Underage Drinking: Poor Academic Performance

Underage Drinking Name Institutional Affiliation Underage Drinking Most of the economies across the globe consider minors as individuals aged below 18 years old. However, developed countries such as the United States consider drinking while under 21 years old illegal. According to Simmons‐Horton and Gibson (2017), underage consumption of alcohol, particularly frequent and heavy drinking imposes great negative effects among teenagers. On the other hand, Harding et al. (2016) explain that 70% of all alcoholics aged between 19 and 20 years old tend to engage in heavy drinking. The adversities of underage drinking such as accidental injuries and death, poor academic performance, and engagement in poor sexual activities reveal why alcohol consumption among children and teenagers should still be considered being illegal. Underage drinking yields acute mental impairment, which leads to accident-induced injuries and deaths. According to Fell et al. (2016), alcohol consumption among children and teenagers plays a detrimental role in impairing their decision-making capacities. To date, the consequences of drinking and driving among underage citizens have received great deal of attention from the media and policymakers. Harding et al. (2016) explain that about 70% of the youths who lose their lives in alcohol-related road accidents are directly tied to the careless effects of young drinking drivers. The increasing number of deaths emanate from the fact that teenagers who drink and drive tend to make irresponsible decisions such as foregoing safety belts. Children and teenagers present poor academic performances when they engage in underage drinking. Fell et al. (2016) reveal that the consumption of alcohol in the early stages of life imposes great negative effects on the physical development of the human brain. Alcohol consumption in the adolescent age imposes deleterious consequences on essential processes of the brain such as the synaptic refinement and myelination. As such, the affected underage a...