What Alcohol Does to Teens

We’ve written before about how drugs affect teens bodies and their brains, and we continue our series here with how alcohol affects teens. A teenager’s brain is constantly being redesigned and restructured under the influence of massive hormonal changes.[1] Add to this the influence of a drug like alcohol, and it can be a dangerous combination.

Alcohol is the most frequently abused substance by adolescents in the United States. 21% of kids admit to trying alcohol before the age of 13, and 79% have tried alcohol by the end of high school.[2] This window from 9th through 12th grade is an opportunity for community leaders, educators, and administrators to change lives with effective youth alcohol and drug abuse prevention projects. Statistics from surveys by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) tell us that every day nearly 5000 kids in the U.S. under the age of 16 take their first drink.[3]

The Pride Survey for grades 6-12 2016-17 National Data Set shows that 7.7% of students in grades 9-12 surveyed reporting they use alcohol.[4] In the same 2016-17 survey, 10% of junior high schoolers reported using alcohol in the last year.[5] In 2014, more than 1.6 million kids – almost 4.4% – between the ages of 12 and 20 reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year.[6] Alcohol is connected to the leading causes of death (car accidents, homicides, and suicides) for this age range.[7]

Effects of Alcohol on Teens

Alcohol is a dissociative and a depressant and may initially make someone appear more emotional or their behaviors more exaggerated. The short-term effects of alcohol on the body are the feelings of being “drunk.” On average, the liver of a typical, healthy adult can metabolize about one serving of alcohol per hour, depending on the age, weight, and gender of the person.[8] Typically, consuming more than one beverage per hour leads to intoxication.[9] For someone in their teens, drinking any alcohol can quickly get out of hand and become dangerous. Some of the effects of alcohol on teens’ bodies include:

  • Loss of physical coordination including poor balance, slurred speech or blurred vision making even basic functions more hazardous.[10]
  • Slower brain activity
  • Skin flushing
  • Dilated pupils
  • Mood swings
  • Raised blood pressure and heart rate
  • Reduced core body temperature
  • Decreased impulse control
  • Loss of Inhibitions[11]
  • Poor decision making.[12]
  • Risky behaviors like drunk driving, fights, or unwanted sexual situations.[13]
  • Sleepiness, passing out or blacking out.[14]
  • Reflexes like breathing and gagging can be suppressed leading to choking or death.[15]

Alcohol and drugs also cause impaired development and potential long-term damage in teens. Alcohol can create “Swiss cheesing” to young brains so “some areas function normally, and others, like the holes in the cheese, under-function.”[16] This alteration to the structure occurs throughout the brain, but the pre-frontal cortex – the part of the brain that controls reasoning and impulses – is markedly affected.[17]

Teens and Binge Drinking

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as consuming four drinks in a row raising the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08% or greater. This BAC is the legal limit for driving under the influence in most states and typically occurs after four drinks for women and five drinks for men.[18] However, for many adolescents, it takes fewer drinks to constitute a binge: just three drinks in a row equates to binging for boys up to age 13 or for most girls under the age of 17. Among boys ages 14 to 15, binging equals four drinks in two hours.[19]

Adolescents often drink more than adults in one sitting, consuming as many as 5 or more drinks on a single occasion.[20] According to SAMHSA’s 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 5 million teens between the ages of 12 and 20 admitted to being binge drinkers, and 1.3 million reported being heavy drinkers.[21]

Alcohol and other mind-altering drugs don’t help the teen body or brain in any way. In fact, the adverse effects can last well beyond the teen years. According to SAMHSA, young adults who begin drinking before age 15 are nearly five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life.[22] Understanding where teens in your school and community are accessing alcohol or consuming it can help determine better support and programs for these students.

The benefit of choosing a survey company is that we ask difficult questions to discover what is happening in your community. For more than thirty years, Pride Surveys has been helping schools collect data on teen substance abuse perceptions and drug use trends in their communities through student surveys. We offer multiple drug-free community coalition survey options as well as student risk and protective factor surveys designed to help assess teen substance abuse and risk, including our student surveys for grades 6-12, and our new Pride Survey Plus that looks at additional items like e-cigarettes and opiate use in teens.

Pride Surveys developed its Risk and Protective Factor (RPF) student perception survey, a hybrid version of the Communities That Care (CTC) Youth Survey and the Pride Questionnaire for Grades 6 to 12 to measure the factors that show the strongest correlation to drug and alcohol use. It contains the core measures required by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for their Drug-Free Communities Grant that went into effect February 2013 and asks about incidences of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use plus perceptions of availability and disapproval of use from parents and friends.

Please browse the different types of student survey tools we offer and find out why Pride Surveys is the best choice to help you survey your school. Questions? Give us a call at 800-279-6361 or contact us here.

 

 

 

[1] “The Teenager’s Brain.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/health-matters/201006/the-teenagers-brain

[2] “Vital Signs: Binge Drinking Prevalence, Frequency, and Intensity Among Adults — United States, 2010.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6101a4.htm

[3] “Underage Drinking.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://www.samhsa.gov/underage-drinking-topic

[4] “Pride Surveys Questionnaire for Grades 6 thru 12 2016-17, Pride National Summary, October 19, 2017”

[5] ibid

[6] “Underage Drinking.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://www.samhsa.gov/underage-drinking-topic

[7] “Binge Drinking.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/136/3/e718

[8] “The Physical and Psychological Effects of Alcohol.” Retrieved 30 November at https://www.alcohol.org/effects/

[9] ibid

[10] “Drug Facts: Alcohol.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/alcohol

[11] “The Physical and Psychological Effects of Alcohol.” Retrieved 30 November at https://www.alcohol.org/effects/

[12] “Drug Facts: Alcohol.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/alcohol

[13] ibid

[14] ibid

[15] ibid

[16] “Brain Development, Teen Behavior and Preventing Drug Abuse.” Retrieved 30 November at https://drugfree.org/article/brain-development-teen-behavior/

[17] ibid

[18] “Drinking Levels Defined.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/moderate-binge-drinking

[19] “Alcohol Can Rewire the Teenage Brain.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/alcohol-can-rewire-teenage-brain

[20] “Underage Drinking.” Retrieved 30 November 2018 at https://www.samhsa.gov/underage-drinking-topic

[21] ibid

[22] ibid

The Drinking Age Debate: Pros and Cons of Lowering the Legal Drinking Age

For decades, ever since the days of Prohibition, in fact, many politicians, academics, and parents alike have engaged in the drinking age debate – the question being whether or not the legal drinking age of 21 should be lowered to 18?

The topic never seems to fully disappear, and New Hampshire and California are two of the latest states to reignite the drinking age debate with political proposals hoping to gain support from voters. The California proposal[1] aims to make the purchase and consumption of alcohol legal for those 18 and up, while the New Hampshire bill[2] would make it legal for those aged 18-20 to drink beer and wine, as long as they are in the presence of 21-and-over adults.

The legal drinking age in our nation, which is dictated on a state-by-state basis, has a varied history. At the repeal of Prohibition, the legal drinking age was accepted nationwide as 21, but when the voting age dropped from 21 to 18 in the early 1970s, many states followed suit by lowering the drinking age as well. However, not long after, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 was passed, punishing states that allowed persons under 21 to purchase and publicly possess alcoholic beverages.

Since then, all 50 states have again adopted the age of 21 (with some allowing special permissions, such as Wisconsin’s stipulation that persons under 21 may be served or consume alcohol if they are with a parent, legal guardian, or spouse who is of legal drinking age).

Should We Lower The Legal Drinking Age Again?

A multitude of academic and politically-backed research has been conducted in order to answer the question, “Which age is best for the safety of young people?” No matter which side of the drinking age debate you agree with, it must be recognized that young adults will drink alcohol, no matter what the legal drinking age. According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health[3], approximately 35 percent of 15-year-olds state that they have had at least one alcoholic beverage in their lives, and about four out of five college students drink alcohol regularly.

Not sure if you believe the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18? Here are some of the most widely-recognized pros and cons of the drinking age debate.

Pros to Reducing the Drinking Age:

  • •  It would decrease binge drinking: Many believe[4] that if young adults had easier access to alcohol (without the need to obtain fake IDs, etc.), they would not feel the need to drink so excessively when given the opportunity.
  • •   It would create a safer drinking environment:[5] A reduced drinking age would increase the likelihood of young adults calling the police or other authority figures when in need of help, such as when a friend is showing signs of alcohol poisoning or when they need a safe ride home.
  • •   It’s simply unjust: Eighteen is the age we become an adult in the eyes of the law, and also when we are able to vote and serve in the military. The argument[6], “I can serve my country, but I can’t be served a drink?” often comes up.

 

Cons to Lowering the Drinking Age:

  • • It would increase reckless driving behavior: Eighteen-year-olds are already inexperienced drivers – with the decreased inhibitions and poor judgment associated with just a few drinks, the roads could become even more dangerous. A 2002 meta-study by of the legal drinking age and traffic accidents found that higher legal drinking ages were associated with lower rates of traffic accidents[7].
  • •   Our brains aren’t fully developed at 18: In fact, many experts believe[8] our brains aren’t fully mature until our mid-20s. That means “legal” adults can make serious decisions without a fully-developed brain, often leading to risky behavior. Plus, alcohol consumption in teens can lead to altered brain development[9].
  • •   It could lead to increased high school dropouts: The reduced drinking age of 18 in the 1970s and 80s led to an increased high school dropout rate – specifically, the rate shot up from 4 percent to 13 percent. Many fear that the same will happen again if we decide to reduce the legal drinking age[10].

 

Whether the legal drinking age is 18 or 21, we must recognize that many young adults and teens will drink alcohol and even engage in binge drinking. And even more importantly, we must recognize that proper education is important for young adults to make safe, smart decisions regarding their own behaviors. While the drinking age debate rages on, we must continue to work hard to monitor and educate young adults about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

[1] Nelson, Steven. “Want to Lower the Drinking Age? You’ll Have to Work for It.” U.S. News. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/11/10/initiative-to-lower-drinking-age-in-california-faces-big-obstacles on March 17, 2016.

[2] Boggs, Justin. “N.H. Considering Dropping the Legal Drinking Age.” The E.W. Scripps Company.

[3] “College Drinking.” National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Retrieved from http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/special-populations-co-occurring-disorders/college-drinking on March 15, 2016.

[4] Ramos, Stephanie. “Study: Lowering Drinking Age May Stop Binge Drinking in College.” ABC News. Retrieved from http://wtnh.com/2015/09/28/study-lowering-drinking-age-may-stop-binge-drinking-in-college/ on March 16, 2016.

[5] Tucker, Jeffery A. “The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered, Fast.” Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/drinking-age-should-be-lowered-fast-356715 on March 16, 2016

[6] Johnson, Brent. “Lawmaker Wants to Lower N.J. Drinking Age to 18.” New Jersey On-Line LLC. Retrieved from http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/02/lawmaker_wants_to_lower_nj_drinking_age_to_18.html on March 17, 2016.

[7] Alexander C. Wagenaar and Traci L. Toomey, “Effects of Minimum Drinking Age Laws: Review and Analyses of the Literature from 1960 to 2000,” Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 2002.

[8] “Understanding the Teen Brain.” University of Rochester Medical Center. Retrieved from https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=3051 on March 16, 2016.

[9] “Dangers of Teen Drinking.” Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved from https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0387-dangers-teen-drinking March 16, 2016.

[10] “Lower Drinking Age Leads to More High School Dropouts.” Newsmax Media, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.newsmax.com/Health/Health-News/drinking-age-high-school-dropouts-rates/2015/09/28/id/693725/ on March 17, 2016.