Alcohol abuse in high schools

Essay by bpuffn21University, Bachelor'sA-, December 2002

download word file, 3 pages 3.0

Alcohol abuse is an escalating problem facing high schoolers today. High school is the foundation of young adolescents in many ways, especially "experimenting" with different things such as alcohol. Teachers must think of ways of helping these young children. They have to be on the cutting edge on techniques to save the lives of teenagers from substance abuse. What can teachers of high schools do to save the lives of their student's alcohol abuse?

The first step in understanding this drastic problem facing society is to look at the facts and statistics. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported in 2000 that 54% of all young Americans have tried an illicit drug before they finished high school. That's astonishing by itself, and to think what percent of college students have is mesmerizing. Alcohol on the other hand is even worse. Four out of five teenagers have consumed alcohol by the end of high school.

How can you fight against a statistic like that?

People could believe that one of the hardest things in growing up is going through the peer pressure received through high school. It is one of the hardest things we all have to overcome, and nobody feels this pressure harder from there friends than teens. You have to ask yourself, who doesn't want to feel like they belong. This plays a great role in understanding why 80% of teenagers drink by the time they finish high school. To be "popular" in a time where you probably don't even know yourself can cause you to do things that aren't often right. Our tendencies to conform are the reason we often do things we don't want to, just to feel accepted and equal.

In a study done at The University at Albany, the correlation between adolescent binge drinking...