Basic HTML Version
to obtain and
h~
a "quasi-legal"
basis (at least for those of age).
The Tip of the Iceberg
How serious is the problem? No–
body really knows the exact propor–
tions of the problem at this stage.
But it is getting worse. Jean Van–
dervoort says we have only seen the
"tip of the iceberg."
Another authority dealing ac–
tively with youthful alcoholism
is
Mr. Norm Southerby. He is chair–
man ofthe Youth Committee on Al–
cohol Abuse and is also consultant
to the Los Angeles County Alcohol
Safety Action Project. He personally
estima tes that there may be as many
as 560,000 teen-agers in the United
States in tbe 14 to 17 age group who
may develop or be in the process of
developing a serious problem with
alcohol.
Youthful alcoholism is only part
of a much larger problem. In a re–
cent report to the U. S. Congress,
the National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse estimated that there are over
nine million alcoholics in the United
States, costing the nation $15 billion
annually.
Men in their late thirties who are
married, steadily employed and
regular churchgoers are the largest
group of alcoholics. Alcoholics are
men and women "whose depen–
dence on alcohol has attained such a
degree that they show a noticeable
mental disturbance or an inter–
ference with their mental and bodiJy
health, their interpersonal relations
and their smooth social and eco–
nomic functioning," says the World
Health Organization.
Although eighty million Ameri–
cans drink aJcoholic beverages with
no obvious deleterious results, over
nine million - about one out of
every ten - have become enslaved
to alcohol. Nine million alcoholics
means that alcoholism is a serious
epidemic, ranking with heart disease
and cancer as a major heaJth men–
ace.
Every third suicide in the United
28
States involves an alcoholic. Every
third arrest in the United States in–
volves public drunkenness. Half of
all homicides and half of all fatal
traffic accidents are alcohol-related.
These facts become even more
ominous when we consider the
growing scope of juvenile drinking
problems.
Not a New Problem
Drinking is an ancient custom. It
has existed for thousands of years
in
all civilizations. The ancient Egyp–
tians and Germans drank beer. The
Aztecs of Mexico drank a fermented
beverage called
pulche,
obtained
from a small cactus plant. But no
matter what the beverage, the
harmful etfects of its excessive use
were much the same. And since the
time the first alcohoüc drink was
taken by roan, there has been con–
cero about youthful drinking prac–
tices. As far back as the time of
Plato, the subject of alcohol and
youth has been a matter of public
concern. Thus, the problem today
is
not a new one at
all
-
although its
dimensions may be growing because
of the circumstances of our modero
age.
Studies have been made to deter–
mine why young people drink.
Many reasons have been suggested,
but the fact is that there is no single
reason. There are many factors at
work. But when all the evidence is
analyzed, it becomes obvious that
teen-agers drink primarily because
drinking is a widespread adult cus–
tom, today. As Bacon and Jones
have written in
Teen-Age Drinking:
"Drinkers outnumber nondrinkers
among adults by about two to one.
When teen-agers drink, the best ex–
planation of their behavior
is
that
they are adopting the pattern set by
the majority of adults" (p. 47).
How lt Begins
Teen-agers start to drink for three
common reasons - because it seems
appropriate for a special occasioo or
holiday, because of curiosity, or be–
cause they were served drinks by
their parents. They continue drink–
ing for other reasons, such as to be
sociable or because they simply
"like it."
Home is the most likely place for
youths to begin drinking, and they
generally begin in the presence of
parents and relatives. However,
fifty-two percent of the teen-agers in
one study reported having their first
drink of whiskey with friends, not
relatives. This study indicates that
drinking with friends is a way of fur–
ther experimentation with alcohol -
of going beyond the limits set at
home.