Wasted lives: the truth about teen girls and drinking: girls are proving they're equal to boys in oh-so-many ways. But does that have to include how much they drink? Sadly, girls are now drinking as much—or more—than boys. While "partying" can mean just hangin' with your crew, it often means drinking. Here are some sobering stats—and stories—about teens and alcohol

Girls' Life, Oct-Nov, 2004 by Sandy Fertman Ryan

When Rochelle L. was 13, she'd never felt so much pressure on her--pressure to keep a straight-A average, pressure to look cool, pressure to fit in. "I wasn't doing well socially and didn't have many friends. But I was really pressured academically, because my parents were so into school."

Sometimes, it was overwhelming. So one afternoon, when Rochelle watched her older sister and a friend having a blast getting bombed on vodka, she felt she'd discovered how to rid stress and finally have some fun. From that day on, Rochelle drank every weekend--even by herself. After numerous visits to rehab and seven visits to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, she is now, at age 16, a recovering alcoholic.

Rochelle is far from alone. In fact, for the first time in history, teen girls drink more than boys. Almost 40 percent of ninth-grade girls have had a drink in the past month vs. only 34 percent of boys. And a whopping 45 percent of high-school girls drink alcohol. Even more frightening is the fact that girls are binge drinking (drinking till they drop) more than boys--21 percent of girls vs. 18.8 percent of boys.

And they're doing it without realizing the dangers. More than 40 percent of teens who drink before age 15 will become alcohol-dependent at some point in their lives. Add to that the super-high risk of unprotected sex, brain damage and drunk driving, and you wonder: Why are girls doing this?

WHY GIRLS DRINK

There's no one reason teen girls drink, but the most common is to be accepted by peers. "When they are 11 or 12, girls feel they can do anything. But once they enter junior high, most girls feel they don't fit in anymore--they're too tall, too small, too skinny, too fat. Their self-esteem plummets, more so than boys. Girls are so in tune with whether they're fitting in that it's painful when they don't," says Janice Styer, therapist at the Caron Foundation, an alcohol treatment clinic in Wernersville, Pa.

Fitting in was the main reason Julie T., now 19, started drinking. "At 14, I was drinking with friends on the weekends. I found, with alcohol, I could communicate better and feel at ease with other kids. I made tons of friends since everyone thought I was this cool 'party girl.'"

But Julie went from drinking every weekend until she passed out to ditching school every, day so she could drink at home all afternoon. As a result, she went from being a gifted student to failing every class in 11th grade.

"Surprisingly, that didn't stop me from drinking. I just felt drinking made me more myself, so I thought that if I just had a little more to drink I'd feel even better. Meanwhile, whenever I got drunk, I really wasn't acting like me at all--I was acting like an idiot," says Julie. Julie is currently in a halfway house after going through rehab three times.

So aside from wanting to fit in, what are the main reasons girls are choosing to drink like there's no tomorrow?

* They want equality. Girls really want to be considered as prayerful as boys. "Girls have always felt like the weaker sex so now they want to show guys that they aren't--even if it's by drinking them under the table!" Explains Styer.

* They're stressed out. When the going gets rough, some people run away instead of facing up. Teen girls have a ton of pressure on them--socially, academically and even physically--so they often turn to alcohol to "feel good" and "have fun."

* They want to be accepted. If other kids are drinking, they'll do it just to be part of the group. "Teens often drink to fit in, even though there are lots of other ways to be accepted that are not as destructive as this," says Dr. Elaine Leader, executive director of Teen Line, a 24/7 help hotline for teens.

* They're bored. "Their parents are working harder and are often divorced, so kids have a lot of time alone at home. But since they're used to constant stimulation nowadays, alcohol is another way to fill up that time," says Styer.

* Their parents do it. "Teens think, 'It couldn't be that bad if they're doing it," says Dr. Leader. "What concerns me most are kids from families with addictive behavior, and there you have a genetic predisposition to very quickly become an alcoholic."

* They're rebelling. The teen years are usually the time when kids really want to break loose from their parents and make it known that they can be independent. Teen girls might drink just to show they're no longer under their parents' control--even when they know it's not good for them.

RISKY BUSINESS

Believe it or not, teen girls are far more likely to drink than to smoke cigarettes or marijuana (only 11 percent of teens have smoked pot by ninth grade)--and not just because it's easier to get. "I think girls drink more than smoke marijuana because alcohol opens you up more and gets you out of your insecurities. Pot just makes you feel paranoid," says Julie.

Dr. Leader says kids seem to think alcohol is no biggie compared to other drugs. "It's legal--although, not to them. And, to make matters worse, they see rock stars and actors who come through their drinking problems and remain big stars, so they figure it must not be that dangerous."