By LINDSAY KATE GLAUSIER/ Guest Columnist

As a caring friend and concerned student, I would like to share with you some facts and problems with underage drinking.

Drinking alcohol is dangerous for teenagers and adults. Physiologically, alcohol kills brain cells, slows reflexes and eventually destroys the mind.

Underage drinking is when anyone under the age of 21 consumes alcoholic beverages in any form.

On April 3 at 8:30 a.m., there will be a town hall meeting to help stop underage drinking. The meeting will be held at the Family Connection Community Counseling Center. The goal of this meeting is to increase community awareness about the dangers and impact of underage drinking, the legal consequences for those who provide it and ideas to prevent it.

Underage drinking is not only against the law, but can damage proper growth during adolescence. Underage drinking is also linked to a high death rate among teenagers.

Even with these facts, 10.8 million youths are underage drinkers. It’s time for us to end this. Help the teens of your community by reaching out and sharing the danger and harm of underage drinking.

There are many influences that can lead a teen to drinking. Did you know that 10 percent of all 12-year-olds have consumed a drink due to peer pressure, family situations, school pressures and the environment surrounding them?

As a result, by 18, more than 70 percent of all teens have had at least one drink. Each day, an average of 11,318 American youths try alcohol for the first time.

Underage drinking is a factor in higher numbers of deaths among teens. Five thousand teens, under the age of 21, die from underage drinking each year.

Underage drinking can affect anyone, not just the individual that is drinking. Drinking and driving is also a dangerous outcome of underage drinking. Forty-five percent of the people who die in a car crashes due to drunk drivers are under 21. This puts innocent people at risk.

As a student, I have seen the consequences of underage drinking. These consequences are always heartbreaking and many times tragic for the families involved. Underage drinking only has negative outcomes.

You can make a difference. It’s time for a change in our world. Stopping and preventing underage drinking saves lives.

Lindsay Kate Glausier is a freshman at Chelsea High School