Many high schoolers fall under the name “follower,” playing their part in “follow the leader” game. Trends are often followed by numerous amounts of people. But, one of the more illegal and dangerous “follow the leader” game in high school, is underage drinking. From what I have seen happen with my peers, when one person starts to drink, their whole entire friend group is suddenly throwing a party over the weekend and everyone there is drunk. Freshman year, I noticed that none of my peers drank alcohol. It didn’t even cross my mind that people were drinking underage. Sophomore year, I started realizing that people in my grade were experimenting with alcohol. Now that I have reached junior year, I can name a copious amount of people whom I have
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From what I have seen at Libertyville High School, many of my peers start drinking with their friends. Not all of my peers were pressured necessarily, but I think that their friend groups played a huge role in them beginning to drink. “Young people prefer to drink alcohol with their friends and although they do not consider that they are pressured into drinking, it is unlikely they will choose not to drink if their friends are drinking” (“Drugs in Focus”). Even though “Drugs in Focus” is from Australia, teen peer pressure is universal. Going along with this statement, “peer pressure, or the direct or indirect encouragement from one’s own age group to engage in activities that they may or may not want to engage in (...), is a major factor in the development of risk-taking behaviors” (Palmeri). These pieces of evidence combined prove that teens are similarly pressured, even if they are not in the same country. No matter where someone is, friends tend to cajole others, persuading others who may not want to, to drink. “A teen that has peers that participate in underage drinking and parents that also abuse drugs or alcohol are much more likely to choose to join in the underage drinking with his/her peers” (“Teen Peer Pressure Statistics and Facts”). Overall, these facts from various sources prove that a major factor in underage drinking is peers. Though it might not be transparent, it is obvious that friends are an influencing factor when deciding to drink
From what I have seen at Libertyville High School, many of my peers start drinking with their friends. Not all of my peers were pressured necessarily, but I think that their friend groups played a huge role in them beginning to drink. “Young people prefer to drink alcohol with their friends and although they do not consider that they are pressured into drinking, it is unlikely they will choose not to drink if their friends are drinking” (“Drugs in Focus”). Even though “Drugs in Focus” is from Australia, teen peer pressure is universal. Going along with this statement, “peer pressure, or the direct or indirect encouragement from one’s own age group to engage in activities that they may or may not want to engage in (...), is a major factor in the development of risk-taking behaviors” (Palmeri). These pieces of evidence combined prove that teens are similarly pressured, even if they are not in the same country. No matter where someone is, friends tend to cajole others, persuading others who may not want to, to drink. “A teen that has peers that participate in underage drinking and parents that also abuse drugs or alcohol are much more likely to choose to join in the underage drinking with his/her peers” (“Teen Peer Pressure Statistics and Facts”). Overall, these facts from various sources prove that a major factor in underage drinking is peers. Though it might not be transparent, it is obvious that friends are an influencing factor when deciding to drink