Name Name	
Term Paper


Alcohol Abuse in a New and Upcoming Generation
        With the rise of alcohol abuse, the focus on teenage drinking has come to an all time high. America is at a point where our young people must be educated and regulated on drinking and the extent that they take it. Alcohol abuse is being fueled by binge drinking, hazing, fraternities, sororities, and many other organizations or groups. It must be cut down before it takes over young people. The problem must be harnessed and controlled before it takes more from the upcoming generation.    
	Around the United States we have encountered many tragedies due to the influence of alcohol over someone. Whether it be binge drinking, drinking and driving, or other drunken actions, people are being killed due to alcohol. On many personal accounts and impersonal accounts, I have heard and lived through stories that deal with alcohol as a reason of death. Due to these deaths, dealing with severe alcohol problems has hit me hard. It has caused me to be more aware of my actions and the actions of people around me.   
    	One of the deaths I have faced personally came when I was just a freshman in high school. A friend of the family’s, was involved in a deadly car accident. He had been drinking in at his hometown, Havertown PA, and he wanted to go back to school at the University of Delaware. The friends he was with knew he was too intoxicated to drive back to school so they dropped him off at home and hid his keys pretty well. He somehow found them and began his drive to school. Before he could make it 10 minutes from home, he  was driving on the onramp to I-95 at about 100 mph and hit a pole. His car split in half and he was found buckled to his seat and was pronounced dead at the scene.
	His death made such an impact because he was so respected and liked within the tight community. He played football for the local high school and participated in many of the church organizations at my parish. He was the perfect son, and a great kid. It hit me so hard because I did most the things he did. I participated in the community, played high school football, and knew many people throughout the area. It is so suprising that a young kid like that could be taken from a community after one mistake. It hits me hard because it could be me, a different friend, a sister, or a cousin. With one mistake anyone around you can be taken without even realizing it. Drinking and driving is on an up rise and needs to b e controlled somehow. There needs to be a way to get through people’s minds that there are severe punishments waiting for them when the crime is committed. 
	Not only the people around me, but young people all over the united states are losing their lives because of drinking. I encountered a college student’s death that could happen to anyone of my friends. A college student at LSU died due to a night of binge drinking. This student was having a few friends over, and began drinking alcohol at about 10 PM. He became extremely intoxicated and his friends were forced to put him in the bathroom and check on him from time to time. He was sick which his friends thought was somewhat normal. They were not seriously worried until about 4 AM they noticed some unusual breathing. They then called 911 and reported what was happening to him. After the paramedics arrived, he only held on for a couple of more minutes until he was pronounced dead. (O’Brien)  
	This caused many concerns at LSU and is just one of the incidents that concerns America. This incident is something that makes people so uneasy because it was caused by something kids do all over America every weekend, binge drinking. College campus has become a headquarters for binge drinking. It worries me especially because of the lack of knowledge his friends had, in that they did not call 911 earlier. One of our major problems is how unaware students are about what to do in these situations. They are unaware how to handle themselves and when to realize that it is a serious enough situation to involve authorities and receive medical help. We need to educate our youth about these things at an early age. It is never too early to start educating young people on drug abuse, especially alcohol.   
	Things must be done to educate kids on how to handle situations that arise during the young part of their life. Situations will arise that kids will underestimate and when they realize the seriousness, it will be too late. There should be programs in high school or even younger than high school, that students take to learn of what to do. I feel that we focus too much on how to say no to the temptations we encounter. We don’t focus enough on what we should do when we encounter situations that need to be dealt with immediately but delicately. If kids were educated in the subject, then when situations arose we could deal with them in the correct and safest way possible. 
	Before these kids get themselves into these situations, they should be stopped before being able to get a hold of the alcohol. There has been plenty of ideas proposed, yet there are a few that caught my eye in that I think they could work. There was one idea proposed in PA that involved identifying kegs and where and by who they were bought. (Barrel of Bluster…) The idea proposed something about identifying kegs, now they are proposing the same type of law yet different in a few ways. They are proposed tagging all kegs in PA. The tag would bear an ID number in which the keg could be tracked to where the keg was bought and by who it was bought. (Barrel of Bluster…) This would be useful because it would allow the officials to prosecute and fine the person responsible for supplying the underage kids with alcohol. 
	This law would be great for cutting down on underage drinking because it would cause a lot of problems for kids trying to get the alcohol. A reduction in kids obtaining alcohol would cut down the injuries and deaths dramatically. Though there are ways around this law, it targets kegs because they have been related with underage drinking parties where mass consumption of alcohol exists. This is a great way to reduce the chances of underage kids obtaining a large amount of alcohol which then reduces the risk of injuries. 
         A main cause of all the problems with alcohol abuse comes from the ability for underage kids to purchase it. Now that everywhere is forced to I.D. younger people, underage kids are getting a hold of fake ID’s. So now distributors are being forced to find ways to tell whether an I.D. is real or not. A man in the Chicago area is taking it to a completely new level. Chris Ludy has done such things as use black lights for holograms, checked college directory for students name and address, and he has even asked people their astrological sign to see how they reacted. (Irvine)  His tactics have started a new craze to make sure fake IDs are exposed to the fullest. Now him and many other Liquor stores have acquired scanners. (Irvine) These scanners will provide ways to determine whether IDs are real or fake. 
        These scanners have given store owners a chance to uphold the law. It has also given them a chance to cut down on the underage drinking. Though this does not totally cut off the ability for underage kids to obtain alcohol is atleast cuts it down. We have to start somewhere. Decreasing the ways for underage kids to obtain alcohol will benefit dramatically down the road. The only other source for underage kids is to have someone of age purchase it for them. The only way to stop that is to educate older people of the dangers that they are behind by giving underage kids alcohol.
        Another great idea proposed by the Boston area, was to regulate the deals proposed by bars at “happy hour.” The reduction is in effect because of the idea that these deals, being served only for short period of time, are indirectly forcing people to drink as much as they can in a short period of time. (Tobias) The idea is quite accurate and would reduce binge drinking and many drinking and driving incidents. As it is known, people go to “happy hour” to have cheap drinks in a short period of time and then they drive and return home. It is actually quite a harmful period of time in that people binge drink and then drive. So Boston’s cutting down of happy hours around the city is a very positive way to reduce binge drinking and drinking and driving.         
	The rise on of alcoholism has increased the concern on underage drinking in America. It has forced politicians, teachers, and parents to brainstorm ideas of how to cut down on the injuries and the addictions that their kids are exposing themselves to. Kids must realize the dangers in hazing with fraternities, sororities, teams, and clubs and that many negatives things can arise with them. Actions must be taken before more lives are taken.