House Parties with Under Age Drinking Research Paper

House Parties with Under Age Drinking - Research Paper Example Decreasing the prevalence of this would involve tightening current laws and policies as well as increasing monitoring, so that it is known more often when underage youth are being provided with alcohol. Introduction One important issue affecting the youth of today is drinking behavior, in particular underage drinking behavior. Currently the legal age for drinking in the United States is 21 years of age. However, there are a wide range of contexts in which individuals below the drinking age obtain alcohol, often through adults or individuals that are above the legal drinking age. There is a large amount of concern that the amount of underage youths that are drinking, and the amount of alcohol that they are consuming. On average young people appear to be drinking alcohol more frequently and are drinking more each time they do drink . One circumstance that this occurs in are house parties. The term house party covers a large range of situations, but can generally be considered a social gathering that occurs at someone’s place of residence. This can range from a couple of friends, through to more than 100 people. Often house parties are held by and for young adults, with college and high school students attending. The Prevalence of Underage Drinking Underage drinking is extremely prevalent even by the time that children reach the senior years of high school. Around 30% of seniors at high school report heavy drinking at least once per month, and 40% of full-time college students aged between 18 and 22 report heavy drinking. These statistics are alarming, as almost all of those children and young adults are below the minimum age for drinking. In addition, there are many harmful consequences of drinking and these are often amplified in younger drinkers, in part due to lower tolerances of alcohol and also less life experience . In 1984 an act was passed that encouraged each state to set their minimum drinking age to 21. By 1988, the minimum drinking age for all states was 21 . Alcohol is a significant factor in the deaths and unintentional injuries for many youth aged 15- to 20-, with the rate of drunk drivers under 21 twice that of adult drivers. As well as injury, there are many other costs of underage drinking, including problems at school, pregnancies and sexual diseases as a consequence of unsafe sexual practices and severe alcohol addiction . Why is Underage Drinking so Prevalent? Alcohol is widely available and easily obtainable for adults over the age of 21 through a number of different types of locations, including many that allow off premises consumption. There are little limitations in the quantity of alcohol that an adult can by, and no way of knowing what an adult intends to do with the alcohol that they buy. Despite the age restriction, alcohol is easy to obtain for those underage. Between 30 and 70 percent of outlets may sell to underage buyers, depending on the particular outlet and the location. Another common source of al cohol for underage drinkers is at parties where alcohol has been provided and the youths at the party have been left unsupervised . Drinking of alcohol is heavily advertised as beneficial, a method of socialization and of relaxing, and these advertisements affect youth as much or more than they do their target audience. In addition to this the enforcement of the minimum