Simple concepts demand further examination

Even though it is illegal to drink alcohol in the United States until you are 21, and in Canada until you are 19 (18 in Quebec), most teens can get access to alcohol, or will at least be exposed to it or have friends who drink. It is therefore up to you to make a decision whether to drink.

     Deciding to drink can have many harmful consequences. Usually, younger teens (under 16) are neither mentally nor physically developed enough to handle a strong drug like alcohol. Also, the earlier that one begins drinking, the more likely they are to have problem with alcohol later in life.

     Although most teens drink alcohol in order to fit in and look cool, they often end up doing foolish things due to the fact that they are drunk and may end up being embarrassed the nest day or having done or said something that they regret. Also, the next day you will suffer a hangover, which is not fun and includes, upset stomachs, headaches, dizziness and sensitivity to light and sound.

     Drinking may begin to interfere with your social life, sports and school work. Also, your parents will most likely disapprove of your drinking, and this could result in punishment and groundings. As well, it has been seen that teens who drink end up being more sexually active and having more unprotected sex with partners that they do not know as well. This may result in pregnancy and STD’s, which could then end up in death.

     People often say that they drink to escape from their problems, but it is a proven fact that drinking only leads to more problems - especially problems with the law. In fact, research shows that 32% of teens under 18 who are in long-term juvenile detention centers were under the influence of alcohol at the time of their crime and/or arrest.

     Also, teens who drink may get seriously hurt or even die. Over 38% of all drowning deaths are alcohol-related. Use of alcohol greatly increases the chance that a teen will be involved in a car accident, homicide, or suicide. If you do choose to drink, don’t drink and drive or let your friends drink and drive. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), on one of the most popular prom nights in 1999, as many as 62% of the traffic fatalities were alcohol-related.

Long-term alcohol use can have extremely serious health consequences. Liver damage is a widely known consequence of alcohol abuse. Years of drinking can also damage the pancreas, heart, and brain. Heavy drinking can lead to malnutrition (if alcohol is used as a substitute for food) or obesity (if regular or binge eating is combined with the high calorie content of alcoholic beverages). 

— Drinking alcohol is one of the dumbest decisions you could make throughout life. You get absolutely nothing out of it. So if you’re thinking about trying alcohol ever, I’d recommend not to. Why ever it would appear to anybody as a good thing is beyond me, the negative health effects and temporary impairment are the major consequences of this drug that appears to have no positive light to it. Do the right thing and stay away from it, the minor amount of fun that you actually get from it does not make up for turmoil you face from using it. Think about your actions and how they can affect your future. 

It’s not uncommon to hear people discussing the next, upcoming technology and asking “what could be next?”. It’s general curiosity and it makes perfect sense to speculate on the unknown, especially when we have the assured knowledge that something is definitely next. There’s a lot to wonder and that makes it all the more interesting to ponder over. In the past decade, we have seen more technological advances than anybody could have predicted. So, what will we see evolve in the next decade? Nobody can be sure; many of us will find ourselves making guesses on what will replace the current cell phones, computers, televisions, etc. and what industries will be flooding the corporate world and in turn controlling our lives? There definitely is no person that could answer the question “what’s next?”. It’s unpredictable. Good or bad, we can prepare to see most things drastically change in the next ten years. There is always an idea and there is always somebody willing to pursue an idea, yet we’re in an unusual time, not as many people are willing to pump funds in to an idea in this struggling economy. Investments just aren’t the gold rush they once were and that puts our nation at a great loss, it’s the funding of ideas that helps to create the next big thing. While we have no clue what to expect to see arise in this world, we do need something to come up or else consumers start to get bored and displeased. We can’t constantly be looking at the same companies and the same products. Our society has become so dependent on luxuries that it’s almost sickening. We all do the same thing, we look at something new and aren’t happy until we get it. We want the latest technology, the sleekest design, the things that provide competition with our peers. Everybody has to keep up with everybody else to be happy. So, why worry? Why is it necessary that we have everything instantaneously? Why are we so eager to unload all of our earnings on something that probably won’t get any use? Well, that’s just how we are. We need something to replace everything and we get tired of things very quickly. So what would we do if people stopped asking “what’s next?” and people stopped trying to come up with the answer? 

I’ve recently found, from reading articles and listening to students, that the general belief in high school is that experimenting with controlled substances is just another part of being a teenager. I thought that this sounded ridiculous so I’ve decided to look in to the drug/alcohol statistics among teens in the united states; here they are:

• 54% of teenagers experiment with Marijuana before they graduate high school.
• 58% of teenagers agree that obtaining Marijuana is simple.
• 25% of teenagers claim they have seen drug transactions in their school/neighborhoods.
• 80% of teenagers have tried alcohol during high school.
• 70% of teenagers have smoked a cigarette during high school. 
• 30% of high school students have tried stronger drugs (Ecstacy, LSD, Methamphetamine, Crack-cocaine, etc.)
• 23% of teenagers have willingly taken a prescription drug that was not prescribed to them.
• 91% of teenagers who tried alcohol continue drinking it. 
• 70% of people who begin drinking before the age of 18 become functional alcoholics.
• 20% of people who begin drinking before the age of 18 become dysfunctional alcoholics.
• Underaged drinking costs the United States government an average of $53 Billion per year. 
• Approximately 600 tons (1.2M pounds) of marijuana successfully cross the border every year. Netting about $1.5 Billion at todays street value. 

So, I concluded that everything I had heard is completely accurate. That being, is it acceptable for high school students to experiment with drugs/alcohol just because they’re kids? I don’t think so. No matter what your age, you should receive the same punishment for doing drugs and for those under the age of 21, alcohol is still an illegal drug. I’m an advocate for kids being sentenced to jail time for the use or distribution of controlled substances. In the past, court ordered punishments have been relatively weak towards underaged drug use, but why? In truth, If you’re old enough to drink or smoke, you’re old enough to spend a few months in a jail cell. So maybe it’s time to find a more sensical way to enjoy yourself.