Even though the ingredients (grains, fruits and vegetables) are natural, a chemical reaction is needed to produce all alcoholic beverages. The end result is ethanol, a form of which is now being used to fuel automobiles. That fact in itself makes you think that drinking may not be the smartest thing to do!

Since it is a sedative or depressant, it slows down the central nervous system which consists of the brain and spinal cord and blocks some to the brain. The teenager's brain has not fully developed and experts are now examining the effect of alcohol on a developing brain. According to the American Medical Association (AMA) site, a teenager's brain could be severely damaged through the regular consumption of alcohol.

Peter M. Monti, Ph.D., symposium organizer and professor of medical sciences and director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University in the February 2005 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research is quoted as saying:

There is a lengthy article based on brain scans about the affect of drinking on teenage brain development on the Educational Community Board site. If you feel you would like more information on this topic, we encourage you to visit this site. It is fairly easy to read and can introduce more facts to demonstrate the bad affects of alcohol in medical terms.

Another interesting study was done discussed on Youth Drinking Affects Brain Size. In that study it was found that "there was a significant sex-by-group effect, in that males with an adolescent-onset alcohol-use disorder compared to control males had smaller cerebellar volumes, whereas the two female groups did not differ in cerebellar volumes." This is disturbing since most of the sites we visited seemed to indicate more male teenagers than the females took part in alcoholic activities, especially binge or bong drinking.

If we weren't convinced enough not to drink because of the legal or or other health problems underage drinking can cause, these facts would make us think again before taking that step. What we learn during these years, not just in school, but as we mature and gain knowledge through day-to-day living, is what we will rely on in the years ahead.