There has been extensive study done on the development of the teenager’s brain in the last twenty years and some of the findings that have come out of this research is that teenagers should not drink because the damage alcohol does to the adolescent brain could have life-long lasting effects.
These changes are most likely to occur in the brain’s pre-frontal cortex, an area responsible for executive functioning: decision making, planning for the future, judgment, and controlling impulses. When teens drink:
- Alcohol could disrupt development at a time when they’re making important decisions about their lives (school, careers, relationships)
- Alcohol can also affect how the brain disseminates information into long-term memory, a crucial element in the process of learning
- Alcohol can affect visual-spatial functioning — the ability to read distance properly or follow directions on a map
- Boys in particular, can be affected in their ability to retain verbal information
- Research suggests that teens who drink are more likely to be killed in accidents, have trouble in school or with the law or take to using illicit drugs than teens who do not consume alcohol
The growing problem of teenage alcoholism should be a major cause of concern for all parents, who should do everything within their power to fully understand the disease and to know what to do in case their teenage children fall victim to it.
