Alcohol use among high school students

Alcohol use among high school students is a major problem that affects student performance, endangers lives, and leads to health problems later in life. Alcohol consumption can diminish the ability of the student to pay attention and so to learn, and this should have an effect on graduation rates showing a direct correlation between alcohol consumption and failure to graduate. In fact, a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (1994) has estimated that students who drink beer, and other alcoholic beverages, or use marijuana are statistically less likely to graduate from high school than abstainers.

Drug abuse has received more attention that alcohol abuse in recent years, ignoring the fact that alcohol is itself a drug and that its use exceeds that of more exotic substances. One of the reasons for this is that alcohol is legal--not for young people, but legal just the same--while harder drugs are not. Both hard drugs and alcohol have an effect on learning, altering the outlook of the individual and causing him or her to perform at a lower level than would otherwise be the case. One of the symptoms of use is a change in the ability of the individual to maintain attention and to learn. Attempts at intervention have to come early in the student's career in order to improve graduation rates.

In an era of concern over drug abuse, an era in which this concern is directed most often at so-called "hard" drugs such as co

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1990) states that adolescence is a confusing and complex period in life, a time of questioning, exploring, and risk taking, and drug use has become an increasingly prevalent part of an adolescent's rite of passage. Morrison also believes that the youth of today are responding to the promise of the contemporary chemical culture which seems to offer quick relief and instant gratification, popularity, and an attractive peer group along with sexual prowess and financial success. These things all represent primary adolescent issues and desires and are enhanced through television and other media (p. 543). Another reason cited by many for the increase in teenage drinking in recent years relates to the influence of the media and specifically to advertising which seems to target young people with images that appeal to them. The Surgeon General has noted that the images in liquor ads--bikini-clad women, professional sports stars, and surfers and mountain climbers--are images that make drinking look like fun and a wonderful carefree lifestyle. Research has shown that young people, unlike adults, are drawn to ads that associate alcohol with sex appeal, athletic prowess, a glamorous lifestyle, and risk-taking behavior. These types of ads

Category: Psychology - A