Underage drinking has become very relevant to my generation and the environment I am surrounded by. Alcohol will always have effects on humans, and the more one consumes the increase in more negative effects will develop especially if you are under the legal drinking age.  I also believe that underage drinkers will also experience more harmful effects due to the low maturity level and underdevelopment of the human brain. The statistics have also proven that those who are underage and participate in drinking are more likely to increase rates such as teen pregnancy and fatality. All of these things contribute to the idea that drinking while underage only causes harm. Environmental sources such as family, friends, law enforcement, and the community in which they live are large influences on teenagers deciding to engage in underage drinking. 

The "Preventing and Reducing Underage Drinking" article by Stephen K. Galson is informing the audience of how alcohol is affecting people who are under the age of 21. It starts off by introducing how teens may start drinking before the legal age because of peer pressure, family, school, or their community influences. The article continues to explain how underage drinkers raise the statistics of STD's, unplanned pregnancies, and brain damage as the adolescent mind is not complete until the age of 21, when the brain reaches full development. This synopsis only further attributes to my stance that alcohol is not something anyone under the legal drinking age should partake in. These young adults are not mature enough yet to understand how alcohol impairs your thinking and reasoning skills. I fully believe that underage drinking can be caused by peer pressure, family, schools, and the community. Within the family, the mindset of the parents have a large role in the introduction to alcohol on their children. The article "Does Promoting Parents' Negative Attitudes To Underage Drinking Reduce Adolescents' Drinking?" by Ozdemir, Metin, and Nikolaus Koutakis says that changing the parents mindset towards underage drinking being harmful had an effect on the statistics of the number of youth who reported drunk. I agree with the article that educating parents to have a more restrictive outlook on underage drinking decreases the percentage of the youth being drunk. This allows for parents to be more aware of the harmful effects and tolerate the activity less, or even at all. I think this action of education can be implemented within schools to where parents are able to be contacted from the students and faculty about new education or how the children are behaving regarding the topic. Friends in school who get involved like to show it of as drinking be the cool thing to do. Along with that, major school events such as Prom and Homecoming are largely celebrated, providing more reason for students to celebrate, naturally gravitating toward the idea that alcohol should be involved to have a good time. As common as these scenarios are, they are ruining the idea of what a good time should look like. If students are thinking early on that to have fun they have to engage alcohol, they are going to grow up thinking that and possibly later passing that on to the next generation. Often times statistics can only do so much persuasion and it will not effect a person unless it has effected them personally or through a loved one. Galson's value of trying to inform the audience of underage drinking might risk the audience's urge to want to partake in underage drinking even more due to the natural desire people have wanting to do things they are not supposed to do, as this is a well known character trait in teenagers. As teenagers are already prone to making many mistakes as a result of going through puberty and shifting into adulthood, their decision making is mostly based on whim. Adding alcohol on top of that adds even more caution to the decision making of teens. 

The "Work Hard, Play Harder" article by The Wilson Quarterly is a review of the book The Drinking Game by Marshall Poe. The Wilson Quarterly best summarizes Poe by saying you cannot avoid alcohol on most college campuses, its just a natural thing. Poe advocates that college campuses are swarmed with alcohol and that is what advocates the "college experience." Poe thinks that those who decide to harm others with careless drinking, like driving and public intoxication, should be given consequences. But, he goes on to say that if you will be responsible while drinking alcohol, drink up. This opinion is outlandish. If you are under the influence of alcohol, you have lost the chance to be fully responsible. It is reasonable to say that those acting irresponsible at the expense of hurting themselves/others should receive punishment. It is not reasonable, however, to say "responsible" drinkers are free to continue drinking, especially if they are under the legal drinking age. No one can define the word responsible without many interpretations in consideration. I also disagree with the opinion that alcohol defines the college experience. As it is widely common, it is not the sole basis to one's college career. Many audience members who are adults, specifically with children in college, reading this article will be very concerned about their children's actions in potential participation of underage drinking as alcohol is easily accessible in college.

Another article informing its audience on college-age drinking problems called "Viewpoint on College-age Drinking Problems" by Ralph W. Hingson provides detailed facts on drinking and driving, binge drinking at ages under 21 through 23, and the enforcement on those who are under public intoxication. While the article does describe the statistics on deaths involving motor vehicle incidents, it also presents the other side of law enforcement being wildly lenient, alluding to the fact that deaths involving alcohol could also be reduced not just by the people reducing their intake, but law enforcement cracking down and showing people how serious it is. Law enforcement has struggled to firmly practice the law of punishing underage drinkers, whether it's arresting, giving tickets, or at the least shutting down parties. I believe law enforcement gives a disgrace to their career if they are not actually enforcing the law. From seeing similar experiences in my community, the local police like to show up to house parties and only enforce the noise complaint by telling teens to quiet down. Rarely did I ever hear about the law enforcement implementing necessary punishment for students breaking the law by drinking underage. This article does not religiously or culturally sway one's decision. It only respects the fact that there is a legal drinking age and people who have disregarded it are presented in negative statistics. I like how this article presents both sides. As much as it is the responsibility of the minors to obey the law and not drink, officials are expected to do their job and serve this country by protecting the lives of everyone; this includes enforcing the legal drinking age. This article does a good job portraying many reasons as to why underage drinking is not O.K. through examples of law enforcement being sympathetic and letting these kids off the hook. Another example of law enforcement being wildly lenient is through the youtube video "Underage Drinking White Girl Let Go After Rock-Paper-Scissor Game With Cop." This video shows an underage girl who had been drinking at a party when the cops showed up and caught her. The cops made a deal with her that they would not punish her for underage drinking if she beat them in a round of rock-paper-scissors. The video showed them playing, the girl won, and the cops walked away not pressing charges against her. This is absolutely ridiculous. It is sad to think the people (law enforcement) who are supposed to prevent danger in our environments are letting girls like this continue drinking for possible public harm. Clearly, she was not making conscious decisions if she was bargaining to play a game of rock-paper-scissors with police to get out of trouble. I find this very inappropriate and more importantly frightening that decisions like this one made by the cop is now potentially going to effect other innocent humans. That girl was able to continue to be in public and her now altered mindset due to alcohol could cause her to do unexpected and immoral decisions. She may feel prone to get behind the wheel driving a car, continue making public disturbances, etc. This situation is out of control because the law enforcement is clearly not doing their legal job of protecting the community, along with the girl being irresponsible with the intake of alcohol. In the article "A Comparison Of The Responsible Drinking Dimensions Among Underage And Legal Drinkers: Examining Differences In Beliefs, Motives, Self-Efficacy, Barriers And Intentions" by Adam Barry, it provides evidence that each time a student drinks they are less likely to practice responsible drinking behaviors the next time they drink alcohol. I believe this to be true because there comes a point when people reach a comfortability level that makes them resist what is right and they continue to do what feels good in the moment. Especially among teens, it is easy to want to do things that you are told not to do. In this case, teens are more likely to want to drink while underage because they know that it is against the law.

The "Can We Better Prevent Binge Drinking?" article debated the idea on binge drinking in our youth and if it is preventable. I think binge drinking is definitely preventable if more education about its harm was implemented and more adults stressed the importance to be safe if teenagers do decide to partake in underage drinking. Binge Drinking is a very harmful activity and the article references that new forms of tests such as "salivary, serum and urinary beta-hexosaminidase, and salivary immunoglobulin A" are seen to show prevention in binge drinking (Waszkiewicz 589). Even putting the idea out there that binge drinking is important enough to discuss prevention may reach the audience in a positive way to think about the effects of binge drinking. The value of preventing binge drinking is at stake because participants are less likely to be accepting and reluctant to change their ways. It might influence those who are interested or on the verge of binge drinking, but for those who already partake in binge drinking might refuse to accept that it is an issue.

A TED-talk video "Dangers of Underage Drinking and Driving: Jacqui's Story" centralizes around the idea that you should not drink and drive, reminding the audience that if you are under the age of 21 it is illegal to drink. The evidence provided was story of a man who was drinking underage and decided to drive his car. He ended up hitting another car, killing two people instantly and harming another bystander. This caused him going to prison for intoxication manslaughter. This story is very relevant to our generation in understanding that underage drinking is a huge issue that impacts not only your life, but also the lives of others. This article is very informative about protecting the lives of others as well as your own life. This source shows the importance of being cautionary while drinking alcohol underage.

The "Law Officers' Views on Enforcement of the Minimum Drinking Age: A Four-state Study" article describes the law enforcement of alcohol on those who are under the age of 21. It reflects on all 50 states in the U.S. having laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol below the age of 21. Some states are more lenient with the allowed possession of alcohol and how strict their laws should be against those who are 21. This article provides statistics on the number of people who actually get penalized for underage drinking/possession specifically by the county or local law enforcement officers. This article is geared towards recognizing that if people want the laws enforced, the county and local law enforcement officers need to enforce the rules, as that is the title of their job and what they are held responsible to perform. It is important that law enforcement is involved with punishing those who break the law, like those who drink under the legal age. As much as it is the responsibility of people who are underage not to drink, the back up of law enforcement should be utilized completely to its full potential. This article was published in 1995. Yes, that makes it about 20 years old compared to our current time, but it is just as relevant and the information provided is just as accurate if not even higher than it was back in 1995. This source provides the other angle to limiting drinking, which is the enforcement of the law restricting those to drink it if under the age of 21 years.

Underage drinking is mostly seen as a negative activity because it is through the eyes of people who are not underage and are trying to protect teenagers like parents and other loved ones. Theodora Lee posted a video "Underage Drinking  --  My Experience" and described that she does not advocate for underage drinking, but she did feel like it was O.K. for her to drink at the age of 15 in a safe environment even if her parents were unaware. It was interesting hearing this viewpoint because its almost impossible to support not drinking underage yet saying you were fine to do it when you were underage. It showcases a double standard that in a way persuades kids that you shouldn't support it, but you will probably turn out fine. I do not agree with this mentality solely because she gives no good argument. She borders both sides of the argument and does not know how to choose a side. I do not really think Theodora is effective in persuading her audience because she claims she didn't regret drinking underage. She said she liked it and was responsible. It is one thing to share to the population a personal story and want the audience to learn from her mistake, but she doesn't see it as a mistake which makes her argument misleading and confusing. Although there are no statistics provided nor does she have an academic title to show more credibility, her video reflects pathos to gain more understanding from the audience.

On the contrary, "The Dangers of Binge Drinking" produced by The Doctors shows how binge drinking, coming from a teen who personally experienced it, is life threatening. The girl had a 0.43 blood alcohol content level which is over 5 times the legal limit. This left her in a hospital on life support. I felt very bothered by this story because the girl put herself in this situation and didn't think about the harmful effects that come along with excessive alcohol consumption. I wish she would have been more responsible because she put other people in danger buy drinking so much, making her parents worried sick and now costing them thousands of dollars in medical bills, and most importantly damaging her body in more ways than she can comprehend. This video provides a first hand experience from a teen who effected her own life by abusing the use of alcohol. She did not expect anything bad to happen to her, but that became out of her control once she made the decision to drink alcohol. Anyone under the influence can have a similar situation, or worse, happen to them.

"It's Just a Sip" by Betsy Brown Braun centralizes on the idea of why children become interested in wanting alcohol. A lot of it is centered around the home with desiring what parents label forbidden to the children. The author also describes that if parents decide to slack off and let their children sip their alcoholic beverages, the children will notice that their parents don't care so they become more carefree and lenient upon other issues. It is not acceptable that parents teach their children breaking this law is O.K. and damaging their still developing minds at that. There is definitely bias within this source. There is no statistics backing up the claims allowing for a full, opinioned article. Although there is no statistical evidence within this source, it does provide another angle for the audience to look at to reason as to why kids put alcohol as an importance in their mind. Parents are a main root as to if and when teenagers incorporate alcohol into their lifestyle.

The research presented varies from source to source. Each source provides its own opinion on the topic of underage drinking. With the "Work Hard, Play Harder" article, it references a book advocating that it is okay for students who are underage to drink, as long as they are not harming other in the process. My other sources do not agree with this philosophy, as most remain unbiased and present the harmful effects alcohol can have on those who are not of legal age to drink. After reading these articles, my opinion has become even more firm on the stance of enforcing the legal drinking age of 21. I believe teenagers abuse the purpose of alcohol and can drink too much to the point of putting other lives in danger, including their own. These articles differ because they are trying to appeal to different audiences. Although they differ, they share a common ground in the fact that alcohol can present negative effects. I believe that underage drinking is a major issue and is not beneficial in any way. To start with, it is illegal to be drinking if you are under the age of 21. It also puts your life, along with other lives, at risk. Once you've consumed any alcohol, your judgment is impaired. It also puts other people out of the way to ensure extra cautionary watch like parents/guardians, law enforcement officers, and friends.

