Today’s teenagers have been stereotyped as adventurous and harebrained individuals.  They are generally fond of experimenting with things until they get in touch with drugs, sex, guns, alcohol among others. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures, 16,000 young adults die each year from unintentional injuries and accidents.  The most common justification for teenagers’ care-free attitude is that their brains just aren’t developed enough to know better. However, recent research shows that in some cases the fact is just the opposite, the brain matures not too slowly but perhaps, too quickly.

According to a psychiatrist, an adolescent who engages in more dangerous activities have white-matter pathways that seem to be more mature than those of risk-averse youths.  White-matter is the brain’s wiring, the neutral pathways that connect the various gray-matter regions of the cerebrum that are independent of one another.  Having a mature white-matter is necessary because it allows faster brain processing speed.  Nerve impulses also travel faster in mature white-matter. Experiments also reveal that the more mature the look of the brain, the more adventurous the teenager tended to be.
Another possible explanation is that some teenagers whose brains develop more rapidly than others become uncomfortable and a little confused owing to the gap between their biological capabilities and the social norms they must follow as kids. Precocious development of these neural tracts may make some adolescents more susceptible to engage in behaviors that society considers too adult in nature for their chronological age. It is also a common notion that teens make dumb decisions because their brains are immature. In other words, having a more mature brain may actually motivate some teens to try out new and potentially harmful experiences.
For now, these theories are mere speculation, and the researchers concede that the interaction of white and gray matter is so complex that hard conclusions remain elusive. The results of the study are relatively bare and by no means conclusive. The human brain is so intricate in nature, and one has to consider the fact that there are other factors that come into play such as the environment and certain genetic predispositions that are equally complex to study.

More than half of American teens say they’ve consumed alcohol, and more than 40 percent of those children say they sometimes get their alcohol free from an adult, a new federal survey found.

Among the country’s estimated 10.8 million underage drinkers, more than 40 percent said they got alcohol free from an adult during the past month. One in four said they got the alcohol from an unrelated adult, one in 16 got it from a parent or guardian, and one in 12 got the alcohol from a family member, according to the survey.

The survey, Underage Alcohol Use: Findings From the 2002-2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, was a nationwide review based on data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, and included a random sample of 158,000 people 12 to 20 years old.

Read the full article here

Continual aggressive behavior from childhood through late adolescence is a significant predictor of adult alcohol use and abuse, a new University of Michigan study indicates.

In comparison to childhood and adolescent aggression, some variables often thought of as risk factors, such as problems in the family and parents’ poor educational background, are weak predictors of children drinking alcohol later in life as adults, said the study’s lead author Eric Dubow, an adjunct research scientist at U-M’s Institute for Social Research.

U-M researchers used data from the Columbia County Longitudinal Study, a 40-year project of the development of aggression and competence across generations. The study sampled third graders in Columbia County, NY in 1960, then age 8, until 2000 when they were age 48.

Data collected on the study’s participants included measures of aggression, popularity, and IQ tests at age 8; assessment of aggression, popularity, depression and educational attainment at age 19; and reports of alcohol use and problem drinking at ages 30 and 48.

By age 30, men reported a higher frequency and quantity of alcohol use—on average approximately 2 to 4 times a week, 3 to 4 drinks per sitting—compared with females, who consumed alcohol on average once per week, 3 drinks per sitting.

However, at ages 30 and 48, both males and females who had been high on aggression earlier in life reported significantly more alcohol use and problems with alcohol. Participants were not asked to specify if the beverage was liquor, beer, or wine.

The study also found that two sets of variables traditionally viewed as protective factors in the development of problem behavior actually increased the likelihood of alcohol use or alcohol problems.

Source article: www.emaxhealth.com

Alcohol, in the hands of a responsible and mature adult, can be a very relaxing and even healthy social tool. They drink a glass of wine or a bottle of beer or a glass of single malt scotch every now and again for many good reasons. Alcoholic drinks also play a big part in the food service industry, it goes well with some foods that we all like. But when it comes to teenagers consuming alcohol, it’s a whole different story.

It all boils down to the reasons why mature and responsible adults and why their younger counterparts engage in the activity. Older people, specially the responsible one and I cannot stress this enough, tend to drink to get the beneficial and, according to studies, healthy part of alcohol. They mostly do it to get a relaxing feeling or to pair it up with good foods. But, the most important aspect of responsible drinking is moderation, responsible drinkers don’t drink to get drunk, they drink to have fun.

This is an idea that teens oftentimes misunderstand. They also tend to take it to extreme levels. Teens who see movies, advertisements and other media that depict the fun, enjoyment and even class that drinking brings to someone, although at a very shallow level, are misled into believing that mere consumption of alcohol would bring happiness. This is of course not necessarily true, it takes more than just alcohol for the whole experience to be fun and enjoyable. And when you really think about it, the alcoholic drinks are not even the most important part of the whole thing, it’s the camaraderie and spending time with friends and the people that you like thats most important.

There is an article that explains why parents who drink with their teens can be more successful in teaching them to be more responsible drinkers. There are people who believe that teens would definitely experiment with drinking eventually and that letting them know what its like to drink or maybe get drunk would better prepare them for when they are in a situation where they would have to choose. I for one think that there is some truth to this in a way that a well informed consumer would make better decisions about what to buy.

But isn’t there a better way to teach teens about responsible drinking besides exposing them to the dangers of alcohol at a relatively tender age? Wouldn’t it be better if parents did it by letting the kids know that they can have fun, eat great food and enjoy life in general without consuming alcohol? Can’t parents focus on the more important and less shallow aspects like friendship and camaraderie without being intoxicated? I think that’s doable and it’s worth to try that approach first before deciding to hand your teen son or daughter a bottle of beer or a glass of wine.