Underage Drinking

A persuasive speech against underage drinking

I. Introduction:

A. Attention Getter: By a show of hands, how many people in this classroom are under the age of 21? As you look around the classroom, you will see that many of you are under this age. Now think to yourself, even though you are under the age of 21, does it mean that no one in this classroom has ever tried alcohol? According to Prof. Rosenberg from the Psychological Bulletin 1993, alcohol is the most serious problem facing teenagers.

B. Link to Audience: We are all students at college and most likely gone to one party with alcohol.

C. Speaker Credibility: Being a college student and under the age of 21, I have researched this topic of underage drinking because I thought this issue would be extremely beneficial to all of us since we are in college & will most likely be going through experiences involving alcohol.

D. Thesis Sentence: Today I'm here to convince you to think twice about picking up that next bottle of alcohol.

E. Preview of Speech: First, I will to talk about why teenagers should not have alcohol. Next, I'll discuss why teens are not responsible enough to drink and lastly I'll explain how alcohol is not good for your health.

Transition: Let's begin by talking about why teenagers should not have alcohol.

I. Main Point #1

A. Underage drinking is illegal in all 50 states.

1. The tolerance that police have to a teenager drinking and driving is absolutely zero.

2. Most parents who find out that their child has been drinking are not pleased with it.

3. Underage drinking is a crime. It is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable with a maximum sentence of 6 months incapacitation and a $1000.00 fine.

B. Not only is underage drinking against the law, but it is endangering the person's life, as well as others, especially on college campuses.

1. As you can see on this survey from the George Mason Univ. & West Chester Univ. in 1997, alcohol was involved in more than two-thirds of all the campus incidents last year that occurred in residence halls. This survey involved 330 colleges&univ. throughout the country.

2. From the PSU Police Safety Services, the actual offenses of liquor in 2000 were 125 people and 169 people that were arrested due to liquor.

Transition: Now that I have explained why teens should not have alcohol, I will explain to all of you why teens are not responsible enough to drink.

II. Main Point #2

A. Teenagers are not responsible enough to drink.

1. When people drink they use poor judgment, and when underage people drink it is even worse.

a. So the more you drink, the more judgment you lose.

1. For example, according to Prof. Rosenberg from the Psychological Bulletin in 1993, 90% of all campus rapes involving drinking are 68% of manslaughter convictions and 63% of assaults that involve alcohol.

B. Hypothetical Story

1. Imagine this situation of your best friend driving home from your house one night. And on the way home, your friend meets some person who decided to drink too much and your friend and the other driver crash head on. The underage drunk driver survives, while your best friend is killed. So what happened to the drunk driver's judgment? It is in his 15 empty beer cans at the party.

a. Officer Dean Wilson,