environmental factors are the one thing that can be maintained with new measures. • Environmental factors are currently all too prevalent at college. The main ones in today’s universities involve: • Low prices on alcohol • Easy access to alcohol • Lack of law enforcement • To solve the problem, these factors have to be reversed by altering the policies that are now proving to be all too ineffective.

7. How Bad is the Problem Now? • Current solutions: • In 1984, to counteract the excessive drinking habits present in youth, the U.S Congress implemented the National Minimum Purchase Age Act, setting the minimum age at 21. • Alcohol sellers have to be 21. • Keg registration laws. • Current issues: • Car accidents are the leading cause of death among people 35 years old and younger, and about half of these deaths involve alcohol. • Based on a study, 43.6% of underage students are classified as binge drinkers. • Based on data by the 1999 Harvard School of Public Health College, college underage drinkers do not drink as much, but when they do, they drink in large quantities.

8. Alcohol Prices • Low alcohol prices have been proven to be a risk factor for underage binge drinkers. • Today, it is possible to spend only $5.00, and obtain enough alcohol to get legally intoxicated. • Taxes • Since many different kinds of alcohol have low prices, a standardized tax would be required to obtain maximum effect. • Based on data from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, beer taxes had a significant effect on reducing the quantity of alcohol taken in by the youth. • Young people are more sensitive to price, as they will respond to a uniform price more significantly.

9. Alcohol Prices • Taxes have been successful, but other factors can reduce their full potential. • Underage students can get their alcohol free from other sources, meaning policies have to go further than taxes. • Sources • Parties • Local bars

10. Alcohol Availability • Environmental influences • In college, the environment promotes drinking, making it easier to gain a positive view on drinking. • When several bars are located near a college campus, the participation in binge drinking has been significantly higher, particularly in younger students. • Binge drinking occurrences are higher in colleges that have more access to fraternity/sorority presence. • Living arrangements • Underage students tend to live on-campus more frequently, putting them at risk. • The lowest rates of binge drinking come from students who live in substance-free dorms or off campus with their parents (only about 18% of underage population). • The highest rates of drinking occur at fraternity/sorority houses.

11. Alcohol Availability • Living arrangements • 1 in 2 underage students said alcohol was easy to obtain. • About 71% of underage students get their alcohol free from of-age students. • Solutions • Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA) • Focused on reducing availability of alcohol on campus. • Had the most effect on underage students. • Availability was reduced, as of-age students stopped providing their alcohol to underage students.

12. Drinking and the Law • Minimum Legal Drinking Age • Since 1975, about 19,000 of the underage population has been saved from traffic fatalities. • Only 35% of fatal traffic accidents involved alcohol in 1999, compared to 63.2 in 1982. • Problems with Existing Laws • More students believe that they can not be caught off-campus, so extend the laws. • New Policies • Massachusetts Saving Lives Program • Reduced DWI from 19 to 9 percent. • Internal Possession(IP) Laws • Significant reduction in binge drinking, particularly among teens aged 15 and under. • Zero-tolerance laws • Among students who drive one or more times per week, underage students drive less, as they have fear of being caught.

13. Contributing Factors

14. Fake ID’s • 50% of underage high school and college students have fake ID’s • Easy to buy • Order online and they will be mailed to you • So realistic • Made with the same PVC material as real ID’s • Replicated holograms

15. Price • Majority of college students drink beer • Study shows higher beer tax may reduce amount of drinking

16. Parental Knowledge • 10 million of the nation’s drinkers are underage • 3% of parents think their child uses alcohol

17. Moderation Education • Not enough education • 5% of underage students said they experience direct educational efforts from their school

18. Lack of Knowing Effects • Money • Nation spends about $58 billion annually on underage drinking • Sexual Harassment • 12% of men and about 21% of women • 18% of college students report regretful sexual encounters • More likely to have casual sex with multiple partners

19. Literature and Drinking • On censorship: • Do young adult readers deserve the truth? • The Fault in Our Stars, John Green • Teen cancer, death, love • Crank, Ellen Hopkins • Crystal Meth, mother/ daughter relationships • Lush, Natasha Friend • Teens with alcoholic parents • Dry, Augusten Burroughs • Alcoholism, cocaine abuse, detox, AA, prolonged sobriety

20. Media and Underage Drinking • A parent’s reaction to underage drinking can shape how their children will view drinking and whether or not they will choose to drink • Finnish study showed that adults are more likely to drink to intoxication when children are not present in the home • A study of sixth and seventh graders showed that exposure to alcohol ads was associated with drinking and intention to drink • Alcohol ads are most likely to appear on TV when adolescents are most likely to be watching • In many cases, a teen’s decision to drink comes solely from the simple fact that they were told not to by their parents, or were taught it was dangerous/ risky behavior

21. Disney Classics and Alcohol • Sample taken of all animated Disney classics released between 1937 and 2000 • Included such favorites as Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, The Lion King, and Cinderella • 24 films in all were screened, each instance of alcohol or tobacco use was flagged • 91% (345 times) of alcohol and tobacco use was followed by positive reinforcement, while only 4% (14 times) was accompanied by negative reinforcement