The Problem of Teen Drinking and Driving - Term Paper Example

?The Problem of Teen Drinking and Driving: An Annotated Bibliography Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teen Drinking and Driving: A Dangerous Mix. Oct. 2012. Web. 10 Aug. 2013. http://m.cdc.gov/en/VitalSigns/teen-drinking-and-driving This article provides the statistics that give the basis for considering underage drinking as a serious problem in the society. It gives the trend in underage drinking from 1991 through to 2011, hence more recent statistics to give a clearer picture of the current situation. It also articulates possible prevention strategies for different parties affected by the problem. Dasgupta, Amitava. The Science of Drinking: How Alcohol Affects Your Body and Mind. Plymouth, PY: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. The author in this book scientifically explains the action of alcohol on human body, providing guidance on healthy drinking habits. It is thus an important source in giving the discussion of underage drinking a scientific explanation so as to understand how alcohol influences the behavior of teenagers, thus endangering their lives when drunk and driving. However, the book takes a general perspective of alcohol on human body and does not specifically discuss the action of alcohol on those considered as underage. Mendralla, Valerie and Janet Grosshandler. Drinking and Driving: Now What? New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2012. This book is a dedication to the young people and thus focuses its discussion of drinking and driving on the underage alcohol consumers. It gives the scientific background of alcohol consumption and backs its discussions with statistics. The use of images makes this source easily understandable. It not only tackles the personal tragedies resulting from underage drinking but also social and legal problems, and subsequently gives prevention measures. Miller, Ted R., David T. Levy, Rebecca S. Spicer, and Dexter M. Taylor. “Societal Costs of Underage Drinking.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 67.4 (2006): n. pag. Web. 10 Aug. 2013. http://www.jsad.com/jsad/article/Societal_Costs_of_Underage_Drinking/874.html This article evaluates the cost associated with alcohol consumption among the young people despite the existence of deterrent laws. Even though it uses not so recent statistics of 2001, the article is a critical source in portraying the extent to which underage drinking has spread in America, relating 16% of alcohol sales to underage drinking. As such, it advocates for equal attention as given to illicit drugs consumption. US Department of Health and Human Services. Underage Drinking. (2006). Web. 10 Aug. 2013. http://www.niaaa.nih.gov This source gives a wider perspective of underage drinking, focusing not only on drinking and driving, but also on other problems related to underage drinking. It gives statistics from government sources to validate its arguments. The article further explains the risk factors that lead teenagers to alcohol consumption. The article gives preventive measures that could be used to curb the problem and cites some of the measures that the US government has taken to prevent underage drinking. The Problem of Teen Drinking and Driving Introduction Learning to drive has for long been appreciated as a great milestone among teenagers. Also, experimenting with alcohol and its subsequent abuse has been existent among the teenagers for a long time. Nonetheless, combining these two aspects yields poor decision making, as argued by Mendralla and Grosshandler (4). In order to justify teen drinking and driving as a problem to the society, this research borrows from credible secondary sources. Low alcohol consumption could be beneficial to human health, but excessive consumption of alcohol beyond 0.08% causes impairment and compromises motor skills and reflexes (Dasgupta 38). With a majority of teenagers involved in binge drinking, the risk of falling victim to negative consequences of excessive drinking always looms. Therefore, teen drinking and driving is a serious problem which needs critical attention from responsible stakeholders to help completely curb the plague. The impairment that comes with excessive alcohol consumption exposes drunken and driving teenagers to car crashes. There is a three-time likelihood of teen drivers causing fatal crashes than experienced drivers. Alcohol consumption further increases this risk. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC documents the risk of a crash among young drivers aged between 16 and 20 with 0.08% blood alcohol concentration at 17 times more than for those that have not drunk. Whereas there has been remarkable achievement in curbing teen drinking and driving, Mendralla and Grosshandler (7) observe that crashes of motor vehicles as a result of drunken driving remains the leading cause of death among teens. In 2011, about 1 million teens drank alcohol and drove, and still, teens drink and drive about 2.4 million times each month. The US Department of Health and Human Services documents the number of deaths of people below 21 related to teenage drinking at over 5,000 with some other 190,000 sustaining serious injuries. Parents suffer loss of their children and also material loss of their cars. The government incurs huge costs handling crash victims and holding awareness programs. As such, stopping teen drinking and driving will benefit not only the teens but also parents and the government. The task of preventing drinking and driving among teenagers calls for stakeholders, including states and communities, health professionals, parents and teenagers themselves to be involved in crafting practical solutions. Through the legislation of the minimum legal drinking age, MLDA law that illegalizes the sale of alcohol to anyone below the age of 21, the government has played a great role in curbing this problem. Further to this, the zero tolerance law that prohibits anyone aged below 21 to drive after drinking has seen teen drinking and driving reduce by 54% since 1991 as cited by CDC. Research by CDC also appreciates that graduated driver licensing, GDL, which provides new drivers with experience under conditions deemed to be less risky, has reduced crashes resulting from teen drinking and driving. However, the continued cause of motor vehicle crashes due to teen alcohol drinking could be attributed to lack of an enforcement agency that specifically deals with the problem. All traffic violations irrespective of the nature are currently being handled by traffic police in general. Additionally, modern-day parents have a busy lifestyle, thus spending limited time instilling the right values in their children. They often pass over this role to other authorities, including teachers and respective government agencies, who have limited information on these children. Similarly, teenagers do not understand the reason for the existence of the set rules and the agreements that they enter with their parents, always interpreting these as a way of denying them their freedom, be it of association or decision making. As such, despite the gains made in curbing the problem, it still remains blight in the society. Proposed Solutions This research proposes the creation of a unit of the police by the government that would specifically deal with the problem of teen drinking and driving. Unlike adults, teenagers need a specialized form of correction that would not necessarily involve a punishment. Perhaps, all they would need would be someone to talk to them and explain to them the risk that they expose themselves and others to by engaging in drunken driving. Moreover, since the problem does not begin at the roads, but rather from where these teenagers spent time, such a unit would be able to identify the root cause of having teenagers drinking alcohol and driving and therefore find more sustainable solution. This special unit will be responsible for ensuring compliance to the set laws against underage drinking. They will carry out random but frequent retailer compliance checks and also inspect areas where alcohol could be sneaked in for teenagers such as schools and parties. As documented by CDC, parents have also made a vital contribution in ensuring that their teenage children do not indulge in drinking and driving. Even so, many more parents still live an ignorant life, not acknowledging the risk that their teenage children are exposed to through peer influence to drink and drive. Therefore, parents need to observe an even closer supervision for their children, appreciating the much greater crashing risk the teens are exposed to after drinking. Of importance would be for parents to model to their children safe driving behavior. When these teens are away from home, their parents should ensure their safety by providing them with a safe way home, even if it would mean hiring a cab for them. Additionally, parents should apply tools that discourage drinking and driving among their children such as entering into agreements with their children on safe driving and obeying speed limits. This will be enforced together with the GDL laws provided by the state. The greatest milestone in solving this problem will directly involve the teens themselves. It would be crucial that teenagers across the country enlighten themselves on the GDL laws. They need to know and understand traffic rules and as such follow them to the latter. Parents could enter into agreements with their teenage children that will bind them to abiding by all traffic rules. Adherence to the dictates of such road agreements will deter teenagers from drinking and driving. No matter the distance of the trip, teens need to learn to make it a habit to wear safety belts. Despite these solutions, the government could argue against the creation of a special police unit to deal with the problem because of limited resources already facing the current police force. It is true that setting up a unit specifically dedicated to curbing teen drinking and aging is costly to the government. Nonetheless, the resultant cost savings would neutralize this effect and eventually spiral greater savings to the government. For instance, in the year 2007, the US government spent $10 billion in handling post teen alcohol related crashes (Mendralla and Grosshandler 7). With an efficient police unit dealing with the problem, the government will save amounts in this range which will then see to it that the government does not feel the cost implications of putting the special unit in place. Parents will also wish that the duty of reinforcing traffic rules be left with the traffic police because of the busy lifestyle that a majority of them have. But safe driving behavior would only be inspired by parents who understand their teenage children better and who are better placed to shape these teens in the right direction. Parents spend more time with their children than the authorities would and should therefore endeavor to educate these children on the required behavior on the roads. They also have an upper hand in influencing the peer networks of such children as opposed to the police, thus their ability to ensure their children keep off peers promoting drinking and driving, which according to Miller et al. comprises one of the leading push factors into teenage alcohol consumption. Lastly, teenagers will resist attempts to get them to stop alcohol consumption and situations that could compromise its attainment due to the perception of infringement of their right to socialization. Even the law that limits alcohol consumption to persons above the age of 21 could be interpreted as freedom infringement. It would therefore be important that teenagers be made to understand the reason behind these laws. It should be clearly indicated that the reason for having such legislations and agreements with parents serves the interest of their welfare. After all, statistics from CDC indicate that teenagers who get behind the wheels after drinking alcohol are responsible for 31% of fatal crashes. Conclusion Teenagers continue to indulge in a riskier heavy episodic alcohol consumption referred to as binge drinking. Combining such behavior with driving has been the cause of many deaths and serious injuries among teenagers due to the impairment effect of alcohol on the human body. The study of secondary sources in this research indicates that other than the problem directly affecting teenagers, parents and respective governments also incur huge costs in dealing with post-crash situations including deaths, hospitalization and material losses. Despite greater effort in solving the problem, lack of a police unit that understands teenagers’ needs, changing lifestyles of parents and lack of understanding among teenagers hampers complete elimination of teen drinking and driving. Thus, this research proposes the creation of a specialized police unit to handle cases of teen drinking and driving with the cost implications as could be raised by the governments being neutralized by the resultant savings. It also proposes the observation of more responsible parenting despite the busy schedules as they understand their children better. Finally, there would be need for increased awareness of the reason for the respective rules among teenagers. A combination of these solutions will play a great role in reducing, if not completely eliminating, the problem of teen drinking and driving. Works Cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teen Drinking and Driving: A Dangerous Mix. Oct. 2012. Web. 10 Aug. 2013. Dasgupta, Amitava. The Science of Drinking: How Alcohol Affects Your Body and Mind. Plymouth, PY: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. Mendralla, Valerie and Janet Grosshandler. Drinking and Driving: Now What? New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2012. Miller, Ted R., David T. Levy, Rebecca S. Spicer, and Dexter M. Taylor. “Societal Costs of Underage Drinking.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 67.4 (2006): n. pag. Web. 10 Aug. 2013. US Department of Health and Human Services. Underage Drinking. Web. 10 Aug. 2013. http://www.niaaa.nih.gov Read More