Group Communication final project.

1. Underage Drinking in Alliance, Ohio People between 18-20 are the most likely to drink at colleges. This is particularly prevalent at Mount Union College, where the Alliance police have set up “Operation Last Call” to crack down on the excessive underage drinking. These parties are dangerous not only because of the alcohol itself, but because students can be injured jumping from windows or doing similar things to avoid being caught. Sixteen percent of alcohol in the U.S. is consumed by underage drinkers. Seventy percent of those age 19 or 20 say they have engaged in heavy drinking. Almost half of alcohol consumed at four year colleges is consumed by underage students.

2. Why Does it Matter? It’s very expensive to enforce drinking laws. Excessive alcohol consumption can impair brain development. It can cause other negative behaviors such as suicide, homicide, risky sexual behavior, and alcohol poisoning, as well as impairing our ability to do things like drive. Even those who acquire alcohol for underage people or provide it to them can be punished. More alcohol abuse by underage people leads to addiction later on in life. Underage drinking cost the citizens of The United States $68.0 billion in 2007. These costs include medical care, work loss, and pain and suffering associated with the multiple problems resulting from the use of alcohol by youth.1 This translates to a cost of $2,280 per year for each youth in the State. Excluding pain and suffering from these costs, the direct costs of underage drinking incurred through medical care and loss of work cost the United States $22.3 billion each year.

4. Research shows the brain keeps developing well into the twenties, during which time it continues to establish important communication connections and further refines its function. Scientists believe that this lengthy developmental period may help explain some of the behavior which is characteristic of adolescence—such as their propensity to seek out new and potentially dangerous situations.

5. The way people view alcohol and its effects also influences their drinking behavior, including whether they begin to drink and how much. An adolescent who expects drinking to be a pleasurable experience is more likely to drink than one who does not. An important area of alcohol research is focusing on how expectancy influences drinking patterns from childhood through adolescence and into young adulthood Underage Drinking-Why Do Adolescents Drink, What Are the Risks, and How Can Underage Drinking Be Prevented?