NEELIN VIEWS: Understanding the effects of alcohol

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/10/2022 (1326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s Halloween, and many teens will be going out and having fun. With COVID-19 being less of a problem this year, expectations for Halloween have gone up. You are no longer confined by social distancing and masks, making the event more interactive. But that doesn’t necessarily mean letting loose is such a good idea.

Twice as many kids are killed on Halloween than any other day of the year. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the United States show that drunk drivers cause 44 per cent of traffic fatalities on Halloween. That averages to around 5.5 people each year in the U.S. alone, more than double the average on any other day. While there is no specific information for Canada, we can assume the numbers are similar. What’s unequivocally worse is that a third of the perpetrators are young drivers ages 15-25.

How could this happen? Alcohol is one of the most used drugs, though many don’t even see it as one. And even though many can moderate the amount they drink; some simply cannot. When a person has a physical need to drink alcohol, even when they know it has a negative impact, that is alcoholism. Unfortunately, that also means young teens are more inclined to develop that need if they start drinking at an early age.

One factor that influences teenagers to drink is Halloween, which can be a dangerous night for drinking — and because of parties and events, it’s hard not to celebrate. Even when individuals are not happy on Halloween, they drink because of loneliness or stress. You see social media posts with celebrities going out and having fun. Because young impressionable people see that, they tend to want to fit in. This results in teens starting to drink as well. Furthermore, when they do drink, especially on Halloween, consequences occur.

But there are plenty more reasons for younger people to begin drinking. It’s said that during adolescence, people are filled with excitement, boredom and pressure. Those qualities often reflect on motives for alcohol consumption. Wally Koop, a social worker at École secondaire Neelin High School, gave more insight.

“I think that [more people are drinking] because society is more accepting now, so they just start,” Koop says. “For some, it’s for coping. If it’s for coping, you need to find other alternatives. It’s not good for adults, either.”

Accessing liquor has also become a big problem. Even though it’s illegal for individuals who are underage to purchase alcohol, it isn’t for adults. Taking some from parents or from older friends at parties isn’t very hard. In fact, two out of three teens say it is easy to get alcohol without parents knowing.

“Most take from home,” Koop added. “It’s easiest. There are some people who pay others of age who will buy it. But mostly, they get it from home.”

However, accidents and problems relating to alcohol are serious increasing issues, not only on the holiday. According to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, close to 80 per cent of Canadian students in grades 7-12 reported they have consumed alcohol prior to the legal age. The majority say they first did it when they were only 14. And due to the inexperience in drinking and susceptibility to peer pressure, teenagers have a significantly elevated risk for binge drinking.

Binge drinking is defined as “a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams per cent or above,” or having five or more drinks on an occasion — about a two-hour time period — for men and four or more drinks for women. It affects 4.9 per cent of people ages 12-17, and while it does not mean you are an alcoholic, binge drinking at a young age increases tolerance for alcohol, which can easily lead to alcohol-related disorders.

Negative impacts for young individuals include slow brain maturing/development, stunting of personal growth, lack of motivation, emotional outbursts, a smaller brain and an overall higher inclination for poor decision-making. Remember, alcohol not only affects your health, but also the way we interpret the world and our decisions we make about our behaviour. Some other risks include alcohol poisoning, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, digestive problems, cancers, weakening of the immune system, mental health/self-esteem/confidence difficulties, violence, alcohol dependence, overdose, sudden death and high chance of using other substances. This shows that even if the statistics seem low, the dangers are not.

Preventing people from drinking isn’t an easy task. Understanding and talking to them can sometimes be the best you can do to help.

“Having conversations about it would benefit people a lot more,” Koop stated. “We used to just say ‘stop,’ but we learned that didn’t work. Saying stop doesn’t make people get help. People still did it. We figured out that we should just talk about it and try to bring the consumption down to a safer level to make sure it doesn’t affect people’s lives [negatively].”

If you or someone you know is having troubles with alcohol use, there are organizations such as Addictions Foundation of Manitoba — which works with Neelin — that provide confidential, respectful and free mental-health and substance-use help.

Have a safe Halloween.

» Georgia Feng is a Grade 9 student at École secondaire Neelin High School.