Although it’s illegal to buy alcohol in the United States until the age of 21, most teens can get access to it. It’s therefore up to you them make a decision about drinking. But why do teens drink anyway?

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.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Teen Health, Teen Inspiration, help for parents, teen behaviors, teen safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.