Top 10 Teenage Drinking Facts: What Happens When Kids Drink Alcohol? Emotional Effects
Top 10 facts about teenage drinking. What emotional effects do children seek when they drink alcohol?A child lives in a world of fairytales and innocence, but as they grow up, they undergo many changes. Boys start to grow mustaches, girls develop physically, and these changes can create confusion and inner conflict. The surge of hormones can make moods unstable. Teenagers start to feel attraction toward the opposite sex, leading to new experiences and emotional challenges.
Teenagers often long to return to a carefree, joyful state. The instability of the teenage mind, along with fear of difficulties and sometimes laziness, makes them seek easy ways to ease emotional tension. Alcohol and drugs are among the options they might choose. Teens are often afraid of drugs because the consequences are well known and scary.
Alcohol, like drugs, can cause dependence, but it develops more slowly. Many teenagers believe alcohol is safer, so they prefer drinking, thinking the risks are less severe. Alcohol addiction typically forms only after frequent, regular drinking over time. While teens usually do not drink every day, they do so at parties to feel free and careless, or to show off their courage.
10 FACTS ABOUT TEENAGE DRINKING:
- Why are teenagers eager to drink alcohol? Teenage drinking is already a serious concern, but few people examine the real reasons behind it. Parents should pay attention to both internal and external factors that push teenagers towards alcohol:
Fun. Ethanol in alcoholic drinks boosts endorphins (the hormones of happiness) in the blood, improving mood and making the world seem brighter and more enjoyable.
Courage. Parties are common among teenagers, with the main goal of socializing. Teenage boys often feel nervous around girls they like. Alcohol, such as a bottle of beer, helps them approach without fear. Often, they would not do so when sober.
Carefreeness. While intoxicated, problems at home or with peers seem less significant, and teens may feel, if only briefly, that everything is fine.
Maturity. Family gatherings often involve alcohol. When a young child asks to try a drink, parents say, "Not yet, you're too young!" This makes the child look forward to adulthood, believing it means being allowed to drink. By the time of high school graduation, many teens feel grown up and try alcohol, even though it's illegal, often keeping it a secret from parents.
Feelings of freedom and lack of restrictions. In childhood, children are closely supervised, but as teenagers, they seek independence. Alcohol numbs emotions, including fear, and relieves insecurity. Under its influence, teens may feel invincible, leading to reckless actions.
Advice:
If you want to know if your teenager is drawn to risky behaviors or if your family atmosphere is healthy, take our unique test Parenting Mentor Test. You may find there is nothing to worry about, and your child does not seek the effects alcohol provides. - Reckless and risky sexual behavior. Alcohol greatly increases the chance that teens will have sex or start their sexual lives earlier. Sometimes, drunkenness leads to unprotected or promiscuous sex, increasing the risk of STDs, including incurable ones like AIDS and hepatitis. Unplanned pregnancies and abortions also become more common among teens who drink.
- Terrible traffic accidents caused by drunk teenagers. The number of car accidents involving alcohol is rising. Teens, lacking driving experience, are less able to avoid danger when drunk. Most crashes involving drunk teens have tragic outcomes.
- Poor decision making. Alcohol impairs judgment and logic. Drunk teenagers are more likely to make reckless choices, which can result in fights, assaults, and other negative outcomes. Their emotional state deteriorates, self-control decreases, and they are easily influenced.
- Drinking under parental supervision. In some families, drinking is not seen as wrong. Some parents believe it's better for teens to drink "under their supervision." Sometimes, parents even pour Champagne for kids at celebrations, normalizing alcohol use from an early age.
- Teenage dependence develops faster than in adults. Studies show the body develops until age 21. Starting to drink alcohol as a teen drastically increases the risk of addiction—fourfold compared to adults. Regular drinking harms developing organs, including the brain, nervous system, liver, and hormones. That is why drinking is illegal for anyone under 21.
Alcohol also weakens the body’s defenses, making it harder for teens to control impulses or make decisions. This increases the risk of addiction and health problems, including irreversible diseases that can last a lifetime. - Teen suicides under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, making reckless behavior more likely. Combined with depression or feeling misunderstood, drunken teens are at greater risk for suicidal thoughts—and, tragically, suicide itself.
- Heredity. Many believe alcoholism is not inherited, but research has shown a genetic predisposition does exist. There are genetic tests that can identify a greater risk of alcoholism even before birth.
- A ruined future and career. Teens who drink are often looking for an easy life and may lose motivation to study, work, or plan for the future. Addiction can destroy not only their health, but also their relationships and future prospects, leaving them dependent and unfulfilled.
- Misleading messages from the media. Although news and TV shows warn against teenage drinking, alcohol advertising—including for beer and sweet cocktails—continues to target young people. Illegal sales to minors also remain a problem and represent a significant part of the alcohol industry's profits.