Underage Drinking: Child’s Play

By Emily Matthews, Year 10

Drinking. Smoking. Pretty standard for the majority of the population. You can see alcohol and cigarettes in supermarkets, corner stores, people smoking on the streets. No surprise the drinking and smoking age has gone down when they’re so readily available.
Drinking is not good for people below 16; there is a reason an age limit exists, for our own benefit and health. The alcohol is full of toxins, horrible for our bodies, especially when they aren’t fully developed, and of course the nasty side effects of hangovers.

I shared a room with a few girls on a trip one time, and they told me about the times they went to parties and got so drunk they threw up all over their host’s floor (who was not pleased, shall we say). On social media alone, I see pictures of my year group going to parties, getting drunk, smoking, and so forth. My cousin (who is barely fifteen) has tried to drag me to one of her parties, and confided in me that in a single sitting, she drank a bottle of vodka, 3 beers and another few shots. Then shethrew up on her boyfriend, who, again, was not pleased.

Smoking too is a growing problem. Ignoring how incredibly bad it is for you and how it is addictive and coats your lungs in tar, it is seen as cool. I even saw a couple of people vaping in the stands this last Sports Day.
Yes, I can see the appeal of going and having fun, getting rip-roaring drunk and then being sick. I’ve been told a few wild drinking stories, one including thinking they were a bush because they’d fallen over a rail headfirst into a hedge. It does sound like fun.
I think part of the reason why drinking age has gone down is the pressure to be cool. Most of us feel pretty insecure around this age, and tend to act more grown-up than we actually are. Including drinking and smoking, and doing things we really shouldn’t in an attempt to prove we are worthy. Worthy of what though?

The pressure isn’t great, and some of us drink. Or smoke. Or vape.
We shouldn’t.