Teen Drinking: Glorification in the Media
             A teenager dies in a car accident because he was drinking all night. "Don't drink and drive," he joked. "Pull over and chug!" That may have been funny an hour ago, but now he's dead, and no one is laughing. This story is not true, but alcohol related deaths among teens are increasing more and more every day. Some people believe the parents are to blame for letting their kids go out late at night without supervision, but shouldn't the media be blamed? Teenaged drinking is increasing due to commercialization and glorification of alcoholic beverages in the media (Grube, J.W., & Wallack, L.)
             According to a survey taken in Michigan, eighty-two percent of the students have tried alcohol. The survey was for students between ninth and twelfth grade. Fifty-one percent of the students are current drinkers, and thirty-two percent are binge drinkers (www.mdch.state.mi.us/dch/chi02.htm).
             Binge drinking is defined as "the consumption of five or more drinks in a row on at least one occasion" (www.health.org/govpubs/phd627/binge.htm).
             One drink is measured by the alcohol percentage in the beverage. There is the same amount of alcohol in five ounces of wine, twelve ounces of beer, and one and a half ounce of distilled spirits or hard liquor. These three examples are all considered one drink.
             However, most people don't know the definition of binge drinking. A small survey was taken to see what people thought about the subject of teenaged drinking. One 17-year-old male thought that binge drinking meant, "drinking till you pass out." Most high schools teach students about drugs and alcohol, but how is it that a 13-year-old female who still attends grammar school knew the right definition? Her response to the question was, "...a person who drinks more than they can handle. If they drink about 5 drinks in a short amount...