Yoram Yasur Blume : Adolescence represents the transition from childhood to adulthood, that is, it is a period of development where the person acquires the physical and psychic abilities that will identify him or her as developed, especially sexual ones, which will allow him to reproduce. Yoram Yasur Blume explains that being a stage of profound changes, is marked by instability and, in most cases, confusion and confusion of young people themselves to their changes.
During this development phase, young people are much more vulnerable to some health risks, such as alcohol and drug use.
Why do teenagers start drinking?
In the initial and middle stages of adolescence (from 11 to 17 years old), young people develop their own image, a role they seek to project and empower before others. The development of the personality provokes in the adolescent the need of independence in front of the family nucleus and the search of integration in social groups. This need to belong to a group can lead young people to develop risk behaviors, such as alcohol consumption. The habits carried out within the environment of family and friends are crucial when it comes to preventing or encouraging the consumption of alcohol.
Yoram Yasur Blume : The adolescent also develops a feeling of strength and invulnerability at this time, which can lead the young person to develop risk behaviors and begin to consume alcohol and drugs.
Adolescents are more vulnerable to alcohol:
Yoram Yasur Blume : This is since the adult stage has not yet been reached and the young person is in a phase of formation and development, so that the consequences for health are greater than for a mature adult. In addition to the risks derived from the ingestion of alcohol in physical health, the most damaging damages at these ages occur in mental health.
Yoram Yasur Blume explains that the teenager’s brain is in constant development and growth; During adolescence the young person will acquire all the capacities of reasoning, planning, information processing, discursive capacity and all the properties of abstract thinking. The consumption of alcohol during this stage of acquisition and development of these skills can stall the process and result in an adult who has significant shortcomings in mature thinking.
Yoram Yasur Blume explains that alcohol also harms areas of the brain responsible for memory and learning, which are also in development and which greatly hinder and impair the ability to create and store memories, attention and concentration. These skills are essential for the development of education and learning, so that, overall, their lack or incomplete development can have serious consequences.
In addition to the risks for the development of mature thinking and cognitive ability, alcohol consumption in adolescents greatly affect behavior, which can lead to the development of aggressive behavior that hinders the proper development of social relationships. The World Health Organization (WHO) establishes a series of damages derived from alcohol consumption, among which are:
Promotion of unprotected sex, which leads to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and other risks such as early pregnancy.
Traffic and traffic accidents, which represent one of the biggest causes of premature death among young people.
Proliferation and development of violence, especially gender violence.
To alleviate and prevent alcohol consumption among adolescents it is necessary to articulate a series of measures with this objective:
Set an age to buy and consume alcohol and regulate the way in which alcoholic beverages are promoted.
Encourage the relationship and dialogue between parents and adolescents: The influence of the family environment is crucial for the young person to follow healthy habits and avoid alcohol consumption.
Promote, using campaigns, the awareness of the serious risks that alcohol consumption brings at any age, but especially among young people.