As a caring friend and concerned student, I would like to share with you some facts and problems with underage drinking.

Drinking alcohol is very dangerous for teenagers and adults. Physiologically, alcohol kills brain cells, slows reflexes and eventually destroys the mind.Underage drinking is when anyone under the age of 21 consumes alcoholic beverages in any form.

Underage drinking is not only against the law, but can hinder proper growth during adolescence. Underage drinking is also linked to a high death rate among teenagers. Yet still, 10.8 million youth are underage drinkers. It’s time for us to end this. Help the teens of your community by reaching out and sharing the danger and harm of underage drinking.

There are many influences that can lead a teen to drinking. Did you know that 10 percent of all 12-year-olds have consumed a drink due to peer pressure, family situations, school pressures and the environment surrounding them? As a result, by age 18, more than 70 percent of all teens have had at least one drink. Each day an average of 11,318 American youth try alcohol for the first time.

Underage drinking is a factor in higher numbers of deaths among teens. Each year 5,000 teens under the age of 21 die from underage drinking. Drinking can spread to more problems, such as the use of illegal drugs and smoking. Drinking and driving is also an outcome of underage drinking. Forty-five percent of the people who die in a car crash due to a drunk driver, is under 21, and usually not the driver. This puts innocent people at risk.

As a student, I have seen the consequences of underage drinking.

These consequences are always heartbreaking and many times tragic for the families involved.

You can make a difference. It’s time for a change in our world. Stopping and preventing underage drinking saves lives.

Lindsay Kate Glausier is a student at Chelsea High School.