Teenage Drinking Essay Example for Free

Teenage Drinking Essay For the past decade, there has been a major problem with underage drinking in this world. Many of teenagers have been able to buy consumed drinking without the appearance of their parents. Today, many teenagers experience different things in the world. Whether it is their first date or first day in high school, teens are always eager to try something different or new. One of the things that teenagers try is drinking alcohol. Unfortunately, underage drinkers often abuse alcohol. Many reasons why underage teens are consuming alcohol because there were alcoholics in the family, peer pressure, stress and family problems. When growing up with an alcoholic, the kids mind thinks that it is normal to drink non-stop. The emotional and psychological scars that children can develop in alcoholic homes can be so deep that they can last well into adulthood. If you were raised in a home with alcoholism or addiction, you may find that some of the following characteristics are very familiar(Dr. Jan Woititz). People tend to become isolated, fear people and authority figures become approval seekers, be frightened of angry people, be terrified of personal criticism, become alcoholics, marry them or both view life as a victim have an overwhelming sense of responsibility, be concerned more with others than themselves, feel guilty when they stand up for themselves, become addicted to excitement, confuse love and pity love people who need rescuing, stuff their feelings lose the ability to feel, have low self-esteem, and judge themselves harshly. Those are just few of the effects of alcoholic problems in the family. Studies state that people look to alcohol because of economic, job stress or marital discord. In humans between certain types of alcoholism and adverse early childhood experiences. High levels of stress may influence drinking frequency and quantity. This relationship between stress and drinking even is stronger when alternative coping mechanisms and social supports are  lacking. Finally, when individuals believe that alcohol will help to reduce the stress in their lives, alcohol is most likely to be used in response to stress. Drinking appears to follow stress but some evidence also links excessive drinking to the anticipation of a major stress or even during times of stress (BRESSERT). Stress can lead to being a alcoholic because the person is so tired of being in a state of stress so they look for something that can calm them down so they turn to either weed or alcohol. They drink as much as they could until it goes away but in reality the stress does not go away. So if it do not work then that means they going to keep looking towards liquor to get rid of it. This drinking can make their way of thinking change. Over time, heavy drinking interferes with the neurotransmitters in the brain that are needed for good mental health. So while alcohol may help deal with stress in the short term, in the long run it can contribute to feeling of depression and anxiety and make stress harder to deal with (Eva Cyhlarov). Joseph A. Califano, Jr says The media focuses on illegal drugs [ such as ] heroin, but thats the tail. The dog is alcohol and the dog is really biting our kids (69). This can cause you to hurt others, get you into illegal trouble, and damage your relationships. Alcohol can damage the young brain, interferes with mental and social development, and interrupts academic progress. Alcohol is attracts teenagers easily and leads to the three leading causes of teen death: accidents, homicide and suicide. You can also harm your body now and when you grow up and also get you addicted. When drunk people tend to not notice anything so they start fights, unprotected sex, driving drunk and heavy hangovers. People have died from drinking on the beach and like to go swimming which leads to death. It is said from Anthony that people dont die from smoking weed, they die from drinking alcohol(70). It seems to be true because you cannot die from a plant but you can die from something that is mix with ma ny chemicals. They can die from intense alcohol intoxication. Why do teens drink? Teens seem to look towards drinking as a pleasure but what they do not notice is messing up their body. Even though they know its bad for them, they insist that alcohol isnt really a drug, however kids  know that beer, wine, and liquor can you into big trouble. It is said by CASA that 8th graders used 47.0% of alcohol, 10th graders used 66.9% and 12th Graders used 78.4%. Used in past year, 8th graders are 38.7%, 10th graders are 60.0%, and 12th graders are 71.5%. Used in the past months, 8ths graders are 19.6%, 10th graders are 60.0% and 12th graders are 48.6%. Seventy-two percent of college students report that they used alcohol at least once within the 30 days prior to completing the Core survey. Within the last year, 84 percent of students report they drank alcohol (Alcohol and College Students Drinking Fact Sheet, 1). 82% of students under age 21, using alcohol within the past year. Student athletes are more often the heaviest drinkers in the overall student population. Half of college athletes (57 percent of men and 48 percent of women) are binge drinkers and experience a greater number of alcohol related harms than other students. College athletes are also more likely than other students to say that getting drunk is an important reason for drinking(Dying to Drink by Henry Wechsler, Ph.D.). Seventy-eight percent of college athletes report that they used alcohol on at least one occasion in the past 30 days prior to completing the Core survey. Within the past year, 88 percent of student athletes report using alcohol. One in five athletes believe others students drinking adversely affects their involvement on an athletic team or in other organized groups. Some athletes do not think of the repercussions while they are out with fellow teammates, drinking a limitless amount of alcohol. They are caught up in the moment and want to be cool with friends and associates. They don’t think how this is going to affect their upcoming game or practice. Some athletes believe they can handle excessive drinking and performing well in games. There thought pattern is party hard right now and worry about practice or the game later. This is a poor thought pattern that will always harm their performance. Athletes know alcohol affects their system in a negative way, yet they still consume large amounts(Nelson and Wechsler1 2001). Colleges and pro-football leagues look at this kind of things. They have a wide-range programs that can track and also test 100% if someone is under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Today, as you may have read many teenagers are under the influence of alcohol in the stages of high school and college. There were many studies  that were conduction that gave us information about the average student alcoholics or up and coming alcoholics. There were many effects of alcoholic that people did not understand. These kids do not understand what it can do to your life and physical-self in the future. They wont understand the outcomes until it hits them clearly in the head.

The Role of Women in America Essay -- Womens Studies

The Role of Women in America In her essay, â€Å"Housewives and Homework: The Lacemakers of Narsapur,† Chandra Talpade Mohanty focused on how men sold products that women produced and profited from women’s work. The essay basically pointed out how work can be defined according to sexual identity. It made me wonder if American women are still perceived by men in society as being housewives even though some of us are doctors, lawyers, teachers etc. Is the work that women do seen as what Mohanty pointed out in her essay as â€Å"leisure time activities†? I think that to some extent men believe that women’s sole purpose on Earth is to be their wives/partners and to be good mothers to their children. Even though we â€Å"leisurely,† as Mohanty so plainly categorized our work according to men in India, go out to our different careers or occupations everyday, we are not truly seen as providers or given credit for being part providers for the family. Some men may feel that we pu t forth more of an effort in being a woman who cleans the house, cooks, and takes care of the children. Maybe our â€Å"le...

Hagar Currie Shipley from the novel “The Stone Angel” by Margaret Laurence and Edgar Gallant Essay

Through the character Hagar Currie Shipley from the novel â€Å"The Stone Angel† by Margaret Laurence and Edgar Gallant, we can see that life experience and religion have certain affects on people which may change as they grow older. Those impacts can be for the good or the bad. These decisions are made by the people who experience something so great that had changed their minds. When someone goes thought something that might have changed their lives then they sometimes become a different person. Hagar Shipley is often found in contact with her past but not with her emotions. She had been thought a lot in her life and one thing was holding her back which lead her to make the decisions she did. On the other hand, Edgar Gallant, uses his emotions to share his past with his relatives and loved ones. Being this way Edgar became the person he is now. These two people are unique in their own ways but they still have certain similarities with their lives experiences. First Paragraph Hagar Shipley’s life experience has an important affect on her present self since she keeps on leaving the present whenever she feels uncomfortable. In her old age, she escapes the present through daydreaming and wanders around in her past in search of a situation where she had control instead of having to deal with the present situation. For example when Hagar is given Barium by the doctor at the hospital and she is wondering what will happen next: â€Å"I’ve waited like this, for things to get better of worse, many and many a time. I should be used to it. So many years I waited at the Shipley’s place†¦Ã¢â‚¬  We see here that Hagar does not feel comfortable in the present being given a substance she does not know. Therefore Hagar leaves the present in search of a situation she has been in previously where she knows what will happen. Hagar does not only escape from the present mentally but also physically. Even though Hagar is a very proud woman, she becom es progressively more powerless to care for herself and therefore becomes an unbearable tension on her son, Marvin and his wife, Doris. This tension becomes even worst as she takes a trip away from home leaving them stranded, not knowing where she has disappeared: â€Å"Oh dear, you threw an awful scare into us. Why should you go and do such a thing, anyway, mother? When I came back from the store, and found you weren’t there, I nearly when out of my mind. Its been so worrying for us, and we felt so awful, having to go to the police. They looked at me in such a funny way, as though I should’ve taken better care, but how on earth was I to know you’d do a thing like that?† We see here the problems that Hagar has inflicted upon her son and his wife. We do not hear very often of an old lady of ninety two years old running away from home. Hagar needs care because she has become a child. Hagar was never a child because her father made her grow up faster then her age. So as Hagar looks into her past at her childhood she sees a grown up child, so in her old age, she became the child she never was. Hagar’s college education was not a very important part of Hagar’s life even though it has prevented her to live the care free of a young growing women. In those days, college was not the same for girls and boys. We can see this through a quote from Jason Currie: â€Å"It’s not the same for you-there’s no women here to teach you haw to behave like a lady.† Jason was sending Hagar East to learn how to become a lady, not for work related knowledge. This is shown by Jason when Hagar come home two years later: â€Å"Do you think I sent you down East for two solid years just so you could take a one-room school?† Hagar’s father did not need her to learn to do any type of work, he had sent her there for her to be pretty and know how to behave herself like a lady to show off to the entire town to show off his daughter. â€Å"You’re a credit to me. Everyone will be saying that by tomorrow. You’ll not work in the store. It wouldn’t do.† We here realizes that Jason has sent his daughter Hagar to college so that he could be proud of her. Hagar is also very proud as we can see when her father hits her: â€Å"I wouldn’t let him see me cry. I was so enraged.† This is pride, she has inherited from her father. Her father then realizes that she will not let him see her cry and says: â€Å"You take after me, you’ve got backbone, I’ll give you that.† From this quote, we can see that Hagar’s pride comes directly from her father. Hagar once said:† â€Å"Pride was my wilderness and the demon that led me there was fear.† She has been afraid of being unrespectable which is why she decided to go to college and was easily convinced that it was she that should go and not Matt. Afraid of needing too much and giving too much, Hagarâ€℠¢s pride is both unsettling and inspirational. Second Paragraph Edgar Gallant’s life experience and past memories have an important effect on his life and relationships with others. Edgar had a very interesting past that affects him even today. His past affects his career as a volunteer in the later years of his life as he helps out others with his knowledge. He has been asked to take part in over a dozen organizations due to his previous success in his life’s work. Not thinking he has fulfilled his dream and what he was sent here to do, he has accepted to help out in about nine different association for the public usually as a president or vice president of comities. Edgar Gallant uses his past, not to hide, but to enrich his every day’s work. Unlike Hagar, Edgar has usually worked in a team thinking that several brains are better then one, sharing information to reach a better solution that one could not come up with alone. Edgar does not hide his emotions, he believes that hiding a certain part of them is good in the work environment because of the professional look and rational approach to have in a work environment with work partners. On the other hand, he is very open towards his family and shares everything with them. He has shared hi time between work and family always leaving enough time to carry on his duties as a responsible father. Sharing his feeling with his wife and children, he was able to create a feeling of trust and educate his children in the way he thought was best. Edgar found that sharing some degree of emotion show as well as the rational view of things was the best approach in family situation. It is good to show emotion to a certain degree. One does not want to overwhelm, but share his problems with his family. â€Å"I have always consciously made an effort not to let emotion dominate reason.† This shows that he shares his emotions with others but does not let them take over by keeping a rational look on things. Edgar was never really proud in the same way as Hagar. He was often given position he though were above his expertise, but decided that since others had that trust in him, that he would not deceive them so he went on to do what was expected of him, never letting anyone down. Third Paragraph Hagar’s take on religion has changed throughout her life. In her younger age, Hagar was very religious and went to church with her father. Then she found out that her father was having an affair with Lotions mother and since then she started being less religious. After John’s death Hagar stopped being completely religious. She prayed for him to live, but to no avail as she explained to Mr. Troy. She feels that praying is useless because god will not respond to her in the end. Edgar’s take on religion has also changed with age. When he was a boy, his family was very religious. At the age of 13, he was sent to a boarding school which had a priests where all his companions and teacher were extremely religious. As soon as he left the boarding school, he then realized that he did not agree with some of the religious concepts he was taught. From then on he decided to take a different look on religion. As he got old he leaned more about the world and that added to his concepts to religion which was also a reason why it changed. Just like Hagar, Edgar does not currently practice a certain religion but has beliefs of his own inspired from the Catholic Church and books. Edgar has changed his view on religion due to philosophical books, religious texts from other religions and his work which is about social justice and truth to the people. Due to his knowledge as he grew older, he has come to realize that not one religion is true, but that all of them have something good and that religious belief is a sum of all of them. He also mentioned that there is not way of knowing which religion is the right one so taking bits from all of them can maybe create a better understanding from all of them. He also did not let religion take over his life which enabled him to work more frequently. From her childhood as a daughter of a Scottish merchant to her marriage, Hagar has fought a long and wrong battle for freedom and respect. In the end she realises her wrong doings when it became too late, she has gone with her life without thinking about her actions and the consequences. When someone does not know if they are at fault they keep repeating those actions until its too late to reverse them. Edgar on the other hand has nothing to look back on, he knew exactly what he wanted and went right for it. In Edgar’s case he was raised by and worked hard to earn respect which in the end he was granted respect by others. The work he has done for the society is incredible and he is still doing so in a manner that will benefit the society and him self. He will not stop working until he probably can’t function anymore. The benefit that he is getting out of it is the joy of being able to make a difference. Hagar unfortunately realized this near the end of her life, when time was running out. She realized this when she only performed one task to help out the girl in the hospital. If only she realised that helping others is rewarding and makes a difference, then she could have started at an earlier age. Whether it’s a person’s character or religion, as one grows older their views change. This could include a change in heart or opinion.

Police Brutality And Black Teen Discrimination - 914 Words

Everyone has heard of what happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Mike Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old African-American male, was shot and killed by Caucasian police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. This incident sparked an uproar on police brutality, escalating the whole white cop and black teen discrimination. Apparently Officer Wilson shot Mike Brown while he was trying to surrender. Even after police stated otherwise it was meant with skepticism. It all started after Officer Wilson saw two men walking down the middle of the street. There was a call sent out about a robbery by two African-American men earlier that day. Maybe it was the suspects, Officer Wilson drove by and told them to walk on the sidewalk and that went it from zero to one hundred. After a few words Mike Brown punched Officer Wilson in the face. Officer Wilson went for his weapon telling Brown to back off or he’ll get shot. Brown ignored and attempted to take the gun, that’s when Officer Wilson pulled the trigger. 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