In Class Essay 1 Brandon Rickrode Chamberlain 1/22/09 ENC 1101 Section 33 *The Causes* and Effect*s* of *Underage* Alcohol Abuse As it may seem easy to comprehend the causes and effects of underage alcohol abuse, sometimes it can be quite the contrary. As we may normally think that teenagers abuse alcohol just to experiment or have fun on a weekend off of work, most teenagers actually abuse alcohol due to low parental supervision or family history of alcohol and/or drug abuse. Each year, alcohol is involved in nearly half of all deaths involving teenagers under the age of twenty-one. There are five stages of alcohol and drug abuse that have been identified. They begin with the access of alcohol rather than the actual abuse or use of it. This makes a teenager more vulnerable to using it. The second stage is the experiment, or occasional use of the substance. This occurs when the alcohol is available to the teenager, as in the first stage. In the third stage of alcohol abuse, a teenager increases the frequency of use. During this stage, he/she may buy or even steal alcohol from a store, from friends, or from family. In the fourth stage, the teenager becomes a “regular” or a “champ” in this field. He/she may start to decrease their social life, educational life, or family life. The last stage of alcohol abuse deals with the teenager’s personal feelings, thoughts and emotions. They find themselves to be normal when intoxicated and not normal when they’re sober. This becomes a problem in the sense that suicidal thoughts could run through their every-day thoughts when sober. Now that we’ve learned the five stages of alcohol abuse and what leads teenagers to it, let’s talk about some of the effects. As some effects were covered in the five stages of underage alcohol abuse, there are plenty more to cover. Excessive alcohol abuse can lead to depression, anxiety or other emotional problems. Teenagers that drink alcohol are more likely to engage in sexual activity,...