High School Survey Term Paper

Alcohol

L. Jones

High School Survey: Underage Drinking at Graduation

Underage drinking is a serious issue. Although much lip service is given to the dangers of drinking in general, within the teenage community (and sometimes younger), little credence is given to the possible repercussions of drinking in a "party situation." While most teenage students (high school seniors in this survey) readily see the dangers inherent in driving while intoxicated, few understand the possible health risks that can arise in a social or party atmosphere. Given the recent cases of "alcohol poisoning" in which individuals have died from ingesting in effect an "overdose" of alcohol, a survey concerning the levels of knowledge about the effects of alcohol on the human body was conducted.

Alcohol poisoning is not only serious, but it can result in death. Within the United States, acute alcohol poisoning generally impacts underage or college age drinkers due to their lack of experience with the effects of alcohol, as well as their propensity to "binge" drink large quantities of alcohol during a short time period (i.e. A party) (MedNet, 2005).Although alcohol can be relatively safe if consumed in a responsible and moderate manner, young binge drinkers can literally poison themselves by drinking too much too quickly, thereby allowing the level of alcohol concentration in their bloodstream to reach toxic levels (MayoClinic, 2005).

To examine the level of awareness regarding alcohol poisoning among teenagers, we sampled a group of twenty graduating seniors at Mark Twain High. We chose this group because it seems to be particularly affected due to the amount of "partying" that is conducted surrounding graduation time. We asked them six questions, including, "Are you concerned about the health affects of consuming alcohol?," "Are you aware of the possibility of fatal alcohol poisoning?," "If yes, do you….....