A pile of empty beer cans and bottles lay spread out on a table. Scenes like this are not uncommon at parties where the majority of people drinking are under 21. Photo by Kimmie Johansen
By CK Knutson
Sometimes it feels too easy.
The music is blaring, the laughter is ringing through the air and there's a euphoric feeling rushing through the body that comes from being at a party with so many friends. Somehow it seems inevitable that a beer would end up in one’s hand.
The bottle fits perfectly in their fist and the glass is cool against their palm. One sip turns to two then three until the bottle is empty and they’re telling themselves that one more can’t hurt. The hours creep by and soon enough it feels like years since that first sip.
Freshman Mary Jane Galt knows how dangerous this seemingly harmful situation can be and she’s seen up close how binge drinking can deteriorate a person. In Galt’s case, peer pressure has been the catalyst.
“[I had a friend], and before they got close to their other friends, they were a really sweet and nice person,” she said. “Since they’ve gotten closer to people that drink they’ve decided that they need to [drink] to be like them.”
She sees peer pressure as a force that pushes people to make decisions they would otherwise steer away from.
“Peer pressure is kind of like hazing because they will say ‘you have to do this to be friends with us,’” she said. “This can kill a person.”
Regularly drinking a large amount of alcohol ultimately alters a person’s brain chemistry and can make them seem like an entirely different person. Galt says she sometimes finds it difficult to recognize some of her former friends who now abuse the substance.
“It's been hard for me in a sense that someone that I trusted is now not even talking to me, partially because of alcoholism,” she said. “Alcohol has affected their mood and their daily life for themselves and the people around them. It affects everyone's lives.”
She does her best to try and help and guide her friends down the right path, but explains that it is too emotionally harmful to sustain all the time.
“A lot of days I just don't want to do anything because I get into so many arguments with them, to the point where I am just drained by the end of the day,” she said.
In one such situation, Galt and her friend got into an argument and Galt began apologizing, saying she was sorry if they felt like she was controlling their friendship. She made it clear that this was not her intention, but her friend reacted in such an intense manner that made Galt realize how damaging the effects of alcohol were.
"It's been hard for me in a sense that someone that I trusted is now not even talking to me, partially because of alcoholism."
“They went off on me, kind of like a temper tantrum to be honest,” she said. “Before all [of these issues] started, alcohol wasn’t [in the picture].”
According to the National Library of Medicine, most people, including high schoolers, who turn to alcohol use it as a coping mechanism, something they can turn to to let loose and have a sense of calm in a hectic life.
“A lot of people, especially at Highland Park, drink because they want to seem cool,” sophomore Kathryn Joiner said.
Dr. David Arnold, Division Chief of General and Robotic Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center and Associate Professor of Surgery, explains that not only does alcohol consumption have social effects, it also has detrimental health effects as well.
“The brain of teenagers is still developing and alcohol can damage this development,” he said. “This damage can lead to long-term memory deficits and inhibit the ability to learn.”
Additionally, Arnold explained that becoming addicted to alcohol is more common in kids than adults. This is because adults have fully developed brains which makes it less difficult to make clearer decisions.
“The developmental level of the teenage brain makes it harder to comprehend the addiction and therefore [harder to] realize when they are addicted,” he said.
Further effects also bleed into the realm of social interaction. Arnold explains that alcohol addiction inhibits a teenager’s ability to develop critical social skills that are crucial in the future.
“Alcohol use can also lead to social withdrawal, [leading] teenagers to not participate in activities such as sports and clubs,” he said. “This keeps them from achieving important socialization skills that can help them in adult life.”
Not only can alcohol lead to developmental issues in the mind, Arnold also mentioned that excessive alcohol consumption can have major physical consequences, especially to teenagers. These effects can span throughout the entire body.
“Alcohol is broken down by the liver, but during this process, it can cause scarring of the liver,” he said. “[The pancreas] can also be inflamed with alcohol use, which causes it to become chronically less efficient.”
Scarring of the liver results in fibrosis in the liver, which could potentially lead to cirrhosis and consequently liver failure or liver cancer, while an inflamed pancreas can create issues with the body’s ability to produce insulin and the body's ability to digest food. All of these effects can also contribute to the development of dangerous diseases like pancreatitis or even diabetes.
Arnold also says chronic anemia and increased susceptibility to viruses are other side effects of alcohol consumption.
“There is some research showing the cold and the flu occur more commonly because the immune system of chronic alcohol users does not work as effectively as non-drinkers,” he said.
In terms of mental effects, alcohol addiction can lead to confusion and other detrimental psychological consequences. Arnold says it’s not uncommon for people who drink excessively to blackout and wake up hours later unable to remember previous events.
“Binge drinking markedly lowers inhibitions and decision-making, which can lead to dangerous situations. Traumas such as car wrecks and falls are more common in binge drinkers,” he said.
Officer Michael Bridgewater agrees that underage drinking can have enormous consequences for teenager’s mental and physical health. In his time as a cop, he has noticed many of alcohol’s harmful effects, both short-term and long-term.
"The developmental level of the teenage brain makes it harder to comprehend the addiction and therefore [harder to] realize when they are addicted."
“[Underage drinking] could keep you from going to college, it could end your life, you could end up going to jail, you could end someone else’s life, it just depends,” he said.
Bridgewater believes a lot of kids are under the mindset that if nothing bad has happened to them yet, then they don’t have to worry about it. However the truth of the matter is kids can be charged with law violations such as driving under the influence (DUI), minor in possession (MIP) and minor in consumption (MIC).
Additionally, Bridgewater sees particular danger with alcohol consumption within the community. This is because of a variety of reasons, the main ones being peer pressure, parental decisions and lack of consequences.
"Unfortunately, I've even heard kids say their parents know they drink, and it doesn't seem to stop the issue," he said.
Keeping all these dangers and causes in mind, Bridgewater believes in the importance of parental involvement. He thinks that consequences need to be implemented in order for the issue to be resolved.
“It starts at home,” he said. “If the parents don’t get on board with it and put their foot down, what we do doesn’t matter.”