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Alcohol and Teenagers
UNITED
STATES
• Over 4.5 million teenagers between age 14 and 17 are problem drinkers.
• In 1980, 30.1 percent of the tens interviewed said that either they or
their friends got drunk at least once a week. Six percent said that they drank
daily.
• In 1988, over 8,000 teenagers died in alcohol-related auto accidents.
Many times that number were disfigured.
• 90 percent of the teenage population tries alcohol; 8-9 percent
exhibits alcoholic behavior (due to peer pressure) while not actually being
alcoholic, and 1-2 percent of the teens are actually alcoholic—usually
poly-drug addicted.
• Nearly one of three teens reports riding with an adolescent driver who
was drunk.
• Nearly half of all teens who commit suicide are intoxicated at the
time.
• 42 million children live in homes with alcohol-dependent parents,
relatives, or guardians. Approximately 50 percent of those children will
themselves develop a problem with alcohol.
WORLDWIDE
• Britain—teenage
drunkenness has doubled in the past 12 years.
• Sweden—one
poll showed that 90 percent of that nation’s 15 year olds drank regularly.
• Russia —90 percent of the population had their first drink before age 15 and 33
percent before age 10. These figures and others have alarmed Russian officials
who are facing a grave national problem with alcoholism.
• Austria, West Germany, Norway, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, France, Ireland
and Switzerland are spending millions on state informational campaigns on
alcoholism or have banned alcohol advertising in the various printed or
electronic media. See below for a study done on Swiss teens.
What motivates young people to drink
alcohol?
Motives
(Swiss children aged 12 to 16) |
Percentage of all yes
replies |
|
German-speaking |
French-speaking |
Italian-speaking |
|
Self-gratification |
"because I
like it" |
|
|
|
| "because
it feels good to be a little tipsy" |
| "because I
am bored" |
|
Symbolic participation/ pressure from young people of the same age |
"because
my friends drink, too" |
| "so my
friends won't think I'm a wet blanket" |
| "because
most adults drink" |
| "so as to
mix more easily with other people" |
|
Psycho-dynamic relief |
"to give
me courage and self-confidence" |
| "so I can
talk more easily to people" |
| "to calm
myself down" |
source: World Health magazine, August 1981
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