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One thing: It's the media. Television and films show teenagers, usually underage, drinking alcohol and often to excess and very rarely suffering consequences from it. It's only a small part of the problem, but when you are young, especially like 11, 12, 13 and watch TV shows where the "older kids" are drinking beer and hard A like it was water without consequence -- and are often rewarded for the behavior because it makes them "cool", it begins to set in that the behavior is okay. Also, peer pressure plays a huge role as well. When I first came to college, I had a huge amount of pressure to drink heavily even though I had not really drank before in my life -- with the exception of holidays where I was offered a shot of whiskey or vodka or a cup of wine or a beer at a friend's party. When I came to college, I might turn down a shot if I felt I had too much and the chants, "PUSSY! PUSSY! PUSSY!" when you turned it down were enough to make you want to drink the alcohol, even if it was that shot that pushed you over the edge. And believe it or not, we are all really scared and insecure when we come to college, I know I was. We want to find something to fit into and sometimes we endanger our lives to be a part of the group.
In the words of one of my brothers, "Peer Pressure is a beautiful thing." ...I don't believe that if it gets someone killed. It's only a "Beautiful thing" if it gets people motivated to do something constructive. Thankfully, the vast majority of my brothers know NO means NO, even if they give you crap for it.
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