Essay/Term paper: Underage drinking

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Culture

Imagine killing your best friend. Imagine smashing him into a telephone

pole, crushing his bones and organs and making him bleed to death. Imagine

the pain and suffering he would go through. Imagine then going on trial for

his death, facing his family and friends and the hateful stares as you walk

in the courtroom. Imagine a verdict of guilty and being sentenced to thirty

years in prison, thirty long years to sit alone and ponder how you could have

been so stupid to kill someone you love.

How would a night like this have begun? It probably began like the night

of a typical American teenager. You would go pick up a carload of your

closest friends and head to the party scene. You have a few drinks, maybe a

beer or two or a few shots, but never enough to make you tipsy. Or so you

think. You jump back in the car, music blaring, headed to another party or

maybe even home. Your best friend says he know a shortcut, so you follow his

directions and turn down a narrow road. You speed up, in a hurry to hit that

one last party before curfew. All of a sudden there is another car in the

road, high beams on, blinding you. You brake and swerve, trying to avoid an

accident, but you end up swerving too far, running right into a telephone

pole on the side of the road, smashing in the left side of the car and your

best friend. You wake up in the hospital. Your parents are by your side and

you ask where your best friend is. They say he was killed in the accident

you caused. The guilt hits you and takes your breath away. You killed

someone, someone you knew and loved.

Now imagine your freshman year of high school. You get invited to that

huge senior party, so of course you go. There are a million different types

of drinks there and you are offered a beer by some upperclassmen. You take

it and chug it, trying to impress them. They offer you another and another,

until finally you pass out. You are put, unconscious in a chair and the

party goes on. The next morning someone tries to wake you, but you won't

open your eyes. They call 911 and you are taken to the hospital. You are

rushed into the ER and 10 minutes later are pronounced dead due to alcohol

poisoning.

This is how alcohol affects the teenagers of America today. It ruins

lives and not only the lives of those who drink. It affects their friends

and family. It even affects people they do not know, the thousands of people

that are killed each year by drunk drivers. Many teens think they are

invincible, that nothing will ever happen to them. They will never drink too

much or be in an accident. But many lives are taken away because of underage

drinking. These people are killed in an instant, squashed like bugs on a

windshield. They never get to grow up and fulfill their dreams. They become

that bum on the street, staggering around and yelling obscene comments. They

are like the stray dog that never really finds a place in life.

So what is the solution to this problem? Stop the underage drinking.

Americans today need to wait until they are mature enough to handle all the

responsibilities that are involved with drinking. There are so many other

things to do on a Saturday night than go get drunk with your friends at a

party. Alcohol is not something that is needed to have a good time. Go out

shopping or to the movies. Go play golf or go bowling. Go out to eat or

even go to a party, but just don't drink. Life is too important to lose.