Alcohol Abuse Among Teenagers in Australia

Running head: ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG TEENAGERS IN AUSTRALIA
Alcohol abuse among teenagers in Australia
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ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG TEENAGERS IN AUSTRALIA 2
Introduction
Alcohol abuse among teenagers in Australia has been a major issue of concern over the
years. Alcohol is a substance which when taken affects the normal functioning of the body. In
this essay literature review of various authors is keenly looked into in order to determine the
reported cases related to alcohol consumption among teenagers in Australia in the recent two
decades.
With a focus on China, Janssen, Treloar, Merrill, & Jackson (2018) sampled a group
adolescents aged 14-19 years. It was realized that more than one adolescent among every four
consumes alcohol weekly. At least three out of every ten consumes it on a daily basis due to
expectations that they will be models to others. They took a convenient sample of parents and
adolescents who attended a series of focus groups to determine alcohol consumption among
teenagers where schools were asked to advertise the event and invite parents to participate.
Snowball sampling was used to enhance recruitment.
The findings from the focus groups were that parents negotiated that alcohol is not
perceived as a drug in some communities within the Eastern Asia. Therefore, some of them
provided alcohol to their teenagers as a means to make them avoid other drugs which are said to
be more destructive and detrimental compared to alcohol which most of the confessed to have
used when they were mere teenagers. They also stated that the accidents associated with alcohol
are minimal and cannot be compared with accidents associated with other drugs such as bhang
cocaine heroin and glue. Most of the parents had no extra notions on drinking therefore they
described it as ‘drinking to get drunk’. Legalization of any drug as recreational increases
adolescent’s willingness to use alcohol. Most of them were not worried of the long-term risks of

ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG TEENAGERS IN AUSTRALIA 3
alcohol consumption. The parents through the help of the trainers in the focus groups adopted a
number of strategies to reduce alcohol consumption among the adolescents.
The strategies were providing teenagers with mobile phones to keep them busy on the
internet, listening to music and watching relevant games, transporting teenagers to parties to
interact with fellows so as to reduce loneliness that leads to alcohol consumption and setting
clear guidelines on alcohol consumption so as to minimize the intake. Waldron, Malone, McGue,
and Iacono (2017) denote that parents living in rural areas are more lenient therefore, their
adolescent children compared to their urban counterparts consume a lot of alcohol due to little or
lack of proper guidelines and regulations on alcohol. Parents living in rural areas were urged to
take an initiative to closely monitor their adolescent children so as to minimize peer pressure
which leads to excessive alcohol consumption. Psychological distress as said by Kelly et al leads
teenagers to associate distress with alcohol intake.
Waldron, Malone, McGue, & Iacono (2017) on genetic and environmental changes of co
variation Latest data and influencing factors”, it is stated that young people who consume
alcohol are at a higher risk because they consume excessively at a single occasion. Waldron et al.
(2017) study on secondary school students in Australia reported that 17.4% students consumed a
whole standard alcohol in the past week. 6.4% consumed at a risk of short term harm such
injuries, conflicts resulting from drunkenness, risky sexual activities and hospitalization due to
intoxication.
The influencing factors for the high alcohol consumption rates in Australia were
identified as: Parents intake of alcohol during pregnancy which leads to genetically urge to
consume alcohol. Exposure to intake of alcohol at a tender age was also noted as a factor;

ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG TEENAGERS IN AUSTRALIA 4
teenagers brought up by drinking parents are more likely to become drunkards since they notice
no big deal in doing it. Drinking to test how it feels to be drunk has also led to emergence of
chain drunkards among teenagers aged 14-17 years. Environmental factors were also identified
as a major factor that leads to drinking since parents will expose teenagers brought up in an
atmosphere of drunkards to it not necessarily but by the role models they develop alongside
drinking. Peer pressure was not left out since friendship is one of the major instances where one
can be drugged into behaviors that are retorted and silly without their realization of it.
The remedies proposed were aimed at reducing this heavy intake of alcohol. High
taxation on alcoholic products is one of the major remedy that has seen intake of alcohol
immensely reduce among teenagers since most of them could not afford purchasing the products.
Reduction of supply has also seen alcohol consumption reduce by a higher percentage over the
years. The supply was to be limited only to hotels and restaurants, clubs and bars which are
registered to operate. Operational hours are also to be considered and reduced to ensure no clubs
and bars run throughout the day and this served as a major significance in the reduction of
alcohol consumption.
The education department adopted an extensive curriculum on how to deal with drugs
and alcohol consumption. This is aimed at educating teenagers on how to handle their emotions,
friendships and making them aware of the factors that lead to alcoholism and ways to avoid such
tempting instances. Family focused programmers that reflect on parenting styles were also
initiated and were aimed at making parents more restrictive on alcohol consumption and to take
stern actions against teenage alcoholism.