Age gate restrictions
Under 18? You don’t need be on that site you were trying to access.
Are you under 18 and maybe have been trying to do something you weren’t meant to be doing? That’s why you’ve ended up here at the DrinkWise website. You’ve probably heard some reasons why you should avoid drinking when underage – maybe from school or from your parents.
Video: In this quick video, medical expert Dr Andrew Rochford explains about the impact underage drinking can have on your body, your brain and your future.
Did you know that most underage people are choosing not to drink alcohol?
That’s right the majority of underage teenagers in Australia are choosing not to drink alcohol (69%).1
Impact of underage drinking on your brain
Medical expert, Dr Andrew Rochford says that while it’s easy to see your body growing during your teenage years, it’s not as obvious that your brain is growing too. Throughout your teens and into your twenties, your brain continues to grow.
The frontal lobe and hippocampus are the areas of your brain that are associated with motivation, impulse control and addiction. When you are a teenager, these parts of your brain go through dramatic growth. Drinking while this growth is happening can damage your developing brain – this puts your brain at risk of not reaching its full capacity. If you drink during this time, you might not reach your full potential as an adult. You could also have problems with alcohol when you are older.
Impact of underage drinking on teenagers
According to renowned adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, drinking alcohol when underage can impact teenagers in four main ways:
- Socialising/risk taking – Making friends is a key developmental task. Alcohol can lead you to be around young people who are more prone to take risks. Therefore, you will too. Research shows that after drinking alcohol, teenagers are more likely to binge drink, and experience alcohol-related harm such as accidents, blackouts or be involved in fights. They may also experience drinking problems in future years.2,3
- The impact on school –underage kids who drink alcohol don’t do as well academically.
- Mental health –alcohol causes huge problems for teenagers. If you drink alcohol, you are more likely to have depression, anxiety and experience conflict with those around you.
- Sense of self – Alcohol impacts your very ability to answer the questions: ‘Who am I?’ ‘Am I normal?’ And ‘where am I going?’.
These are just a few of the compelling reasons why the majority of 14-17-year olds are choosing not to drink.
Helpful Tools
There’s plenty of tools on this DrinkWise website to help you:
- find out about the health effects of drinking on the Body Health tool
- find support if you think you or a mate might need some help.
- In 2022-23, 69% of underage teenagers (14-17 years) abstained from drinking alcohol in the previous 12 months (National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 2022-23). (NB: this statistic is an updated calculation of underage abstinence and consumption rates as recommended by AIHW and in line with the 2020 Australian Alcohol Guidelines.)
- Chan, Leung, Connor, Hall, Kelly (2017). Parental supply of alcohol and adolescent drinking: a multilevel analysis of nationally representative data. 17:560
- Aiken, A., Chan, G., Yuen, W. et al. (2022). Trajectories of parental and peer supply of alcohol in adolescence and associations with later alcohol consumption and harms: A prospective cohort study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 237, 109533.
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