Alcohol

An alcoholic beverage is a drink which has ethanol in it. There are 3 types of alcohol, beer, wine and spirits. The highest percentage of Alcohol is normally in spirits and the lowest is in beer. Alcohol is legally drunken in most countries however, “100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption”. In England one is allowed to be served alcohol when they are 16 and over however one can only buy alcohol when they are 21 or over.

In my opinion this is wrong because most people consider a drug, yet most people don’t see alcohol anywhere near as bad for you as taking drugs even thou “Alcohol kills around 85,000 people per year”. For the amount of deaths from drugs annually it is hard to tell because “Cause of death is recorded on death certificates but doctors may not mention drugs, even where drugs might be involved”. After listening to the 85’000 deaths a year fact it is surprising that alcohol is warmly welcomed at any dinner, cultural event or even political events. Alcohol is widely used and seen in our society today.

In this essay I will go through the health risks and how it plays a part in our modern world. Health Risks * The NHS recommend: * “Men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day. * Women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day. ” Regularly means drinking these amounts every day or most days of the week. National Statistics say men drink an average of 18. 7 units a week, compared with 9. 0 units for women. On average this is correct however far too many people are drinking much over this statistic a week, and that is what is damaging or society as well.

In Great Britain, just under a third of men (31%) and one in five women (20%) drink more than the advised weekly limits of 21 and 14 units a week respectively. Alcohol is a toxin which kills cells” When put in those words most people then take alcohol more seriously. Out of most drugs Alcohol is high in the middle section of dependence-physical harm graph. Short-term effects of alcohol consumption include intoxication and dehydration. Long-term effects of alcohol include changes in the metabolism of the liver and brain and alcoholism (addiction to alcohol). Intoxication mostly causes slurred speech, loss of oncentration and delayed reflexes. “Alcohol stimulates insulin production, which speeds up glucose metabolism and can result in low blood sugar, causing irritability and (for diabetics) possible death. “ Alcohol also leads to heart disease, dementia (long term and short term), cancer, diabetes and stroke. Society In our society today especially Britain there is a huge amount of Binge drinking and over use of Alcohol. We are one of the most well known countries to abuse alcohol and it will definitely affect our future generation. Being brought up in a world where this is common is not good for anybody.

Now children will be growing up to think it is ok to drink this amount of alcohol. Health Warning! Alcohol is widely advertised all around the world, from rich highly developed countries to poorer countries. This is one of the big issues on how Alcohol as a drink should be displayed. The question is, “ If alcohol is a killing drug, should it be advertised in the manner of making one think it tastes great and will make you stronger? ”. There are many complaints about this is issue especially because it is encouraging the younger generation that drinking alcohol is cool and it tastes great.

The adverts make people think alcohol is good when the truth is most aggressive people will often be alcoholics. Some solutions to these adverts brainwashing people is to have a health warning sign at the end of the advert like on cigarette boxes. This would maybe stick in the watchers minds. The other option would be to ban alcohol adverts all together or at least on some channels and times. Banning the adverts would end the propaganda about alcohol altogether however it would cause a large uprising from the brewing industry because sales would go immensely down.

The other solution of banning the adverts is to ban them on channels that children tune into or young adults and teenagers tune into, this would stop the younger generation from being tempted. An example of this is “In Malaysia, fast food advertising during children’s programmes was outlawed in 2007” The media coverage on risks of alcohol should be increased and the laws of advertisement and exploitation of alcohol should be controlled by a separate board and not the government. However the Government in my opinion should rise taxes alcohol.

On the other side of the argument there is the fact that for some people alcohol is essential in there life for many reasons. “ All socialites have a drug, in stressful places it Is good to relax” After looking over the information and facts on alcohol in modern day, I have come to a conclusion that the government or other organizations need to do something about how alcohol is a killer and is not good for you. However I do understand the reasons for people to drink it but I still think higher taxes or other problem solvers should be introduced.

The study conducted by researcher Alan Lang on the effects of alcohol represented one of the first approaches to using the double-blind form of study. A double-blind study is a type of study in which neither the participants nor the experimenters themselves know who has received the treatment.

In Lang’s (1975) study, he and his colleagues pre-tested amounts of vodka and tonic water, and plain tonic water, to determine whether or not the two can be significantly differentiated from one another. After learning that the two were virtually the same in taste, they recruited college men who described themselves as social drinkers to become participants in the study.

Some of the participants drank vodka and tonic water while others drank tonic water alone. It was then revealed in the study that practically half of the men who drank vodka and tonic water thought they were drinking tonic water only, while those who did drink tonic water alone thought their drink was mixed with vodka. The last part of the experiment entailed provoking the participants, and the result was that those who believed that they had drunk vodka displayed more anger than those who thought they had drank tonic water only.

It can be said then that the primary purpose of Lang’s entire study was to discover the effects of alcohol on human behavior. However, his study deviated from the normal process of using alcohol as a means of studying behavior because of the incorporated element of a double-blind. Also, his study could be defined as a correlational one, as it basically sought to find a relationship between the alcohol and the provoked aggressiveness among the participants.

Only a primary source was used, and the subjects in this case were college students of the male gender. As for the selection of the participants for the study however, random selection was not utilized as only men who specifically described themselves as social drinkers were chosen to take part. The reason for this was probably because it was imperative for the results of the study that the participants be drinkers by nature, as only they could effectively have the best chance of differentiating vodka and tonic from tonic water alone. To do random selection would have been difficult as the researchers would have no guarantee as to the drinking preferences of the participants.

The sampling method used was also not stratified, as in stratification, the sample population is first divided into a number of parts or “strata,” in order to relate it to the major variables being studied. The independent variable (IV) in this case is the alcohol given to the participants, whether it was vodka and tonic or plain tonic water alone. The dependent variable (DV) was the response of the participants, specifically the level of aggression displayed in response to the provocation done by the researchers.

The theory for this study is that it was done in order to determine the effects alcohol could have on behavior, regardless of whether it (alcohol) was actually given or if it was merely perceived. A probable hypothesis would be that it the mere perception that alcohol was a part of one’s drink could effectively lead to a change in behavior on the part of the participants, without the need for the actual consumption of the alcohol. As evidenced by the documented results, this is exactly what happened.

While the research is for the most part valid, especially with the use of the double-blind approach, there are nevertheless certain flaws in the procedure and methodology that could be improved upon by those who would later conduct related studies. First of all, the length of time with which the experiment was done could have been lengthened so that there would be more time to test the reactions of the participants. The use of other forms of alcohol other than vodka and tonic water would have also been a welcome addition to the process of the research, as it would lend even more credibility to the results of the study.

The provocation itself could be placed under question; the researchers should have first taken steps to make sure that the provocation would not unknowingly trigger any previously stored extreme emotions. As an example, if one of the participants were black and the provocation was racially charged, this could serve to heighten the aggravated response of the participant as opposed to what would have been only a normal reaction. Perhaps the largest extraneous variable of all was the non-random selection of participants for the study.

While it is noted that the researchers needed participants to be social drinkers to validate the differentiation process, there could have been other ways to better improve selection and reduce bias and other threats to validity. What could have been done was to select a large population of college students randomly and then determine who among those selected were drinkers. From that sample, the researchers could have then applied another randomization process to come up with the final list of participants.

Nevertheless, in summary the Lang study has proven to contribute much to the body of knowledge in psychology, and for all its faults, still remains to be one of the classic psychological experiments worthy of emulation.

Works Cited

Rathus, Spencer. Psychology: Concepts and Connections, 9th Ed.. Thomson and Wadworth, 2007.

Jung, John. Psychology of Alcohol and Other Drugs: A Research Perspective. Sage Publications, Inc., 2000.

Haggert, Steve. Medical Psychology of Alcohol Drinking and Addiction: Index of New Information and References. Abbe Pub Assn. of Washington D.C., 1996

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When college students and adults drink irresponsibly, they often create negative associations with alcohol and its hindering effects. Alcohol is a constituent of various recreational and other events in the United States. It is available at a wide range of public sporting events and often is the central focus of celebrations of success and achievement. Unfortunately, as well as contributing to relaxation and conviviality, alcohol is also associated with verbal and physical abuse, arrests for aggressive behavior and violence and admissions to hospitals as a consequence of alcohol related assaults.

These concluding aspects have recently been raised in sport broadcasting and news nationwide. This initiates problems such as violence, public urination, or people collapsing as a consequence of excessive drinking. Facility management programs have made proper precautions regarding such events. These problems are not a new phenomena in the world of sports. In an attempt to contain violence, more facilities and leagues have taken action to control and remove the availability of alcohol at such events.

After considerable research, there seems to be a repetition of facility management aspects used in everyday sporting events, such as the TEAM and FAM organizational programs, specific “pre” and “post” game provisions, and actions regarding “in-game” incidents. There are many alcohol management strategies that facilities and programs have developed over the past two decades. Almost every professional sport team and facility follows the grand design of the non-profit organization called Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management.

TEAM begin back in the 1980’s in reaction to the “high number of traffic fatalities resulting from heavy drinking at sporting events and to increasing public awareness of the problem of alcohol-related driving (Stadium Alcohol Management). ” This program has two major goals regarding alcohol management: reduce drunk-driving and publicize responsible drinking services and consumption at sporting arenas. There main focus is on major sporting venues. TEAM also branches into another program called Facility Alcohol Management (FAM).

FAM further assists to public arenas in developing alcohol management. Furthermore, TEAM puts a strong emphasis on their 300 trainers who in turn train more than 30,000 sport facility employees. Training is a very important component involved in enhancing the awareness of staff. This regards factors that contribute to aggression and strategies to defuse potentially dangerous situations and legal issues regarding the proper management of venues. Hence, giving the staff an understanding of strategies to manage alcohol aggression on licensed premises.

Planning is one of the most important features of alcohol management within a facility. An appropriate location of an event should always be selected with easy access to transport to and from the venue. Many sport facilities have restrictions or bans on alcohol brought into the venue, as well as restrictions on the type of containers brought into the venue. Alcohol is a great source of revenue for sport leagues and arenas. Facility organizers may also be unwilling to set up alcohol-free events because it is such a main attraction during game-play.

More than 60% of professional sporting event revenues come from alcohol purchases (Class Video). Another important example of alcohol management planning is making sure to provide information before and during the event. This should include risks, regulations, requirements and controls. Sometimes the lack of information about strict alcohol polices can result in fans arriving unprepared, either not bringing enough money to purchase alcohol inside the venue or spending it before entry.

There has been precaution involving the amount of alcohol served at sporting and large public events. Severity of alcohol problems can be related to length of a game, whether or not it is a playoff game or even if the game is an exciting one or not (Class Discussion). Facility managers and staff must take into consideration those key features of a game in order to prepare for alcohol related incidents. Facilities set restricted times for serving alcohol, including set period before the end of the event, where alcohol is no longer served..

There have been proper preparations for regulating the sale of alcohol on premises within the grounds, particularly the times at which alcohol could be served. This allows for sobering up of patrons and reduced likelihood of drunk driving and other issues. This can be in between an inning, or at halftime. For example, most baseball games stop serving alcohol at the end of the 7th inning in order to maintain the crowd. Having a limited amount of alcohol served to each fan is another way a facility can avoid issues. Concession stands should only be serving 1 drink per customer.

Most sporting facilities have kept this under control but staff members working the beverage stands have let this slide and provided more than 1 drink per customer. Server staff selection and training is very important, although evidence shows that enforcement needs to accompany this in order to ensure its effectiveness. Security staff and police officers have been a vital part of alcohol facility management over the past decade. During preparation for games and large sporting events, security takes measures to properly secure a facility for intended alcohol related use.

Many facilities have implemented a range of strategies to reduce risks such as segregation of opposing fans or higher levels of policing. If there were safety concerns, security is granted authority to search public vehicles and individuals trying to enter an event with alcoholic beverages. It is important for the police force to try and maintain a crowd during the tailgating portion of an event. This is where the sot excessive drinking takes place. An example of a facility security measure involves video surveillance at the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium.

In the article Drinking Games, it states that “most parks now include video surveillance equipment that can home in on specific seat locations, but beer hawkers, concessions-stand workers and ushers equipped only with their own eyes are also relied upon to recognize the tell-tale signs of intoxication, or in some cases the mere probability of intoxication. ” The security staff and police presence should be visible and have a clear view of the area around them. Also, they should have the authority to ban or remove fans for public displays of drunken behavior.

Facility managers take into consideration the importance of harm reduction. Some arenas have been setting up “dry areas” or family areas to reduce risk and nuisance, especially for families and young people. Also, alcohol served in a tempered glass or plastic and foam cups help reduce the likelihood of containers being used as weapons, and to prevent accidental or deliberate injury to staff and fans on the licensed premises. In Europe, they have “sobering-up” areas which act as a very valuable strategy (Study Abroad experience 2011).

There was minimal effectiveness but it may enable management of those who are overly intoxicated. Traffic management should be something planned before, during and after a sport game. After games, there are security checkpoints where drivers are checked for intoxication or any alcoholic beverages in their possession. This is where many people are arrested for DUI’s and drunkenly misconduct. When looking at the alcohol management regarding Madison Square Garden, there seem to be procedures and provisions similar to the ones listen previously in this research paper.

At most of the events at MSG, alcoholic beverages are available for purchase. They train their staff within the terms of the TEAM organization. Alcohol sales are limited to up to two alcoholic beverages per customer per transaction and must provide an ID with purchase. MSG makes sure that guests do not bring in alcoholic beverages from outside vendors, and cannot leave with beverages purchased inside the arena. The last part of their alcohol management statement deals with management reserving the right to refuse the sale of alcohol to any guest (MSG. com).

While there have been significant sport broadcasting about alcohol related harm at various professional and collegiate sporting events, there is little direct evidence to guide quality practice of such events. Nevertheless, there are a range of strategies that can be generalized from the mainstream research on reducing alcohol related incidents and strategies that have unpretentious biases. This relationship is a complex one, it arises from our interactions among various factors relating to the American culture, our drinking venues and the individual.

As the child gets older, he or she becomes aware of the existence of many things that would help him or her to become a mature individual. In other words, the society will have a very important role in molding the youth to become responsible people in the future.

However, regardless of a better society, the child learns at home first before he or she becomes exposed to what the society can teach to him or her. If the parents or siblings are taking illegal drugs, the health and well-being of the child will definitely be affected (Parenting and Child Health).

Addiction to drugs and alcohol would affect the development of the child and the possibility of being a drug user in the future is high (Marina & McKeganay 554).

There are many consequences in drug addiction of a member of the family. It may lead to domestic violence and may cause depression to the child (Hope Networks). Moreover, the child may imitate the acts of taking alcohol and using drugs in the future (Zuckerman et al 758).

Many proposals have been suggested to lessen the cases of violence due to drug abuse but the society often end up facing the dilemma of having too many people that keep on taking alcohol improperly and using illegal drugs.

Even the government has amended laws to reduce the number of children that are victims of the consequences of drug use (Keheller et al 1586). One of the most popular techniques of reducing the problems with drugs and alcohol is the family treatment. The family having a problem with drugs is being treated in order to avoid the possible family conflicts in the future (Miller 1046).

Drug addiction is often being paid attention only when the member of the family is already affected. Many health professionals may have been successful in treating the victims of alcohol and drug addiction which made people realized that problems brought by alcohol and drugs can easily be fixed (Fleming 95).

This perception is one of the most common misconceptions of the society regarding societal problems. The society often fails to realize that the treatment can be most effective before the result of drug addiction takes place. In other words, people should answer the problems of drugs and alcohol even before the society gets affected by its consequences.

To the Editor, When I read the letter about increasing the age at which people can buy alcohol, I felt I had to write.  I definitely disagree with this idea! Just because someone cannot buy alcohol doesn’t mean that person can’t get drunk.

 Many people between 18 and 30 are responsible enough to buy alcohol.  Even if you argue otherwise, teenagers and young adults can still get alcohol–and one way is the very “responsible adults” argued in favor of.

If teenagers are not equipped to handle the effects of alcohol, then neither are those adults.  When I was eleven, I went camping with my parents and some family friends.  The teens old enough to drink had some beers, but stopped when they had a buzz on.  One adult drank so much she made herself sick.  We heard her throwing up in the bushes!  How much more proof do you need that adults are more childish than teenagers?

If this law were put to a vote, many people would oppose it.  Not only is it stupid, it is unenforceable– there aren’t enough police officers to monitor all places that sell alcohol, let alone teens and young adults who might buy alcohol!  Current laws prohibiting teens from buying alcohol are fine.  Merchants check identification and refuse service to anyone under 18.

Obviously they do a good job, considering how few teens die in accidents every year in comparison with adults.  Looking at the numbers alone, the adults obviously need babysitting, not the kids.

It’s not fair to restrict teenagers’ and young adults’ access to alcohol.  It won’t work, anyway, since there are always enough adults who are gullible enough to buy alcohol for kids who ask them or bribe them enough.  Let’s face it: Anne Helmer’s idea is just plain stupid.

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of high school students who consume alcohol. Based on a study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health (1999), 44% of the students studied consumed alcohol and 23% consumed alcohol frequently.

Alcohol consumers are likely to be involved in some alcohol-related problems such as violence, car accidents, being injured and the likelihood of losing responsibility in school performance. (Pullen, 1994). Alcohol consumption can lead to reduced class attendance, poor performance on tests and projects and inability to concentrate on the classwork. The research paper, therefore, would like to find out whether alcohol consumption among high school students has an effect on academic performance.

Abstract

This paper discusses the effects of alcohol consumption on academic performance among high school students. The paper aims at finding whether those students who consume alcohol perform better than the students who do not consume alcohol and vice versa.

Literature review

Alcohol consumption is among the unhealthy behavior among the high school students that may affect their academic performance. Alcohol consumption is associated with behavioral problems such as poor academic performance.

Many researches have been conducted to show the effects of alcohol consumption on academic performance among high school students. (Pullen, 1994).

 There are no controlled studies on the effects of alcohol on academic performance. This is because it is illegal to provide alcohol to minors. Research done on adults revealed that alcohol consumption disrupts learning on adults and their ability to remember. However, the effects may be for a short period of time and their severity depends on the frequency of the drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed. (Pullen, 1994).

In addition the few correlation studies that have been conducted to find out the relationship between alcohol consumption and academic performance among the high school students has produced results that are inconsistent. (Pullen, 1994).

On one side of a  national survey conducted, it revealed that heavy alcohol drinkers had a high likelihood of missing classes, having reduced responsibility on class work and also having poor performance on the tests done and the class projects than non heavy drinkers of alcohol. Other surveys have also revealed that alcohol consumption led to reduced grades in the class work as the students committed few hours on the class. (Pullen, 1994).

On the other hand of the survey which was conducted between 3 different learning institutions, they produced varying results. Two of these studies credited that alcohol consumption and academic performance was as a result of differences among the students.

There was a strong correlation of 0.32 of students who involved in alcohol consumption and the subsequent academic performance among the 444 in mid-western University. However, this correlation was not significant when controlling for school rank, academic aptitude and other variables. (Pullen, 1994).

In the second study, it was revealed that the students involved themselves in heavy drinking but this did not affect the school performance. Centrally, the third study found a negative association between alcohol consumption and poor academic performance among the 754 students in the North Eastern liberal college.

Theory

To show the effects of alcohol consumption on academic performance Grossman model will be employed. This model shows that those individuals who invest less in their early lives’ health will not be productive and will be less successful than those who invest more in their health lives early in their lives. (Pullen, 1994).

Basing this prediction to our study, it could therefore be assumed that those people who consume less alcohol in their early lives will be more productive academically than those people who consume a lot of alcohol in their early lives. It would be easy to assume that alcohol consumption reduces the student’s health on a long term basis.

A lot of time is lost I alcohol consumption that the students only place less time in their academic work. These short term effects of alcohol could lead to poor academic performance, poor health and disruptive social behavior. (Pullen, 1994).

It can therefore be concluded that alcohol has negative effects on academic performance. Students who consume alcohol in the evening have high chances of missing classes, spend little time studying, have poor academic grades and are most likely to experience education related stress. (Pullen, 1994).

Method

Participants

The study will consist 120 students from the high schools in New Orleans. The rank of the students varied from those in the first years to the senior students in the school. The ages of the students ranged between 14 to 20 years. Both male and female students were included in the study.
Procedure

The study is no experimental in that it uses the correlation design to study the academic performance of the students’ inn relation to alcohol consumption.

The students will sign up for the study or they will be recruited by the researcher when they attend meetings for the various students groups in the schools with the consent of their teachers. Because of issues of privacy, the students will not be required to sign the consent sheet.

The students also will place the filled questionnaires in envelopes that are unmarked and the researcher will debrief them. The questions from the questionnaires will be coded and then analyzed to find out whether there is any relationship between alcohol consumption and academic performance.