It’s summer, and that means parties for most teenagers. But before you go drive over to Bobby Jo’s house take a second and let this sink in. Around 1,400 teenagers die from drug overdoses each year. Around 5,000 teenagers die from alcohol poisoning yearly. And more than 3,000 teenagers die from drunk driving each year. Driving under the influence is an extremely dangerous thing to do in general. But as teenagers it is even more dangerous, as we are already 17 times more likely to get into a crash due to lack of driving knowledge.
Driving under the influence is not only a stupid thing to do, it’s a dangerous thing to do. By driving under the influence you not only put yourself in danger, you put everyone else in the car in danger, along with anyone on the road near you. Hopefully all of you are smart enough not to do this, but everyone needs a warning now and then.
When you are at a party and someone offers you an alcoholic beverage, what do you do? I’m sure some of you answer (in your head) that you would accept it. But drinking before age 21 is illegal (under one of the often-most broken laws out there). Now I’m not saying that I will automatically shut you out of my life if you have an occasional sip of an alcoholic beverage at a party, but I’m certainly not saying you should do it.
In the United States there is such a craving for alcohol as a teen. Most teens think that going to a party and getting buzzed is cool. But that’s only because we aren’t allowed to have it. Now I’ve never drunk, but I have always wondered what it feels like to be slightly buzzed. The teens who go out to parties and get drunk make it sound so cool that almost every teen that hasn’t experienced that wants to now. I’m certainly not going to, since it is illegal, but what if it wasn’t? Would it seem as cool as it does now to go out and get drunk? If you travel over to Europe, you’ll find out that it really isn’t. Europe doesn’t have a drinking age. By doing that they eliminate teens’ wanting to sneak out and get drunk because it no longer has as much of an allure as it does when it is illegal. When there isn’t a drinking age, getting drunk as a teen doesn’t seem as cool as it does when it’s illegal.
But for now, there is still a drinking age in the USA, so getting drunk while under the age of 21 is illegal. So don’t do it. Same with drugs. They aren’t cool at all. And neither is smoking. All those do is kill your brain cells and lower your personal hygiene.
So next time you go to a party, decline the drugs and alcohol. They shouldn’t even be there. But if one of your friends does make the bad decision to try drugs or alcohol and then tries to drive, don’t let them.