Our school is a research institute and man do they come out with doosies. An Irvine researcher discovered recently that if a kid’s family does not have a history of substance abuse, the kid will fail school if he drinks before the age of 15. Please, do tell why…

Press Release:

Alcohol education programs that focus on so-called “at-risk youth” are missing half their audience. A new study led by UC Irvine psychologist Candice Odgers shows that, like their at-risk peers, teens with no family history of substance abuse or behavioral problems are more likely to fail in school and develop addictions and sexually transmitted diseases if they experiment with alcohol before their 15th birthday.

Odgers also found that these same teens are more likely to commit crimes and get pregnant prior to age 21. The findings highlight the significant health and societal costs connected with teen drinking and add to growing evidence that early adolescence is a sensitive time for alcohol exposure.

“The early teen years are a critical period for development,” Odgers said. “Various cognitive and developmental changes are happening in the body and brain, and serious long-term consequences can result when alcohol or other substances also become a factor.”

I think this might be a bit of an obvious statistic. Kids that **** up before the age of 15, **** up after the age of 15. Odd…