TEENS AND ALCOHOL

ALCOHOL AMONG TEENS IN SANTA CRUZ

Just about everyone knows that the legal drinking age throughout Bolivia territory is 21, but nobody cares about it, and almost 80% of high school students have tried alcohol. We all know that one of the biggest problems here in Santa Cruz is actually the alcohol and the way that is used by our teens. Authorities have started a plan to stop the consume of alcohol. It`s called "Tolerancia cero” Let`s see if it works. so I invite you to read this article and later comment it.
Deciding whether to drink is a personal decision that we each eventually have to make. This article provides some information about alcohol, including how it affects your body, so you can make an educated choice.

What Is Alcohol?
Alcohol is created when grains, fruits, or vegetables are fermented. Fermentation is a process that uses yeast or bacteria to change the sugars in the food into alcohol. Alcohol has different forms and can be used as a cleaner, an antiseptic, or a sedative.
So if alcohol is a natural product, why do teens need to be concerned about drinking it? When people drink alcohol, it's absorbed into their bloodstream. From there, it affects the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), which controls virtually all body functions. Because experts now know that the human brain is still developing during our teens, scientists are researching the effects drinking alcohol can have on the teen brain.

How does it affect your body?
Alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows the function of the central nervous system. Alcohol actually blocks some of the messages trying to get to the brain. This alters a person's perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing.
In very small amounts, alcohol can help a person feel more relaxed or less anxious. More alcohol causes greater changes in the brain, resulting in intoxication. People who have overused alcohol may lose their coordination, and they may trouble their speech. They will probably be confused and disoriented. Depending on the person, intoxication can make someone very friendly and talkative or very aggressive and angry. Reaction times are slowed dramatically — which is why people are told not to drink and drive. People who are intoxicated may think they're moving properly when they're not. They may act totally out of character.

Why do teens drink?
Experimentation with alcohol during the teen years is common. Some reasons that teens use alcohol and other drugs are:
curiosity
to feel good, reduce stress, and relax
to fit in
to feel older
From a very young age, kids see advertising messages showing beautiful people enjoying life — and alcohol. And because many parents and other adults use alcohol socially — having beer or wine with dinner, for example — alcohol seems harmless to many teens.

Why Shouldn't you Drink?

Family problems.- Drinking alcohol always get you in trouble, the first one will be with your family and nobody likes to have a bad a bad relation with his/her family.

People who drink regularly also often have problems with school. Drinking can damage a student's ability to study well and get decent grades, as well as affect sports performance (the coordination thing).
You can look really stupid.- The impression is that drinking is cool, but the nervous system changes that come from drinking alcohol can make people do stupid or embarrassing things, like throwing up or peeing on themselves. Drinking also gives people bad breath, and no one enjoys a hangover.
Alcohol puts your health at risk.- Teens who drink are more likely to be sexually active and to have unsafe, unprotected sex. Resulting pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases can change — or even end — lives. The risk of injuring yourself, maybe even. fatally.