Binge Drinking

Essay by jooseHigh School, 11th gradeA, May 2004

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In the past years binge drinking from teens has increased dramatically. Teens have started to drink at younger ages and the gender gap between men and woman is getting smaller. An article from Harvard Health Publications states, "In past generations, boys were much more likely than girls to experiment with alcohol in their early teens, but girls are catching up. In the 1960's, only 7 percent of girls who tried alcohol for the first time were ages 10-14. Today, the number of first-time female and male users in this age group has grown to 31 percent" (22).

Binge drinking has a lot of different meanings to it, but the one used most is defined by Bland, Nugent, White and Winters, "as having five or more drinks in a row" (17). Another study supported the closing of the gender gap is from Bland, Nugent, White and Winters, they say "In 1991, 31 percent of boys and 22 percent of girls in tenth grade engaged in binge drinking. In 1999, 34 percent of boys and 31 percent of girls were binge drinkers" (17).

There are many reasons for the increase in teen binge drinking. One reason would be the feeling of rebellion. Teens feel since they are not allowed to drink it feels good to do something their parents or the law wouldn't let them do. Some people think the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Many of the teens who drink start in high school because they feel like going against their parents. If lowered the drinking by younger teens would decrease significantly. They won't feel this erg to be rebellious. Why is the drinking age at 21? Is it because of the drink driving accidents that had occurred when it was lower? If 18 year olds are...