Effects of Underage Drinking on Society Essay - 1100 Words

Underage Drinking Anyone who is below eighteen years of age is considered as underage and laws in many countries prohibit such a person from consuming alcohol. Alcohol happens to be the most commonly abused drug not only among the youth but also among adults. This paper explores underage drinking, its effects on the society and outlines what can be done to curb it. Young people are considered to constitute the largest number of alcohol consumers and they account for a large portion of alcohol sales. This is despite the strict drinking laws that govern many countries as regards alcohol purchase and consumption. Underage drinking, which has been on the increase, is allegedly the major cause of alcohol-related problems facing the modern†¦show more content†¦Social influences include low socio-economic status of the individual, low levels of parental guidance and education, family or domestic issues at home, presence of a history of alcoholism in the family, lack of rules on alc ohol use in the family setting and peer pressure. The cultural norms in which one has been brought up also play a major role in how one develops and one’s behavior towards alcohol abuse. Being a very big problem to the society and government at large, underage drinking may not be totally eradicated but can be reduced to manageable levels. To do this, a collective approach has to be used in implementing the various recommended prevention measures. The best approach towards reducing adolescent drinking is through numerous strategies which include school-based strategies, family, and community as well as extracurricular strategies (Komro and Toomey 3). The family strategy basically involves the parents and other family members creating a good relationship with the adolescents under their care. The parents and guardians should be good role models to their children in terms of their alcohol related behavior (Bonnie and O’Connell 19). For example, if a parent is an alcoholic, the child is bound to get the wrong picture about the parent and eventually get into alcohol in later stages of life as they argue that, alcohol is not bad since their parents also drink. 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