As high schoolers, we start going to parties and all those temptations we were warned of in middle school become all too real. Stuck between childhood and adulthood, many of us ignore our conscience and try to live up to others’ expectations as we down that beer, hoping to feel accepted, to feel cool, to feel older.

 We’re sure you have all heard the alcohol lecture at one point or another from a parent or a teacher. During their lectures the answer to the problem always seems so clear and simple: don’t drink and you won’t have a problem. But it is it really that simple?

According to The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 25% of youth aged 12 to 20 reported drinking alcohol in 2011 and 16% admitted binge drinking. As teenagers ourselves, we understand how easy it can be to get lost in the fun. However, that can come with immense consequences.

When we get to that party, the lectures are thrown aside, and we live in the moment. We just want to fit in, we just want to have fun, we just want to make our own decisions. Although having a few drinks doesn’t seem like a big deal in the moment, it can grow to something more.

It’s okay to have fun, but there is a clear line. Drinking is something that is easily taken too far. One drink easily becomes five. Having a buzz can quickly become a black-out. The only way to ensure you don’t go too far is to not drink at all.

We are all in a rush to grow up and make our own decisions, but we aren’t quite there yet. If you make the grown-up decision to drink and your parents have to bail you out, how grown-up are you, really? It’s embarrassing to be arrested before you are out of high school. It’s embarrassing to be strip searched. It’s embarrassing to go to court. And it’s embarrassing to be grounded on top of all of that.

Let’s be honest, after you are done reading this, you are still going to do what you want to do. However, we feel it’s our job to inform you. The lectures from our parents and teachers don’t always get through to us. It doesn’t always seem like they understand what it’s like. But we do. All we can do, as fellow students, is make the consequences of your actions clear, and the rest is up to you. It’s all a part of growing up.