Underage Drinking Research Paper

Physical Effects of Underage Drinking Taking a Toll on Student Athletes
Introduction
Underage drinking is described as “the consumption of alcohol by anyone under the age of 21” (Lynsen), and many teens around the world participate in underage drinking. “Annually, about 5,000 people under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking” (Stephenson). Unfortunately, underage drinking affects more student athletes than students who do not participate in sports. Underage drinking in student athletes brings risk in playing the sport they love, especially when they drink often. Players sadly do not realize the consequences of drinking. Being young, they do not see all of the health risks. Drinking also affects the athlete’s …show more content…
If someone on a team drinks, it makes the other players think that it is fine to drink and just because their teammate drinks, they think that they can do it too. “Calvin College volleyball coach Doctor Amber Warners discovered that however much the team captains drank significantly influenced the rest of the team’s drinking.” (Janssen). The team captain is one the whole team should look up to, and they should not take advantage of their power by influencing others to drink. A captain is one who many strive to be— a hard worker and a good influence. If team captains do not drink, most likely the whole team will not. Athletes can also be persuaded, or “peer pressured” into drinking. Peer pressure is “when other kids your age push you to do something that makes you uncomfortable or something that you know will get you in trouble” (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development). Peer pressure is unsafe and can potentially harm your health. Saying no to peer pressure from teammates is very challenging, but it can save one’s body from danger. Drinking might be called “cool” or “fun”, but underage drinking can seriously damage an athlete’s health and performance. By drinking, one can get hurt or even hurt a teammate. A sadly common example is drunk driving. An athlete can get severely injured or even die in a car accident. Statistics shown by Edgar Snyder & Associates says that …show more content…
A solution for this is for coaches and sports team programs to have more strict rules against drinking. As said earlier, lots of coaches neglect the fact that their players are drinking, which is very wrong and should be corrected. The team program should have mandatory meetings about the physical and mental effects of underage drinking. Athletes and their teammates can also go to team bonding events together without alcohol. Mandatory meetings are very beneficial because coaches can then give his or her players a contract agreeing that they will not drink during the time of the season. If athletes disobey the contract, the player will have a consequence, such as being cut from the team, or not playing for a period of time. Punishing the player helps them realize that what they did was wrong and that they shouldn’t do it again or else the consequence can be worse. Team bonding events can help the athletes prevent each other from drinking. This solution is beneficial because all of the athletes who drink can help each other and themselves. There are many successful aspects to the solution, but there are a few limitations. The athletes may not want to speak their mind with others, making it hard for them to get help. They might care more about looking “cool”. If the athlete cares more about their social popularity than the sport, they should not play. One may only think about the social

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