My Second Feature Alcohol story

Dewitt, Towanna
Period 4
October 14, 2010
According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse one of the most disturbing alcoholism and alcohol abuse statistics is about young people ages 18 to 25. Just about 40 percent of young adults from this age group admit to binge drinking and almost 14 percent say they are heavy drinkers. The statistic peak when the young adults are 21 at nearly 50 percent binge drinking and 18 percent say they are heavy drinkers.
Even though alcohol is illegal to buy or possess if you are under age 21 in the United States, it is the most frequently abused drug by young people. According to www.abovetheinfluence.com in 2006, more than 19 percent of drivers ages 16 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol.
Also the younger you are when you start drinking, the greater your chance of becoming addicted to alcohol at some point in your life. More than 4 in 10 people who begin drinking before age 15 eventually become alcoholics.
A senior male Sierra High School student who wishes to remain anonymous during this interview said that he is always hanging out with his friends during the week end, and he says they have a good time.
“They always end up doing something crazy and for us to remember,” he says. ””But there have been times where we would do illegal things such drinking. I was never really into all of that, so when the bottle came to me I would say I pass, and everyone would make fun of me or say something smart. I never took anything to the heart because we all had respect for each other and they respected my wishes, but last weekend after hitting up some many lame party’s I did participate in drinking with them. I remember I started off with one drink and then I had to and then three then four and after that was a blur because we were taking straight shots, says he”.
He claims that he regrets it because more stuff that he remembers, but is still a little hazy on he wishes not to talk about.
He admits that he doesn’t drink as much, but he still does drink even though he is not of age.
Counselor Mevla Hall says that she does think that alcohol is a major problem in Sierra High School. Not only is it accessible to students, but they can get alcohol from just about anywhere, such as party or they could have a 21 year old friend that can buy it for them, and some liquor stores don’t even check for I’d like they’re supposed to. Or some teenagers just steal either money or the alcohol from their parents.
“Some parents now a day’s allow their teenagers to drink as long as either they are giving their parents some or as long as they are in the house,” Hall says. “There have been several cases where students have brought alcohol to school or have came to school drunk, so we as administrators had to suspended them, for about a week, because they need to realize that it is not okay to not only bring alcohol to school, but it is also something teenagers their age should not be doing because it is a dangerous aspect to life.”
Unfortunately, Hall said there wasn’t a program at school to address the issue, so the most staff can do at high schools is just keep an eye out and watch out for teenagers who think that they can live above the law and pint them out and take action. So until we find something to solve this alcohol problems in our schools alcohol still remains a problem.