Teenage Alcohol Abuse and Its Solutions

Have you ever been drunk? Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused drugs in the United States. Teenagers most commonly abuse alcohol between the ages of twelve through seventeen. Even though teenage alcohol abuse has been declining since 1998 it is still a major problem in the United States. Three solutions to the problem of teenage alcohol abuse are decreasing alcohol consumption on TV, zero tolerance, and lowering the drinking age.
Decreased alcohol consumption on TV is a possible solution to decreasing teenage alcohol abuse. Alcohol on TV is portrayed as being the accepted by everybody no matter the age; for example if a teenager turns to BET there will be at least one song showing or singing about alcohol consumption. Wesley Perkins believes, “The exaggeration of alcohol abuse tends to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more young people believe heavy drinking occurs, the more heavily they tend to drink in order to conform”(4). This common false impression o...