Underage Drinking And The Stakeholders Facilitating It (Term Paper Sample)

UNDERAGE DRINKING
EMMANUEL
NAIROBI, KENYA.
INTRODUCTION
Underage drinking is the illegal teenage consumption of alcohol. This issue has turned out to be the largest social issue. Many teenagers have taken drinking as a routine simply because they are not aware of the problems that may be associated with underage drinking. The significance of this topic is to create awareness on teenagers and other stakeholders including parents on the risks associated with underage drinking. Alcohol distorts a positive life and ruins it completely. Some of the risks associated with alcohol includes; In the United States, alcohol is the most abused drug among youths according to the Centre for Disease Control.
The problem is taking to its roots, and rapidly growing to a serious and injurious level not only within the United States but also globally. Drinking has resulted to a number of issues which are disastrous to both the individual and society in particular. Statistics from Centre for Disease Control reveals that more than 4300 deaths annually occurs as a result of excessive alcohol consumption by youths (CDC, 2013). Drinking also has a great impact on road safety. Drinking while driving or drinking and driving accounts for a large percentage of fatal accidents. To a large extent the age of youths affected ranges from 12-20 years of age. Many youths takes drinking as a way of socializing and fun since its widely used in parties and many other related events. Some takes it as a way of rebelling from their strict parents and guardians.
We therefore need to solve this problem of underage drinking so as to avoid perishing of our youths through deaths and also solving this problem will alleviate the pain parents and guardians are undergoing through rebel from their sons/daughters. If we ignore this issue, we will forbid the solution of other issues. For instance, if the issue remains unsolved, many deaths will be witnessed and a high immorality rate is likely to be experienced which will give our police officers and teachers hard time in dealing. Parents will also face a psychological trauma since high rebel levels will be experienced from their children and this will have a health effect on them and therefore doctors will have a hard time in researching a variety of appropriate ways to fix the problem.
Underage drinking became a problem between 1970 and 1975 as a result of Vietnam war and the baby-boom period whereby almost whereby the adulthood age was lowered from 21 years to 18 years by almost every state. Lowering of the adult age was directly proportional to the drinking age and hence youths from as low as 18 years started consuming alcohol since law permitted them to do so. The reason behind age lowering, was purposely a way of obtaining more young men as manpower during the Vietnam war and therefore it was hard for one to convince the young youths of age 18 that they were still young and that they should not take alcohol and yet they took place in war.
In 1984, drinking in United States was almost out of control, a woman by the name Candy Lightner who was the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving(MADD), publicized studies to curb the problem. This created the anti-youth, anti-alcohol legislation which grew more serious and the minimum legal drinking age act of 1984 was brought into existence. This law was a threat to the government and the drinking age was to be raised to 21 years within two years of its passing, and hence strict laws against drunk drivers was going to be set. Its however frustrating that since that period, The country had not experienced a drop in drinking age upto date since it has become federally regulated by the constitution. From this, we can easily predict that the law is not working, however we should try our best and bring back the drinking age to 21years. The stakeholders to be discussed in this topic includes; Police officers, parents, doctors, students, professors and teachers.
BODY
Stakeholders are involved in underage drinking either directly or indirectly. For instance students are directly involved in this issue unlike police officers, parents, doctors and teachers who may be involved both directly or indirectly. Teens/students for example may drink due to peer pressure and some external influences such as adolescence stage which may create some psychological imaginations arising from body feeling. This states tempts them and creates an assumption of “feeling good” when they are drunk. This however may ruin their careers in schools and institutions since the level of their concentrations drops and even they end up missing some important academic activities. This to a large extent affects their performance in schools and the end result is poor grades. Drinking in teens may pose a short term effects such as impaired judgement, nausea and slurred speech short term effect. Long term effects includes effects which does not express themselves at the onset of drinking, they take a good while for their expression to be noted. Youths view drinking as a something they do socially not considering the risks which will later accompany them.
Parents also has a role to play in this, they serve as the role model to their children (teens in this case). If parents are drunk, there children are likely to emulate that behavior and they will live to know that drinking is just a normal issue.Therefore parents to a large extent affects their children’s behaviors. Professor Jose Irles of the department of Medicine at the university of Granada postulated that a genetic predisposition to alcohol is likely to occur, that is, continuous drinking from parents will create a sort of inheritance by the offspring. Parents are indirectly affected by their children behaviors in that, they are liable to any misconduct as a result of underage drinking and therefore many parents tends to turn against the underage drinking since they are most affected.
Statistics in 2010 from the Centre of Disease Control indicated that atleast 189,000 emergency rooms were occupied by teens of age 21 years and below as a result of minor and major injuries associated with alcoholism. Doctors have to struggle in coming up with ways of curbing the problems and ensuring that the youths conditions are regained mainly associated with the long term and short term effects. Doctors also advices the youths on the effects of alcohol after treatment and at times gives out necessary precautions to observe. They suffer long working hours so as to protect the lives of youths and hence they are to a larger extent against underage drinking.
Teachers and professors plays a crucial role in guiding and counselling students, as well as revealing to them the effects of alcohol. In schools, drinking may lower the performance of students. It may also result to behavioral changes such as indulgence in sexual activities which may lead so STIs and other sexually related diseases. Teachers also plays a role in ensuring that students found drinking are punished and even sent out of schools.This creates a state of self awareness by students and gives them a room of self control. Sometimes its easy for a teacher to note a strange behavior in students, and when this is spotted, he/she is at the position of helping that student.
Policer officers plays a major role in dealing with wreckless drivers as well as abnormal behaviors from youths which are likely to arise as a result of alcohol. They use breathalyzers to identify the level of alcohol concentration in the blood of the suspects. The police officers also gives out an arrest order incase youths or any other person breaks law. Street i...