Q: “What does alcohol do to my body?”
A: By Andrea, Age 16
Our bodies work like calculators. When we put numbers into a calculator, it gives us an answer. If we plug in the wrong numbers, though, we are given either a wrong answer or an “error” message. Likewise, our body’s functioning depends on the sustenance we give it.

So, when an underage person uses alcohol, it’s like plugging the wrong numbers into the calculator and expecting the right answer, right? NO! When an underage person uses alcohol, it’s like taking the batteries out, throwing the calculator against the wall, breaking it in half, sticking a pencil through the screen, plugging numbers into it, hitting the equal sign, and expecting to get the right answer. Face it: you are never going to get anything that way.

Similarly, a body can’t function normally if it’s damaged. In the case of the calculator, the damage was predictable. Anyone with the least amount of common sense would know that a calculator will break if it’s tortured so. Keeping our bodies healthy, though, actually requires some knowledge. That’s where I come in. I’m here to provide you with an important tool for making healthy choices: information. Hopefully, by telling you what happens to a body that is given alcohol, I will discourage you from using the classic “I didn’t know” as an excuse.

Alcohol can do a lot of damage to adolescents, especially in the brain. One type of damage is the shrinking of a part of the brain called the hippocampus. (This is when you say, “Hippo—what?”) The hippocampus is a part of the brain that is involved in memory and emotional aspects of survival behavior. This and other alcohol related damage could be responsible for impairing memory, altering perception of spatial relationships, causing dependence, reducing ability to learn, and causing depression, verbal skill deficiencies, and other cognitive impairments.

Alcohol affects each consumer differently, especially when the ages differ. It takes less alcohol and less time to damage an underage user’s hippocampus than it takes to damage a fully mature one. In other words, teenagers take a greater toll from alcohol because we are growing. The human brain weighs 3 pounds, one of which is added during our teen years. So, it’s easy to see why any interference with this development can cause lasting, or even irreversible problems for the brain.

Alcohol affects parts of teen brains that deal with emotion, learning, and motivation, all of which are very important during adolescence and puberty. The amount of damage that is caused depends on when the consumption started. The earlier that one begins abusing alcohol, the greater the risk of damage to the hippocampus is. Also, kids that begin drinking before they are 15 are four times more likely to become dependent on it, compared to someone who wasn’t exposed to it until the age of 21. Each year that consumption is put off, the probability reduces by 14 %.
The amount of damage also depends on how long this habit was maintained. Also, the longer one abuses alcohol, the more the hippocampus is damaged. Alcohol abusers are also four times more likely to suffer major depression than those who don’t have an alcohol problem.

So, if you know all the damage alcohol can do to you, why would you do it? There is no reason why one should start to consume alcohol if he/she knows that it only brings harm. Knowledge is your tool; use it.