Actions of Parents, Teachers, and Administrators to Prevent Underage Drinking - Research Proposal Example

What Can Parents, Teachers, and Administrators do to Help Prevent Underage Drinking? Registration Number Faculty al Affiliation Signature…………………………………………. Date………………………………………. A research proposal submitted in partial fulfillment for the PhD degree of medicine of (Institutional Affiliation) Supervisors 1. Name Institutional Affiliation Address Signature……………………………… Date……………………………… 2. Name Institutional Affiliation Address Signature………………………. Date…………………………… What Can Parents, Teachers, and Administrators do to Help Prevent Underage Drinking? Introduction Statement of the problem Generally, alcohol abuse has been one of the most prevalent as well as disturbing problem worldwide. In recent days, it has been established that underage persons, especially those in schools have aped the trend. Underage drinking has been observed to have a negative effect to adolescents in the world especially in countries within Europe and America. According to schools reports, the issue is commonly with the boys but very less with the girls. This issue was there since the 19th century but it has seemingly doubled over the 20th century across the world. There has been a plethora of previous studies concerning the issue and as such, they have been conducted with a focus on a small section of the whole population of underage students, that is, the high school students (Dent, Grube and Biglan, 2009). There has been a growing quest from the society that the researchers carry out research studies in an effort towards determining the prevalence of underage drinking among the whole population of underage students. As such, the researchers will provide essential as well as accurate information to the persons mandated by the society to prevent underage alcohol abuse among students, that is, the teachers, parents as well as the administrators. With this information, these individuals will therefore come up with the best practices effective in preventing the underage drinking (Hingson et al., 2002). Literature Review The abuse of alcohol among the persons who have not attained the age of majority, especially those in primary as well as secondary schools is a major and significant problem and as such, effective preventive solutions should be established. Many researchers have conducted studies concerning the issues and thereby tried to evaluate the preventions programs that have been adopted. In addition to this, the previous researches have tried to bring forth the most effective as well as the ineffective ways in which underage drinking problem; especially among the primary as well as secondary school students can be reduced (Taper et al, 2003). According to most studies, the most efficient underage preventive measures are not only easy but also economical and as such, teacher, parents as well as administrators can implement easily (Jernigan, Ostroff, & Ross, 2005). Underage drinking is today commonly being associated and widespread among the adolescents. According to Dent, Grube and Biglan (2009), 30 percent of the youth in the Asian countries had had stunning experiences with regard to alcoholism. As such, this percentage indeed has previously engaged themselves in drinking which can be said to be high episodic in a period of one week. According to Hingson et al. (2002), around 20 percent of the underage students have indeed acquired dreadful diseases such as AIDS as well as other sexually transmitted diseases while under the influence of alcohol. The study further asserts that some few cases of reported rape involving underage students occur whenever they use alcohol. According to him, while under the influence of alcohol, there is likelihood that a female student under the influence of alcohol will be raped whether by a fellow student or a civilian. According to the findings of the study conducted by , the number of alcoholic students tripled within a period of fifteen years, that is, in the period between 198 and 1993. The findings further indicate that 45 percent of the violent crimes involving the underage students arise out of the alcohol influence. In conclusion of the study conducted by Chen et al., (2005), it is indicated that 54 percent of the underage alcohol victims have always had trouble with administrators due to their actions which result from overdrinking. In addition to this, the researcher indicated that 95 percent of the underage drinkers often attain undesirable grades due to the drinking tendency. He attributes the lower grades to the class miss outs or absence from school whenever a student drinks too much. He clarifies this by saying that there is no way that a student can uncontrollably drink and wake up the next day to go to class (Jernigan, Ostroff, & Ross, 2005). As such, the effects of alcohol, ‘hangovers’ as commonly referred, are very demanding and as such, they cannot allow a person to do any rigorous thing such as comprehending what is being taught. Dent, Grube, and Biglan (2009) indicated that at home, 90 percent of underage drinkers tend to be violent and as such, they destroy their parent’s property and at times pulls false alarms. Moreover, he asserted that the underage drinkers also become engaged in some behaviors, which can be said to be inappropriate and abominable in a society (Taper et al., 2003). According to the findings of the research conducted by Chen et al., (2005), the underage drinkers usually have negative reports in schools. These reports are mostly associated the actions of these students especially while under alcoholic influence. Due to alcohol, the student perceives things without care and as such, this leads to alienation by other student. In most cases, this alienation is as a result of the trouble that the drunkard students impose on the interaction, not only in schools but in the society in general. In addition to this, the underage drinkers usually find themselves having interaction troubles with the elders who try as much to help them through intervention. According to Dee (2001), he indicated that the underage drinkers often show the following behaviors; Recklessness and overconfidence It is common with, not only with the underage drinkers but as it is with the drunkards in general, that drinking excessively leads to a person acting in an uncouth and unwise way (Stacy et al., 2004). Inadequate awareness When an underage student takes excessive alcohol and becomes intoxicated, he loses the awareness sense and as such, he or she cannot comprehend what is happening. Further, under alcohol influence, that person is not sensible and as such, he cannot figure out what is transpiring and thereby cannot react to the prevailing situation as one would be required to (Federal Trade Commission, 1999). Aggression Often, as with the drinking habit, cues from other individuals, whether within the school or outside the school are misread by the underage drinkers. Due to the aggressive nature of a person under alcohol influence, these cues are often seen as offensive and as such, the resultant behavior is that the drunken student will react in an offensive way (Dee, 2001). Control Loss When a young person develops excessive alcoholism tendencies, it might be that he would be retardant and cannot comprehend anything in life thus destroying what could have been otherwise a bright future. As such, from the drinking tendencies, the motor skills of a person become impaired and as such, the emotional control fades away (Sargent et al., 2007). According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2005), there are enormous public issues, which are strongly attributable to health, surface. According to this research, in any given year, approximately 5000 underage persons perish in fatal road accidents, suicides as well as homicides and other injuries that are intentional. All these are attributable to underage drinking (Taper et al., 2003). According to the findings of the research conducted by Stacy et al. (2004), the rates of underage drinkers have remained constant but at unacceptable high levels. Despite the issue of underage drinking being a serious issue, some parents take it lightly. While some parents allow their teens to take alcohol while at home but not outside, some assume that it is part of life and if their children do not pass through that stage, they will come to be extreme drunkards when they become adults. According to a recent research conducted by Sargent et al. (2007), it was found out that Parents within New York tend to advocate this tendency among the underage. The society sees underage alcoholism as a concern and as such measures are being established to prevent the problem. Hingson et al. (2002)has asserted that the society indeed need to come into consensus and as such, realize that alcohol is not the problem but rather its abuse among the underage is the underlying problem. Foreshadowed Research Problem From the literature review, it is evident that underage drinking has several severe and adverse effects not only to the life of the culprit but also to the society in general. The foreshadowed problem is what is likely to be the aftermath of the underlying problem, that is, the underage drunkenness (Federal Trade Commission, 1999). As such, if the problem is not prevented, it is likely that the underage will experience adverse effects, other than the once common during the underage drinking period, fatal diseases during adulthood. Such diseases include cirrhosis, which in most cases, the person who develops the disease succumbs to it. It is from this foreshadowed problem that the society should collectively establish preventive measures to curb underage drinking. As such, the society mandate certain individuals, that is; the teachers, parents as well as the administrators, with the responsibility of establishing the most effective measures to ensure that underage drinking is utterly discouraged and thereby prevented (Federal Trade Commission, 1999). Significance of the study This study will aim at determining the prevalence of the drinking habits among those individuals who have not yet attained the age of majority. In addition to this, the study will determine the trends in regard to the occurrence of underage drinking and thereby helping the parents, teachers as well as the administrators to obtain the relevant information which will in turn assist these individuals to come up with the best measures to cope up and prevent the underage drinking problem (Taper et al, 2003). Underage drinking is a major issue within the society and as such, it is essential for the research to put its focus on the teaching practice in regards to ethics, taking early childhood and adolescent stages, into account. Research Methodology Site or Social Network Selection The research study will make use of the data collected from social networks such as facebook as well as twitter. This is because, this kind of data collection tend to use ideas as well as concepts that are more familiar just like survey research, which is cross-sectional in nature (Taper et al, 2003). The young people like using social networks to communicate, and as such, the researcher will only have to initiate a conversation anonymously and therefore gathering a considerable amount of relevant information for the analysis. This will be done on a daily basis. Role of the research The role of the study is to determine the prevalence of the trend in relation to drinking habits among the underage in schools as well in the society in general. In addition to this, the study will determine the trends in regard to the occurrence of underage drinking (Taper et al, 2003). However, the study will majorly concentrate on helping the parents, teachers as well as the administrators to establish the relevant information which will in turn assist these individuals to come up with the best measures to cope up and prevent the underage drinking problem. Data Collection and Analysis The data to be used for the analysis of the research study will be collected once a month for a period of one year. Apart from the social network selection done on a daily basis, during each month, when data will be collected, students will undergo blood tests. In addition to this, the school reports as well as the criminal reports in the police department will be consulted to identify the number of drunken cases involving underage persons. Moreover, parents will be requested to answer questions concerning the behaviors of their children while at home. To be precise, the answers to the questions will be given through one on one basis as well as questionnaires. The obtained results will be the raw data, which will be analyzed and thereby relevant information drawn from the raw data. The presentation of the data will be through correlation graphs, tables, as well as charts. The tools through which data will be analyzed will include; SPSS, databases as well as Microsoft spreadsheet. Sampling design strategies The research will be conducted on a large number of underage students and since the researcher will randomly pick the participants, categories will be established and as such, the underage will be grouped according to the categories. To be precise, as mentioned, the collection of data will be random and due to this, there will be those underage students who do not drink, those who drink occasionally and those that drink excessively. As such, they cannot be grouped together and therefore, they have to be categorized according to the severity of drinking habits. (Chen et al. 2005) Limitations of research Design The perceived limitation of the study design will be the access to both the discipline reports of schools school as well as the criminal reports from the authorities, that is, the police department. In addition to this, as it is common with most parents, it will not be easy to engage a parent such that he will disclose the habits of their children. As such, parents tend to safeguard their children’s reputation and therefore, it will take more than normal efforts to get the information needed. References Approach. Journal of Public Health Policy 26, 312-325. Chen, M. J., Grube, J. W., Bersamin, M., Waiters, E., & Keefe, D. B. (2005). Alcohol Advertising: What makes it attractive to youth? Journal of Health Communication. 10, 553-565. Dee, T. S. (2001). The Effects of Minimum Legal Drinking Ages on Teen Childbearing. Journal of Human Resources, 36(4), 824. Dent, C. W., Grube, J. W., & Biglan, A. (2009). Community level alcohol availability and enforcement of possession laws as predictors of youth drinking. Preventive Medicine 40, 355-362. Federal Trade Commission. (1999). Self-regulation in the alcohol industry: a review of industry efforts to avoid promoting alcohol to underage consumers. Federal Trade Commission: Washington, DC. Hingson R.W., et al. (2002). Magnitude of Alcohol-Related Mortality and Morbidity among U.S. College Students Ages 18-24. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 136-44. Jernigan, D., Ostroff, J., & Ross, C. (2005). Alcohol advertising and youth: a measured Sargent, J. D., Wills, T. A., Stoolmiller, M., J., Gibson, F.X., & Gibbons. (2007). Alcohol use in motion pictures and its relation with early-onset teen drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67, 54-65. Stacy, A.W., Zogg, J. B., Unger, J. B., & Dent, C. W. (2004). Exposure to televised alcohol ads and subsequent adolescent alcohol use. American Journal of Health Behavior, 28, 498-509. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2005). Alcohol Use and Delinquent Behaviors among Youths, 140. Retrieved from http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k5/alcDelinquent/alcDelinquent.pdf Tapert S.., et al. (2003). Neural Response to Alcohol Stimuli in Adolescents With Alcohol Use Disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(7), 727-735. Read More