Over One-Million High School Students Are Binge Drinkers

When I was a twenty-three-year-old restaurant manager, I made a big mistake. I started dating one of my employees who was 19. I also started hanging out with her group of friends.

Most of them were employees at the same restaurant that me and my girlfriend worked at. I was the Assistant Manager there at the time and shared a house with another employee and the Store Manager.

Things soon got out of control. The employees pretty much took over the store. I remember one Saturday night when we were all partying at this one crew member's house because his parents were out-of-town on vacation.

We had a pretty good stack of empties going on the basement floor when one guy suggested that we go back to the restaurant. I declined, but a group of about 7 employees went back there and started terrorizing the young female manager that was on duty at the time.

They totally wrecked the place. They tore down the shelves in the back room, opened the shake machine and let it run all over the floor, and broke out windows. One employee put his hand through the drive-through window and had to have ten stitches. Two other employees were hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. Shortly after that I stopped hanging around with the group.

Alcohol is not only a drug, but it's also a poison. Too much of it at one time can kill you. Teenagers and college students are the two groups that are most at risk. Most older people know their limit or pass out before the alcohol in their bloodstream reaches a lethal limit. According to Medical news today:

"Most of us know a friend, co-worker or relative who passed out at a holiday party. Never assume they are not in danger, especially if it is a teenager, according to the Science Inside Alcohol Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)."

Studies show that nearly one-million high school students binge drink. Binge drinking means consuming more than four or five drinks in a one-hour period. I saw one high school student that worked at the restaurant deliberately make himself throw up several times so he had room for more beer. Another employee said that she slept on her stomach with her head draped over the side of the bed when she was drunk so she wouldn't choke if she threw up during her sleep.

Even though someone is passed out and "sleeping it off" they are not out of danger. Alcohol levels in the blood can continue to rise and the gag reflex can be affected. The person may choke to death on his own vomit.

Talk to your children about consuming too much alcohol. Tell them that it can be fatal. If they must drink during the holiday season have a chaperon accompany them to make sure that they don't drink too much.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/211937.php