Communication Strategies

This speech discusses the various consequences of underage drinking including

Physical effects such as injuries and death resulting from underage drinking

Mental consequences. Here underage drinking effects such as brain damage, addiction and memory loss are discussed.

Legal implication as underage drinking is against the law.

Lastly, a discussion on how underage drinking compromises the social life of the victim is given.

Underage Drinking
Underage drinking is quite common in our society despite is numerous effects on the physical, mental, social, and economic life of the victim. First, there are many physical consequences of underage drinking. According to available statistics, an estimated 5,000 teens die each year due to alcohol related injuries (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). Such include car accidents, homicide, drowning, burns, and suicides. It has also been established that underage drinkers are at a higher risk of sustaining fatal alcohol poisoning as well as permanent scars and disability. Since drinking slows down reaction and thinking, underage drinkers have increased risk of being victims of rape (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). This is because it makes it hard for them to either refuse sex or escape an attack. Other physical consequences include liver damage, stomach problems and problems of growth and development hormone production which can compromise development of body organs (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003).

Underage drinking is dangerous to the mental health of the victim. Drinking alters the thinking ability and feeling in the victim (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). Based on this reasoning, underage drinking has been closely attributed with incidences of depression, anxiety and suicide among the teens. According to scientists, the mind of an individual continues to develop until their early twenties. This has the implication that underage drinking can have long term effects on the victims brain (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). Some of these effects include possible brain damage, compromise memory problem and problems of thinking, and learning. It has been sufficiently established that victims of underage drinking are at a higher risk of being psychologically dependant on alcohol (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). This is quite detrimental to the victims day-to-day academic and economic life as their effectiveness and reliability will be influenced by alcohol.

Another consequence of underage drinking is its legal implications to the victim. It is a crime under the constitution of America for a minor to drink alcohol. This means that once caught drunk, teens are subjected to legal punishments such as serving prison terms, losing driving license, paying fines, or engaging in unpaid community service (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). Also, underage drinking has been identified as a reason for increased crime activities among the youth. Such include rape and homicide whose legal implication is quite serious. According to available statistics on underage prison population in America, an estimated 70 percent are due to alcohol related crimes (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). Still, underage drinking can be a source of legal consequences to the adults who provide alcohol to teens. It is due to this reason that parents and other adult members of the community are legally bound to serve in informing the teens of the negative effects of drinking alcohol.

Underage drinking affects the social life of an individual (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). This is because drinking compromises the reasoning and judgmental power of an individual. Such social effects include loss of reliable family relationships by the victim as well as breakdown of social relationships with others in the society. Education has become a crucial tool in the realization of sustainable social-economic life by individuals in the society. However, according to available statistic alcohol has been closely attributed to the high levels of school dropouts and poor academic performance by students (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2003). This has the final implication of increased unreliability of the future generation of the American community.

Therefore, owing to the numerous physical, social, and economic consequences of underage drinking in the American community, there is need for all stakeholders to device means of solving this social vice. To realize this, the law enforcement should engage its resources in fighting against the access and use of alcohol by the teens. It is only by doing so that the future of our nation can be promising.