This will be discussed in following sections. It takes less alcohol to intoxicate a child than an adult. This is partly due to a child's smaller body size and partly because a child's liver is unable to deactivate toxic substances as efficiently as an adult's liver. The lethal dose of alcohol is roughly 1.5 to 2 grams of alcohol per pound of the child's body weight. American society has accepted the casual use of alcohol.
Frequent use sends the message to children that alcohol use is permissible.
Yet alcohol use by youths has many harmful effects. Alcohol provides only empty calories, or calories without nutritional value, which can be detrimental to a young, growing body. Innate coping skills decrease as the youth uses alcohol to escape problems. Violence can increase as a youth's inhibitions and judgement are impaired. Social skills deteriorate as alcohol abuse is substituted for friendship.