Alcohol consumption by youth in the United States

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Exceptions to Minimum Age of 21 for Consumption of Alcohol as of January 1, 2007
Exceptions to Minimum Age of 21 for Consumption of Alcohol as of January 1, 2007

Underage drinking in the United States of America is an umbrella term for alcohol consumption by children and adults under 21 years of age across the country.

Although the minimum legal age to purchase alcohol is 21 in all states (see National Minimum Drinking Age Act), the legal details vary greatly. While a few states completely ban alcohol usage for people under 21 [1], the majority have exceptions that permit consumption.

When drinking occurs in private establishments, the alcohol is usually obtained by a person who is over 21[citation needed] though a few liquor and convenience stores illegally sell to underage people. Strict fines make it more appealing to store owners to check a person's age.[citation needed]

Underage drinking has become an activity primarily done behind closed doors. Typically, minors hide their alcohol consumption by drinking quickly before they go out which is often referred to as binge drinking or pre-partying. Brittany Levine explained in her article “Pre-Partying” in the USA Today newspaper that, “of all drinking events involving pre-partying, 80% involved additional drinking afterward.”[2] It is very important that minors be introduced to alcohol in a controlled environment so that supervision and guidance occurs instead of experimentation.

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[edit] The future of underage drinking

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88% of the population over 21 reports supporting the current 21-year drinking age (Gallup, 2007), and the likelihood of it being lowered appears to be low. As it stands, any state that lowers the drinking age would lose 10% of its federal highway funding[3]. This could range from a $6-150 million loss for any single state. However, in 2007, the drinking age debate in the United States was renewed when Choose Responsibility, an organization advocating the lowering of the drinking age in addition to greater alcohol education, was founded. Choose Responsibility has garnered major media attention in the United States since its inception. Regardless underage drinking is still widespread.

A relatively new approach to handling the effects alcohol has on minors around the U.S. has been proposed by the organization Choose Responsibility. John M. McCardell, the founder of Choose Responsibility hopes that giving minors the privilege to consume alcohol at the age of 18 will inspire them to approach alcohol consumption in a safer way. The proposed policy change has a number of rules to persuade minors to drink responsibly before they are of legal age. Before one is eligible to buy, possess, and consume alcohol; a reality-based alcohol education class must be completed in its entirety and each teen must pass a final examination before licensing can occur. If a teen has any alcohol related law violations before they turn 18, they will have a minimum of one year per violation before they are eligible to be licensed.[4] When minors drink together without supervision, there is peer pressure to drink in an uncontrolled manner which leads to irresponsibility. Facing reality of the way minors are continuing to drink in uncontrolled manners is essential while promoting this new approach to others around the country.

[edit] Prevention Programs

Alcohol consumption by minors is extremely prevalent on college campuses across the United States. Many of these universities are taking steps in order to cut down the number of underage students who consume alcohol. There are many different types of methods used among the campuses such as: social norming, motivational interviewing, the transtheoretical model of behavioral changes, and the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students.

Social norming is defined as students having negative misconceptions about how much their peers drink.[5] It is a program utilized on many campuses to help actively engage students in an alcohol prevalent campus atmosphere. The main goal of applying a course similar to social norming on college campuses is to tell the students the actual number of students who drink and how much they drink. A study was done at the University of North Carolina in which the cops administered breathalyzer tests to students returning home at night. The results were that 2 out of 3 students blew a zero Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). The study reassured students that many students on the campus choose not to drink, causing the number of students drinking underage to decline by 15%.[6]

Dr. William Miller developed motivational interviewing in 1981; Miller states that it focuses on helping the individual identify the need to change without help.[7] A main concept of motivational interviewing is that the interviewer does not give much advice rather, the interviewer asks questions pertaining to the student’s life in the future, the student’s behavior in drinking, and how his or her behavior fits into his or her life in the future.

The transtheoretical model of behavioral changes focuses more on what initiatives make students adjust their drinking habits. It includes a five-step program that helps motivate students to change. These five steps include precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.[8] The originators of this prevention program have created a model that is easily adaptable to different people’s lifestyles. Each step in the process requires different types of treatment strategies but each step, consistently follows the program.

The Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students program consists of a brief survey given to students to help them assess their alcohol usage against other students. It also consists of one or two counseling sessions granted to the students to provide support and not be confrontational regarding their alcohol use. As of 2002, a study found that students who completed the BASICS program “reduced their average number of drinks per week, frequency of heavy drinking by two percent, their peak Blood Alcohol Concentration by thirty-five percent, and their rate of alcohol related problems by two percent."[9]


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Seven States Prohibit Underage Drinking[1]
  2. ^ (Levine. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-12-18-prepartying-study_N.htm)
  3. ^ http://epw.senate.gov/title23.pdf Title 23 of the United States Code, Highways.
  4. ^ (McCardell. http://www.chooseresponsibility.org/proposal/)
  5. ^ "Social Norms: An Introduction." National Social Norms Institute. February 2008. [2]
  6. ^ Strand, E. The illusion of college drinking. Psychology Today, October 2003. [3]
  7. ^ White, Aaron. "College Drinking-Prevention Programs." Alcohol Info-Topics in Alcohol Research. 2007. Duke University-Department of Psychiatry. [4]
  8. ^ Walters, Scott, and John Baer. Talking with College Students about Alcohol. New York: The Guilford Press, 2006.
  9. ^ "Campuses with Award-Winning Programs." Alcohol and other Drug Prevention Programs on College Campuses. 2003. U.S. Department of Education. [5]

[edit] External links