Alcohol slows down your body by affecting the brain and central nervous system. It can make users loosen up, relax, and feel more comfortable, or can make them more aggressive. The more you drink, the more it slows your body’s response to your brain. This affects thinking, talking, seeing, walking, driving, and doing day-to-day tasks. While alcohol can be used responsibly in persons older than 21, and when used in minimal quantities, it is especially dangerous to teens. Since the teenage brain is still growing and developing, it is more easily damaged by large amounts of alcohol. Binge drinking (the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time) is a perfect way to destroy developing brain cells.
The top three causes of death among persons 15 to 24 years of age are accidents, homicide, and suicide, each of which involves alcohol 20 to 40% of the time. (3) Other risky behaviors associated with alcohol use include increased sexual activity, increased illicit drug use, more likely to be in a fight after drinking, academic problems (such as lower grades, absenteeism and high dropout rates), and increased traffic accidents.