The dangers of teen drinking can cause extensive damage in the lives of teens and their parents. Underage drinking statistics indicate that teen drinking can lead to serious financial and legal problems. When this is paired with the fact that many teen drinkers grow up to become lifelong drinkers, drinking can also lead to serious health ramifications. That’s why it is important to get your teen help if you believe they have been drinking. At Venture Academy, our alcohol use disorder treatment program can empower you and your child to make the necessary changes to ensure teen success.
Underage Drinking Statistics
Most underage drinking statistics indicate that millions of Canadian teens drink every year. This should be a surprising fact because it is illegal for teens under the age of nineteen to drink in most provinces. However, each year, teens continue to add to the damage of this cycle, causing serious harm in their communities.
Drinking and Driving
Canada has one of the highest rates of drinking and driving fatalities in the world, and a large percentage of this has roots in the need for teen alcohol education. Some studies have suggested that crashes on roadways account for the highest percentage of deaths among young people in Canada. Over half of these fatalities involve either alcohol or drug impairment. If your teen is exhibiting the kind of reckless behaviour that could lead to an accident in the community, it is important to get them into a program before they become another teen drinking statistic.
Legal Issues
Besides the damages of drinking and driving, there are many other drinking behaviours that can lead to legal problems, including physical assaults, bullying, gang violence, and sexual coercion. Since alcohol use affects physical and emotional regulation, it can cause young people to take risks that they may not otherwise take.
Because of their age, teens likely have not learned many necessary techniques adults use to cope or make decisions. This is important to remember. Teens are still forming their identities and physically growing. The dangers of teen drinking are that teens may stop growing if they start drinking.
Dangers of Teen Drinking
Teens can cause serious financial and legal problems with drinking, but they also cause irreparable harm when they drink. The teen years are a time when teens are learning to navigate their world in the face of many changes. If teens do not learn how to balance their world with healthful coping mechanisms, they can grow up as adults who seriously abuse alcohol. Underage drinking statistics do not adequately paint the picture of the dangers of teen drinking because health damage that is done over time is difficult to fully track. The health complications of teen drinking can upend lives before they are fully started.
Health complications that may arise from drinking over time include:
- High blood pressure
- Nerve damage
- Cirrhosis
- Seizures
- Heart Problems
- Stroke
- Pancreatitis
The seriousness of these health issues may not be made entirely clear in basic drinking and health statistics. But they are still a very real part of what alcoholism can do on a long-term basis. If your teen is drinking now, the symptoms may be minor. Unfortunately, a little bit of indigestion now could lead to heart failure in just a few years.
Prevent Alcohol Addiction in Your Teen at Venture Academy
The underage drinking statistics present an environment that is hard to navigate for your teen. Call us our Venture Academy team today at 866.762.2211 to learn more about programs that can prevent your teen from becoming a teen alcohol statistic. Our comprehensive care may be just what your teen needs to get back on the right track.
