Underage Drinking

When you think of “underage drinking,” what comes to mind? High school seniors having a post-prom booze bash? How about a timid ninth-grader trying his first sip of an alcoholic drink out of curiosity and peer pressure? Think again! A national study conducted over the last 15 years found that 10% of fourth graders have already had more than one sip of alcohol. Between fifth and sixth grade, those numbers doubled. Data consistently finds that individuals who begin underage drinking prior to 15 are four times more likely to suffer addiction alcoholism later in life, than those who began drinking at 21.

Many parents struggle to find answers. Why is drinking while underage so alluring? The teenage years are a relatively long period of maturation where kids are continually pushing their minds, bodies and boundaries to the limit. Many kids enjoy the physical feeling of being “drunk” and their bodies are naturally more susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol, like drowsiness, withdrawal or lack of coordination, which explains why binge drinking is so common later on. Some kids drink to cover up behavior problems, antisocial tendencies, aggression, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem or shyness. Drinking while underage can be encouraged by genetic or environmental factors as well. According to the NIAAA, children whose parents are alcoholics are 4-10 times more likely to develop addiction alcoholism.

One approach to curbing underage drinking is through the passage of laws. For example, all states have now risen the legal drinking age to 21, which has saved more than 25,000 adolescent lives through alcohol related car accidents, says the National Traffic Safety Administration. Additionally, the “Zero Tolerance” law has become increasingly popular because it threatens to take away the drivers license of any teenager caught driving with a blood alcohol content as low as 0.02%. Most states have laws targeting alcohol retailers, requiring them to ID anyone under 30. A new Montana law confiscates driver’s licenses of underage drinkers for 30 days, regardless of whether they were in a vehicle or not and issues alcohol consumption fines from $100 - $300 for a first time offense. Additionally, parents are required to pay for and attend alcohol abuse education classes with their children. Similarly, a new Connecticut law states that, “Any minor who possesses any alcoholic liquor on public or private property shall, for first offense, have committed an infraction and, for any subsequent offense, be fined not less than $200 or more than $500.” This law places additional legal pressure on adults to keep alcohol away from kids while on their own property.

“Parents tend to see underage drinking and occasional binging as a rite of passage, rather than a deadly round of Russian roulette,” the Columbia National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse study reported. Approximately 5,000 minors died in alcohol related incidents, including 1,900 car crashes, 1,600 homicides, 300 suicides and hundreds of other falls, burns, and drownings. As a community, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that we raise alcohol prices, increase Zero Tolerance laws, improve school based prevention programs, commit to law enforcement and develop family-based treatment/prevention programs.

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