It is common knowledge that some teenagers use drugs and some become addicted. When the behavior is looked at closely, we find that teenage alcoholism exists in some. These individuals can be solely alcoholics rather than others who are also addicted to other drugs found in our culture. That shouldn’t surprise us when we see alcohol as one of the drugs teens use. Alcohol is the most frequently used drug by teenagers. About half of junior and senior high school students drink alcohol on a monthly basis, and 14% of teens have been intoxicated at least once in the past year.

Why do teens drink? “According to the 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study of 6,511 teens, the number one reason teens see for using alcohol/drugs is to deal with the pressures and stress of school. In this national study, 73 percent of teens reported that school stress is the primary reason for drug use, indicating that teens’ perceptions of motivating factors for using drugs are dramatically different than past research has indicated.”

Family risk factors for teenagers developing drinking problems include low parent supervision or communication, family conflicts, poor parental discipline, and a family history of alcohol or drug abuse. Individual risk factors include problems managing impulses, emotional instability, thrill-seeking behaviors, and perceiving the risk of using alcohol to be low. Teenage peer pressure from other drinking teens tends to be strong.

As defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, “alcohol dependence is a negative pattern of alcohol use leading to a number of problems, which may include needing more alcohol to get intoxicated (tolerance), difficulties that occur when the effects of alcohol wear off (withdrawal), using more alcohol or for longer time than intended, and other life problems because of the use of alcohol.”

What are the symptoms of teens drinking? Some of the most common symptoms of alcohol abuse in teenagers include the smell of alcohol on their breath or body, mood swings, stealing, and changes in friends, lying, making excuses, breaking curfew, staying in their room, becoming verbally or physically abusive toward others, having items in their possession that are connected to alcohol use.

Adolescents may have established regular usage, have become preoccupied with getting intoxicated (“high”) and have developed problems in their social, educational, vocational, or family life as a result of using the substance. Teenage drinking and driving endangers not just the teenager, but other people as they become victim to the reckless teenage driving brought on by intoxication.

The final and most serious stage of alcohol or other drug use is defined by the youth feeling normal only when they are using. During this stage, risk-taking behaviors like stealing, engaging in physical fights, or driving while intoxicated increase, and they become most vulnerable to having suicidal thoughts.

These teens can change and put their drinking into manageable levels or even abstinence. Recovery may require that the whole family’s behavior to be looked at and evaluated as it relates to the teenager. This requires some change. For the teenager, new thinking needs to be introduced, healthier friends need to be found, and a few limits need to be applied. A stay in rehab may be in the teen’s future, but these facilities and their treatment approaches need to be evaluated before putting a teen in one. Furthermore, many support groups are available, but some are not going to be helpful, and some groups aren’t safe for minors. Some groups teach abstinence while others are centered on moderation.

To begin to understand all the options, start by visiting the largest online site containing non-12-step addiction articles, http://www.addictioninfo.org/. If you need help sorting all this out, I suggest visiting Marc Kern, Ph.D.’s website, http://www.habitdoc.com/, where one-to-one help is offered.

There is hope, teenagers do change, and so do their families.

Thanks BTW I live in CA if that helps/
i dont drink at ALL so MY personal bac will be 0.0 and my friends will be 0.0 but they are bringing alchohal to a party so im just asking if thts okay….

If the friend bringing the closed alcohol is of the age of 21 then all they have to do is claim the alcohol if not then you will all be served with a underage possession charge and forced to pour out the alcohol. If you’re drinking and driving anything over .00 BAC will be charged with driving under the influence. (DUI). The Zero Tolerance campaign was started to stop underage drinking and driving. Anything showing up on a BAC test will force them to give you a ticket.

But JUST SUGGEST ANY BOOKS THAT YOU THINK A TEEN SHOULD READ !

btw – i’m 15.
please don’t suggest twilight I’ve already read it !

"Go Ask Alice" by Anonymous. Alice is a normal teenage girl living in the 70s and writing in her diary, when someone slips LSD into her Coke at a party. From there, her life is never the same.

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green. Geeky Miles Halter is a teenager out to seek "The Great Perhaps" at an Alabama boarding school. From there he meets a colorful cast of boarders, and Alaska Young. Alaska Young is beautiful, bold, and unbelievably messed up. Miles falls hopelessly in love. [Drugs and alcohol]

"Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. 14 year-old Melinda Sordino calls the cops on a party and starts high school an outcast. Little does anyone know why she called the cops in the first place. [relationships/abuse]

"Dreamland" by Sarah Dessen. Caitlyn’s sister and other half, Cass, runs away, and Caitlyn finds herself lonely and lost. She joins cheerleading and spends more time with her best friend, Rina, but she can’t replace the void left by Cass. But then she meets Rogerson, sleepy, intelligent, and completely strange in Caitlyn’s normal life. They begin dating, and Caitlyn falls irrevocably in love. Irrevocably, even when things start to go downhill.

"The Nature of Jade" by Deb Caletti. Jade gets panic attacks. To calm her down, she goes to the Seattle Zoo to see the elephants and watches them on her computer at home. Then she sees the boy in the red jacket on her computer. With a little boy. He’s raising the little boy alone.

what do you do?
keep it to yourself and try to give your adive
or tell an adult/councler and get help??

WHY?!?!?!

I would tell, because I had an eating disorder shortly after my mom and dad died, I told my best friend and she told even though I told her not to, she told my guardian (older brother) and then I got counseling. So yes I would tell, because the person is pretty much just saying that they are too scared to get help, although they may not realize it.

They won’t put you in jail, unless you hurt someone.

There may be fines.

But you should expect to have your license revoked.

Your parents can also face charges, although I don’t they will be severe.

In the end, you committed a crime: you drank underage. If nothing else, that makes you a criminal and you can expect some sort of "punishment" for that. In addition, folks tend to take the notion of drinking and driving seriously enough that minors that do it (even with just traces) can see relatively severe punishment.

Some judges might even require you to do community service, to attend alcohol-awareness sessions, etc.

And, if you have quality parents, I’m sure that whatever punishment THEY’VE given you will be more severe than what the courts will.

Duration : 0:1:57

Degrassi High ‘School’s Out’ Movie (Part 5 of 12)

Click on my channel for the entire movie set out in a playlist for your convenience! Enjoy!

The alumni of the class of 1992 experience a summer full of wild pool parties, hot dates and part-time jobs. But the fun in the sun ends and friendships are tested when the grads get ready to enter the “real world”. Joey spends a heated summer in a deceitful love triangle. Caitlin is not ready to fulfill his desire to lose his virginity, but Tessa is! Meanwhile, Snake thinks his summer job as a lifeguard will provide the perfect opportunity for meeting a beautiful girl and “getting laid”. Wheels, pursuing his own dream, restores a beat-up car, but his ride to freedom leads him to jail when he causes a fatal accident by drinking and driving, leaving friend Lucy in critical condition. The Degrassi gang is splitting up, but Simon and Alexa’s autumn wedding reunites many of the young adults, who realize it’s time to move on.

Genre: Teen drama
Coming of age
Running time: 90 minutes
Creator: Linda Schuyler
Kit Hood
Writer: Yan Moore
Director: Kit Hood
Producer: Linda Schuyler
Starring: Pat Mastroianni (Joey Jeremiah)
Stacie Mistysyn (Caitlin Ryan)
Neil Hope (Wheels)
Stefan Brogren (Snake)
Kirsten Bourne (Tessa Campanelli)
Anais Granofsky (Lucy Fernandez)
L. Dean Ifill (Bronco)
Irene Courakos (Alexa Pappadopoulos)
Michael Carry (Simon Dexter)
Amanda Stepto (Spike)
Jacy Hunter (Amy Holmes)
Sara Holmes (Allison Hunter)
Christian Campbell (Todd)
Andy Chambers (Luke Cassellis)
Siluck Saysanasy (Yick Yu)
Country: Canada
Language: English
Original channel: CBC Television
Release date: January 5, 1992
Preceded by egrassi High
Followed by Degrassi: The Next Generation

Duration : 0:9:4

Duration : 0:5:33

The new century started a new era for the brash Chicago comedian. He was a featured comedian in The Original Kings of Comedy (2000). This performance made him more of a household name, and led to many more major parts. In 2001 he played Martin Lawrence’s uncle in What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) and later that year, was in the star studded remake of Ocean’s Eleven (2001). However his biggest success to this date has been “The Bernie Mac Show” (2001), which debuted in 2001 to instant acclaim.

Bernie Mac is a comedian that refused to change his image for Hollywood and says that his life in Chicago is who he is and there is nothing that will change that. While success was a long time coming, he is now a household name. He is a mature comedian who is very intelligent, very engaging in his TV, movie and stand-up appearances.

Duration : 0:6:5

thanks.

you can get prosecuted for it obviously, and they can still take away your drivers license. it will also go on your college stuff if you’re about the age when you are getting ready to apply. if a cop busts it, run like hell.