Alcohol
By Ethan Watrud
The Facts
2. The average age teen boys first try alcohol is age 11, for teen girls it’s 13.
3. Nearly 10 million young people, ages 12 to 20, reported that they've consumed alcohol in the past 30 days.
5. Teens who drink heavily are three times more likely to try and hurt themselves than those who don't.
6. 9 out of 10 American teens report that drinking is not worth the consequences it can cause.
8. In 2010, 56 percent of drivers aged 15 to 20 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes after drinking and driving were not wearing a seat belt.
9. The rate of current alcohol consumption increases with age, according to the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, from 2 percent at age 12 to 21 percent at age 16, and 55 percent at age 20.
10. In 2012, nearly three-quarters of students have consumed alcohol by the end of high school, and more than a third have done so by eighth grade.