Teen Alcohol Abuse & Peer Pressure

By: Chris Monaco, Devin Doran, Trevor Pollack, Noah Hovde, Ryan McWilliams and Eoghan O’brien

Our Purpose

• Alcohol abuse is a major issue facing teens and is growing day by day. Many teens are unaware of the effects alcohol has on their development. The purpose of our project is to inform our peers of the negative effects of alcohol abuse and to convince them not to cave into others pressuring them into abusing alcohol or any other substances.

WHEN TEENS START

• The average age when youth first try alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls.

• By age 14, 41 % of children have had least one drink.

• The average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15-16 years old.

• Teens who begin drinking before age 15 are 5x more likely to develop alcohol dependency than those who begin drinking at age 21.

Reasons For Alcohol Abuse

• Peer pressure• To fit in• Abusive parent or guardian• Curiosity• Stress• Depression• A break up with a girl or boyfriend

Consequences of Alcohol Abuse

• Disrupts brain development• Make poor decisions• DWI/DUI• Death• Alcoholism• Cirrhosis of the liver

PEER PRESSURE

In today's world peer pressure is a reality. Teens are often pressured by their friends into making decisions that they normally wouldn’t make or doing things that they normally wouldn’t do. These decisions include drinking, doing drugs, stealing, fighting, etc. In a sense, peer pressuring someone is the same as bullying them. Often the people doing the pressuring use fear and intimidation to make their victims do as they wish.

Things Teens Are Peer Pressured Into

• Drinking• Smoking• Drugs• Sex• Shoplifting• Bullying• Dieting

Interviews

We interviewed some of our peers in school and asked them these two questions:

• What are your thoughts on teen alcohol abuse?

• Do you feel that teenagers getting peer pressured is a reality?

Words From Our Peers

• “A lot of kids drink too much and they can get into serious trouble with that such as drunk driving…. Kids definitely get peer pressured and it’s a custom now a days and its not a good thing.” – Mason Chen

• “ A lot of kids like to drink and have a good time but kids should be smarter about it and know their limits because it’s dangerous… Kids do get peer pressured and it all depends on who your friends are.”- Nick Cupo

• “Teenage drinking is wrong but kids do it anyway and it leads to bad things… kids aren't really peer pressured because it’s their own decision, but peer pressure does play a role in kids lives today.”- Jeremy Dobbs

Citation page "Peer Pressure." ReachOut Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.

<http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/peer-pressure>.

"Did You Know?" Dangers of Teen Drinking || WE DON'T SERVE TEENS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dontserveteens.gov/dangers.html>.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-of-teenage-drinking.html

“Important Facts on Peer Pressure." - Life123. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.life123.com/parenting/tweens-teens/peer-pressure/facts-on-peer-pressure.shtml>.