Hey, I think this is a good thing to discuss; underage drinking.
Let's be honest, that's pretty widespread in Oakcrest. Hell, I think that's pretty widespread among pretty much almost every high school, but if you think about it hard enough, why is it like that?
What is it about alcohol that makes us teenagers go crazy? Is it because it's fun? You get together with a bunch of friends, throw back a few beers and before you know it you're streaking down main street and the next day you wake up with a fake tattoo of a pirate on your neck and some guy named Ben wrote his name all over your arms and legs. (true story)
Why is it, we teenagers can't seem to wait until we're 21 to get drunk? It's legal then. There aren't any repercussions age wise and we'll be able to get into bars and clubs without having to use our older siblings fake ID's.
Is it because it's cool? Are we really all so lame that we fall under the influence of peer pressure and images? I like to think my fellow teenagers are a little better than that, but I can't help but think underage drinking is all about the image after seeing some sophomore girl upload twelve pictures, all of them with her and a red cup.
Personally, I'm not really one to talk. I'll be the first to admit I've engaged in under aged drinking. Why did I do it though? Yeah, sure, it's fun and I do have a few stories that would be fun to tell in class, but I really couldn't wait until I was old enough and maybe a little more mature?
I'm not victim to image, trust me. Anything I do, I could care less how it makes me look. I don't drink because I think it makes me cool. In fact, if someone's taking a picture of me and I have a beer in my hand I make sure it's out of frame 'cause I got my dad added on Facebook and he don't need to see those things, you know?
I can't really say I do it for fun. Sure, there is a certain sense of entertainment in drinking with your friends, but the hangover the day after really isn't even worth it.
Is it a social sort of thing? I meet people via parties, so maybe that's it.
I guess my question would be; Why do you think teenagers drink as much as they do?
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Well Rachael, I definitely know where you're coming from with the "image" part of drinking. I have a few friends that when we drink they pretend to be drunk and I can tell because I know how a fake and a real drunk person acts. When I was a freshman and a sophomore, I thought if I drank over the weekend I was the shit, but now that I got a little older, I drink because it just lightens up the mood. When I go to parties, everyone is drinking, some for the image and some because they enjoy it, but drinking will always be associated with high school students. Honestly though, drinking isn't bad but only if you don't do it in excess, if you do it in excess though, bad things happen. Therefore, that's why you have to be 21 to drink because a lot of high school kids are dumb and just drink to get drunk, unlike grown men who have a beer when they get home from work to relax. To sum everything up, teenagers drink as much as they do because it's cool and fun, basically for the image and for a good time.
ReplyDeleteWell Rachael, I think teenagers drink more because they are forbidden to. It human nature to want than you can have. Teenagers don’t have the legal privilege to consume alcohol, therefore this motivates them to drink. I mean even as a child you always want to do something that you can’t do. Mom says don’t this, and what do we do? We go right ahead and do it and take it to an extreme. And I think this happens because we all want a little freedom and control over our own decisions. We want to make our own decision weather we are right or wrong. Underage drinking is only a way to gaining freedom from the law and pressure that teenagers experience. it’s a symbol that screams to the world that we need to make our own choices because we have the capabilities to know the difference between right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of "lightening the mood" :) I actually agree with that. Getting a few beers into someone definitely loosens them up. I guess there is always going to be that division: the ones that drink for fun and the ones that drink for image.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with Harleen. Teenagers sure are silly sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI think that most teenagers do start drinking for the whole "image". They want to be involved in the whole highschool party scene and they think its cool. Eventually they might grow out of that stage and just continue to drink for the fun of it.
ReplyDeletei agree with erica. a lot of people do drink for image purposes. lets face it, if your at a highschool a party, a real highschool party that is, do you want to be that one person sitting in the corner with a red cup in your hand filled with soda? i don't think so and if you do more power to you. i'll admit that i have fallen into the image trap that rach and all of you are talking about. i feel quite imature for doing so. On the other hand drinking does lighten the mood and make some things more fun. especailly if you're with a group of your friends. note the word FRIENDS. that's the key word.
ReplyDeleteI think that most kids engage in underage drinking not only because they think its "cool", but because it gives them an excuse to come out of there shell and interact with other people with no expectations. Although it may be wrong for kids to participate in these activities i believe its a learning experience that all kids need to go through to grow up in a sense. I believe its better for them to experience it at a resonable age then to go binge drink when their 21 because they've never experienced it before. Overall i believe drinking is an experience in itself that regardless of how hard you try to avoid it: it's going to eventually present itself.
ReplyDeleteTeenagers mostly drink because of popular image, because let's face it: if a "high school party" consisted of playing leap frog and running around the neighborhood, naked, yelling "I'm a mole rat!" at the top of your lungs, I don't deny that our generation wouldn't do that. As stupid as they are. People buy into the whole image because it is what "everyone else is doing." Like you said, if it wasn't for that reason, people wouldn't upload 13932 pictures on a social website of their red cups and their bottles of Patrone.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, drinking relaxes people. You meet people, you share a bottle, you build new connections, and make new friendships. I think it brings people together, in some sort of way. I mean, seeing people in school that you were like BFFs at a party and smiling at each other remembering all those silly moments kind of helps you share something. I guess.
I think teenagers drink as much as they do because of stress and school. Im not gona lie, i love drinking. Id do it alot more if it wasnt so hard to get or expensive. i think kids do it because of stress and just to have a good time. Anyone who has drank before knows that it isnt a party without drinks. Drinking games are pretty fun too, everyone loves beer pong. Some kids just do it to fit in or be "cool" but truthfully, i think that is the most annoying thing on earth when kids prentend to be drunk and do stupid things. Like.. drinking doesn't mess you up that bad that you when you drink a half of a beer that you run outside naked when its snowing. or when you run to the bathroom like your gona puke and you really dont. Like, people are different, some kids so it to have fun and relax, and some kids do it to try to fit in and seem cool. It depends on who does it.
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