ALCOHOL FACTS

Adolescents who drink usually start with beer, wine or wine coolers, a sweet-tasting blend of wine and carbonated fruit juice that many tend to guzzle like soda pop. But it's not so much what you drink as the amount of alcohol you consume. A twelve-ounce can of beer and a four-ounce glass of wine each has the same amount of alcohol as a shot of 80-proof whiskey and wine coolers have the same amount of alcohol as many beers. The table below shows how little alcohol is necessary to render a young person legally drunk and unfit to drive.
 

Calculating Blood Alcohol Content
Boys Girls
He weighs 160 pounds She weighs 120 pounds
He drinks 8-oz. glass of wine (10% alcohol content) She drinks 8-oz. glass of wine (10% alcohol content)
Number of drinks 3 Number of drinks 3
Time elapsed since first drink 2 hours Time elapsed since first drink 2 hours
Estimated blood alcohol content   0.08 Estimated blood alcohol content  0.13

Signs of Alcohol Use:

  • Slurred speech

  • Impaired judgment and motor skills

  • Poor coordination

  • Confusion

  • Tremors

  • Drowsiness

  • Agitation

  • Combative behavior

  • Nausea and vomiting

  • Depression

  • Weight gain

  • Possession of a false ID cared

  • Smell of alcohol on breath

While the most serious effects of excessive drinking take many years to develop-sexual dysfunction, hepatitis, cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease-alcohol can have a terrible impact on adolescents' lives.

In addition to the obvious automobile accidents, statistics from the National Council on Alcoholism implicate alcohol use in about half of all sexual assaults involving adolescents and college students, including date rape. On in six teens admit to having experienced alcohol-induced blackouts, where they could not recall the events of the previous evening.

Sexually active teens that overindulge are also less likely to protect themselves again pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. And heavy drinking wears down his immune system, adding to the risk of contracting an STD.

Parents Message to Teens: No Underage Drinking Ever!

Some parents allow their teens to drink at home using the rationale that if they're at home, they know where they are and what's going on and that they're not out drinking and driving. Great theory, but the message is clearly that it's okay to use alcohol. Most teens growing up in a household with this attitude are likely to drink…and not just at home.

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics