Alcohol

• Advisory
• Secondary Education

What is the legal drinking age in Aruba?

1. 21
2. 18
3. 16
4. 20

How many of you have drank alcohol before?

Yes

No

Only tried a sip

What do you know about alcohol?

The drinking age in the US is 21. 

But according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, almost 80% of high school students have tried alcohol.

What actually is alcohol?

Alcohol is created when grains, fruits, or vegetables are fermented. Fermentation is a process that uses yeast or bacteria to change the sugars in the food into alcohol. Fermentation is used to produce many necessary items — everything from cheese to medications. Alcohol has different forms and can be used as a cleaner, an antiseptic, or a sedative.

So if alcohol is a natural product, why do teens need to be concerned about drinking it?

When people drink alcohol, it's absorbed into their bloodstream. From there, it affects the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), which controls virtually all body functions. Because experts now know that the human brain is still developing during our teens, scientists are researching the effects drinking alcohol can have on the teen brain.

According to the video, name something bad that alcohol can do