Alcohol Is Replacing Graduations With Funerals

Shannon Murphy, 18 

From eggnog at Christmas to a toast at weddings, alcohol has wiggled its way into our culture more and more over the years. Ethanol, also known as alcohol, has gone from a glass of red wine at dinner for mature adults to a dangerous growing habit for teens when they want something to do.  Alcohol is not a poison that kills when swallowed, however, like anything else it can be very dangerous especially when it falls into the hands of naïve and reckless teens who just want a good time. Instead of going to see the latest horror movie, teens are getting wasted to have fun, feel more comfortable, or relieve stress.

Whatever the reason, it doesn't make it right or any less dangerous.  Chances heighten for rape, violence, car accidents, severe drugs, STD's, pregnancy and suicide go up when someone cracks open a Budweiser. The amount of teens who have drank alcohol when are seniors in high school is a jaw dropping eighty seven percent. I believe that things like harsher punishment, better alcohol education, and more responsible parents will make these numbers will go down. But this can't happen until people realize the severity of this problem.

Most parents tell their kids that drinking is never a good idea. Yet there are thousands of teens picking up a bottle anyway. Teens drink for hundreds of reasons but the main ones include: having fun, feeling more relaxed around people, and an escape from problems.  Alcohol acts as a "social lubricant" at parties claims 18 year old Ben. Many teens feel more relaxed when they have had something to drink which makes them feel like their having a good time. Alcohol is often perceived as a stimulant when it in fact is a depressant that slows everything form a persons motor skills to their perception.  Seventeen year old Samantha says, "My friends suck when they're sober." This girl is saying that she only enjoys being around her friends when they have had something to drink.

To me that's a shame. If your friends aren't your friends when they are sober, then they weren't your friends to begin with. I don't consider spending an entire night with someone who can't stand up or don’t have any idea about what they are saying to be fun.  Something that can simply be swallowed has replaced shopping and movies. Alcohol has also become a source of stress and anxiety release for struggling teens. Being a teenager is never easy, whether it be a coach coming down on a teen about the goal they need to make at the next game or the loss of someone close.

There are just so many stresses for a teenager. And sometimes talking to a good friend is not enough. So they decide to go to a party and get totally smashed. A lot of teens look forward to Friday and Saturday nights so they don't have to think about college admissions, an English grade, or why they just don't quite fit in.  Sometimes its human nature to run from things that seem too big to handle or look for a way to have a good time but alcohol isn't the answer and there are teens that don't realize this. Running away from a fight with a boyfriend into the arms of Captain Morgan will only make them that much worse when you finally get your head out of the toilet. Teens hear that drinking can cause accidents and mistakes, but just like everyone else think it will never happen to them. Only the sad truth is that alcohol is dangerous no matter how much you drink or how responsible you are.

Car accidents, homicides, and suicides are the three leading causes of death for teens aging from 15 to 21. In all three cases alcohol is a main component. In this country people can get their license as young as young as 15 years old. At this age teens are still learning the rules of the road and how to handle their car, when you throw in weekend parties, you have a deadly combination.  

Most teens say that they have only been to a couple of parties that did not have alcohol present. Imagine how many of those teens are drinking, and now imagine that half of the teens drinking need to get home on time for curfew. So now there is an inexperienced teen drunk driver on the road. It’s bad enough that adults can't drive drunk, which just goes double for teens.  

The consumption of alcohol heightens your emotions immensely so if someone is upset about something and has alcohol in their system then it can often become ten times worse. A verbal argument can turn to a black eye and bloody nose in a moment. In worse case scenarios it could turn uncontrollably violent which may lead to a knife or gun being pulled. Drinking also impairs your judgment which can cause you to make poor decisions.

Girls are more likely to be raped, become pregnant, or get an STD when they are drunk because they are so vulnerable.  In high school everyone is fighting to fit in and get noticed. At a party a senior jock comes up to a sophomore girl and starts flirting with her, and after having a couple shots, she thinks that he likes her. When in reality he just wants to get some action and doesn't care about an underclassman. An hour later the girl is on the verge of passing out and the next thing she knows she is pregnant and doesn't know how she got that way, let alone who the father is. Unsettling stories like this are happening every day. Teens need to wake up and learn that, yes, it can happen to them.

Walking into a liquor store and buying a bottle of alcohol has become harder for underage teens yet the percentage of underage drinking is getting worse and worse. There are only so much liquor store clerks and the country can do about this problem. If parents took more initiative towards finding out what was going on in their kids lives then they'd learn of their drinking habits. Then they can come up with such a severe punishment that they can scare their kids from ever drinking again.

I feel like a lot of parents don't try to find out what's going on in their kids lives and that is the root of the problem. A parent’s job is to take care of their kids even if that may mean sticking their noses where it doesn't belong.  Then again this might not be so easy for the parents that are alcoholics themselves. It’s such a smart example to be setting for your kids when you basically show them that drinking is ok. I believe that alcohol education is also a problem that affects teen drinking.

Most kids know that drinking is bad for them but they don't necessarily know the specifics. I bet that most kids have never seen an alcoholic liver, the results of a drunken driving accident or that alcohol can lead to harsher drugs in the future.  Maybe if kids did see what could happen then they'd think twice before taking a shot of vodka at their friend's birthday party. These things seem drastic but a drastic situation needs a drastic solution. It is taking the lives of innocent teens and it has to be stopped no matter what the cost.

It is very unsettling that, globally, three million teenagers are out-and-out alcoholics. It doesn't make sense that teens think alcohol is an escape or a way to have fun when there are so many productive things they could do instead.

It bothers me, as a teen, that teens ignore all the caution signs about drinking. At the end of the day no matter how much people talk about underage drinking or see another drunk seventeen year old buried in chunks of metal, from their first car on the six o clock news unless people do something about it.  

There is no such thing as too much when it comes to protecting future generations.

The more effort, time, and money put into this seemingly unnoticed problem then the fewer teens will be buried or loose their future over an addicting drug.  

Parents are not supposed to bury their kids, but unless something is done about this there will be more and more funerals replacing graduations.