This topic is an essential part of the present society and touches almost all sections of the society, including parents, teenagers, school administrations, and churches. There has been a notable increase in the level of moral decadence especially among the young generation. This has been as a result of the lack of sufficient parenting techniques and inadequate monitoring of the movements of teenage children, both at schools and home. This paper examines the current situation of alcohol addiction among teenagers, the factors that facilitate early exposure and addiction to alcohol. It also takes a look at the efforts that various institutions are making to control the situation, and the challenges that hinder the effective control of the social vice (Biddulph, 2003).
Definition of Alcohol Addiction
One can define addiction to alcohol as a continuous urge and desire to consume alcoholic drinks at all times of the day. An addict is an individual who cannot survive without the commodity, to which he has an addiction. On several occasions, the individual will experience certain side effects as a result of not consuming the commodity or service. For example, an individual who has an alcohol addiction is likely to suffer from anxiety and restlessness if he or she does not take alcohol regularly. Addiction to alcohol manifests itself in different ways, depending on the body set up of the individual suffering from the addiction. Alcohol remains to be the most abused drug among teenagers in most countries, notably, in the United States. According to recent findings, approximately a half of the junior and senior high school students consume alcoholic drinks on a monthly basis. In addition, approximately 14 percent of teens in the USA have been under intoxication at least once in the past year. The most alarming trend that is arising is that these teens drink a wide variety of the alcoholic drinks, which increases the damage on their health. Other specialists have defined alcohol addiction as the negative pattern of alcohol use that leads to several health problems. Some of the problems include the urge for additional alcohol to experience intoxication, difficulties that occur when the impacts of the alcohol wears off from the individual, and other social problems that come as a result of consuming alcohol (Castillo, 2009).
Treatment of Alcohol Addiction among Teenagers
Scientists have developed certain drugs that help in treating alcohol addiction among teenagers. Sovran is one of the drugs suitable for treating alcohol addictions of people who started drinking at an age less than 25 years. This drug works by reducing the level of craving for alcohol consumption in the individual suffering from addiction (Essau, 2002).
There are treatment techniques other than the medical ones, which help in reducing and regulating alcohol addiction among teenagers. There is the relapse prevention program, which helps in recognizing and correcting problem behaviors in an individual. Furthermore, individualized drug counseling program aims at emphasizing on the short term behavioral objectives, with the aim of helping the individual to reduce or stop consuming alcohol.
There are other cognitive techniques that are also effective in treating or stopping alcohol addiction among teenagers. For instance, there are programs aimed at educating the teenage alcohol addicts on the likely future outcomes of alcohol addiction and alcoholism. This is an effective system of controlling alcohol addiction, especially among teenagers who are not in the extreme stages of addiction. The program acts as a reminder of the negative outcomes that will face them in the future if the teenagers keep on with the alcohol consumption behavior.
Preventive measures are suitable only among the teens that are in their early stages of exposure to alcohol. These may include measures such as limiting access to alcohol and educating on the risks of alcohol consumption (Monti, 2012).
Section Two
Causes and Risk Factors of Alcohol Addiction among Teenagers
There are certain elements that encourage the progress of an alcoholic behavior among teenagers. Most of these factors usually comprise of family factors that occur in the homes of these teenagers. First, low levels of supervision and communication from the parents to teenage children is likely to foster a drinking habit in a teenager. Children in the teenage years are in a period of experimentation, and it is at this time that they need adequate attention from the parents. When parents fail to stay close to their children at this stage in life, there is a tendency that these children may fall victims of peer pressure, and start consuming alcohol (Essau, 2002).
Family conflicts also contribute massively towards alcohol addiction among the teens. Young children are not proficient at dealing with problems in their families. The most notable family conflict in families is that of marital misunderstandings between the mother and father. Teenagers tend to keep their minds off the misunderstandings between parents by consuming drugs, mostly alcohol. Persistent conflicts in the family will lead to the development of the drinking habit in such a young person, leading to addiction (Monti, 2012).
Family History of Alcohol Addiction
Some teenagers tend to drink alcohol because some members of the family were heavy drinkers. This is most common in a situation where these past family drinkers were successful in life at some point. Thus, a teenager will look at alcohol as a positive effect on someone’s potential and success. This continued exposure to alcohol will eventually lead to addiction at a tender age.
Exposure to alcohol at a tender teen age is likely to lead to heavy alcoholism in the later years of an individual. For instance, teens that start drinking at an age of 14 to 16 years have a high tendency of suffering from alcoholism during their maturity age (Stewart, 2009).
Symptoms of Alcohol Addiction among Teenagers
Parent and guardians need to be extremely watchful of the behavior changes in their children. This is one way of telling whether a teenager is abusing alcohol and if he is already suffering from addiction. Some of the signs of addiction to alcohol among teens include lying to grownups such as parents, making excuses about everything, overstaying alone in his or her room, getting irritated over petty issues and thereby using abusive language towards others. Other signs include being in ownership of items that have a relation with alcohol, mood swings, having an alcoholic smell all over the body, and a swift change of company. The above are some of the early signs of alcohol addiction that show in a teenager that he or she is suffering from alcohol addiction (Bowden & Greenberg, 2009).
Effects of Alcohol Addiction among Teens
Alcohol addiction leads to several severe effects in the life of a teenage addict. For instance, a high level of alcohol addiction leads to the loss of attention and concentration in a teenager. This means that the low level of attention will affect the teenager’s performance and productivity in school, and at home. Moreover, teenagers who have had an experience of alcohol withdrawal tend to suffer from loss of memory to a certain extent. Withdrawal effects occur when an individual suddenly stops using a commodity or service that was a basic need at some point in his or her life. In addition, an individual that exposes himself to alcohol at a young age is likely to develop health complications as compared to one who starts drinking at an advanced age. Alcohol addiction among teens has also been a contributing factor towards the increasing number of accidents in many countries. In the USA, many schoolchildren start driving at an early age. A teenager that is suffering from alcohol addiction has a high tendency of causing road accidents while driving (Ralph & Taylor, 2004).
Section Three
A View on the Subject Matter (Alcohol Addiction among Teenagers)
Alcohol addiction is on the rise among teenagers. It is obvious that at least one unit of society is failing in its role of bringing up children in socially and morally upright manner. Most experts have pointed out poor parenting as the contributing factor towards the increasing immorality and drug abuse among teenagers. Others have attributed this to the freedom that is in high schools, with minimum monitoring of students in learning institutions. Governments need to invest in moral education by adjusting the school curriculum, in order to provide adequate information on the risks of drug and alcohol abuse. In addition, there is a need to establish effective rehabilitation centers and facilities for teenage alcohol addicts. Most children become victims of the effects of alcohol addiction, mainly because they lack effective treatment and therapy services. The creation of such centers will imply that teenage alcohol addicts will have a second chance of getting back their decent place in society.
Logical Deductions about the Subject Matter of the Paper
The information in this paper is a summary of the situation of alcohol addiction among teenagers across the world, most notably, in the USA. Information on teenage alcohol addiction is essential in the present society because the present generation has a high level of exposure to drugs and alcohol than past generations. Experts need to research and come up with new, effective ways of dealing with alcohol addiction among teenagers. The existing solutions have not controlled alcohol addiction in teenagers satisfactorily.
Section Four: A Summary Statement of the Paper
Alcohol addiction is an increasing trend among the youth. A number of factors contribute towards the increasing addiction levels, which include poor supervision from parents and other family conflicts. The family is the core unit of society that can play a massive role in the war against alcohol addiction among teens. Parents must instill positive morals in teenagers at a tender age. This will enable the children to grow and develop with sufficient information on the dangers of alcohol consumption, which will reduce cases of addiction among teenagers. Governments must also make legislation that restricts under aged children from accessing alcoholic drinks.