Teenage years are filled with uncertainty. Intense pressure to perform and succeed is felt by many teenagers. Perceived failure at home and/or school can lead to the need for escape. Teenagers often see their parents react to stress by drinking, thus providing a bad example for them. They also see their favourite movie actors or actresses getting drunk when they go to a movie so they think that it's OK for them to do it but what they don't know is it really hurts them in the long run. The desire to be accepted and popular among their friends encourages many to begin drinking. The ability to consume a lot of alcohol is associated with being a "real man or woman". When teens see adults drink heavily and movie stars on screen getting drunk, the message that gets through is that "it's cool to drink" which is the wrong one to be sending. What is Alcohol?The critical ingredient common to all alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol or ethanol. It is a clear, tasteless liquid formed through the fermentation of sugars by yeast spores. The amount of alcohol produced depends on the type and amount of sugar in the original mixture, the type of yeast used, the temperature maintained during the fermentation process.What is alcoholism? Alcoholism is an illness, it is a condition that people develop when they have lost control over their drinking and are unable to stop themselves. Alcoholism is not contagious. You cannot catch it. This condition is developed over a long period of time, but everyone is susceptible to it.Is there a cure? Sadly, there is no cure for alcoholism. The only solution we have come up with is prevention.Teenagers today have no idea what alcoholism really is. They think that they can never become alcoholics. They think that it could never happen to them, but they are wrong. Stress, Family problems and the desire to be popular are often the cause of teenage alcoholism.Signs that you are becoming an alcoholic:PhysicalFatigue, repea...
