More than 10 percent of eighth-graders, 22 percent of sophomores and 26 percent seniors report recent binge drinking. This being said, teen drinking is alarming. Personally, I think teenage drinking is wrong, and I stay away from it. Teen drinking is life changing, and one has to resist the peer pressure to keep life on track.

Being a teen these days, I know first hand about how much other teens drink. It seems like every day I hear a conversation about what someone plans to do the coming weekend at a party, and how much they drank the past weekend. These days, teens seem to start drinking earlier and earlier.

In my opinion, the cause appears to be “peer pressure.” Peer pressure is the social pressure by members of one’s peer group to take a certain action, adopt certain values, or otherwise conform in order to be accepted. Teens are pressured to drink because they think it makes them look “cool.” They think that if they drink, they will be part of the “in crowd.” Peer pressure is hard to resist.

If one doesn’t resist peer pressures to drink, he or she may do many things the person normally wouldn’t do when sober. When teens drink, many things may happen that they never think would. Teens who start to drink at a young age may end up having brain damage or alcohol-abuse problems in the future. Most teens feel invincible, so drinking and driving doesn’t seem bad to them.

If a teen drinks too much, the alcohol may make him or her suicidal. Also, with enough alcohol, one may display sexual behavior that the person normally wouldn’t. Alcohol may also cause one to do drugs, and a mixture of drinking and drugs may turn fatal. All of these actions and more may arise from teen drinking. Teens will eventually be accustomed to performing these actions, and they may become habitual.

There are many reasons why I don’t. First off, I try to be different from every one and set myself apart. Since most teens drink, I don’t because I like to be different. Another reason is if a teen plays a sport and drinks on the weekends, he or she cannot perform to the best of abilities. Running cross country and track is tough, and I can’t do the best I can if I have a beer gut. Having a high GPA is one of the biggest things right now. I’d rather study on the weekends than go to a party, drink and kill brain cells. One of the biggest reasons is that I like to have control of what I do. When someone drinks alcohol, he or she loses most common sense. I don’t want that to happen to me. I like to always know what I’m doing.

In my opinion, there is no point to drinking at our age. All teens want to do is look cool, and they will do anything to do that. When teens drink, they do stupid stuff, and they may lose a loved one in a fight or maybe a wreck. Teen drinking is seen everywhere and will be tough to stop. Resisting peer pressure is the only way to stop it.

— Jordan Huffstetler, Orangeburg

You must be logged in to comment.