A woman is largely at risk and susceptible to toxins and other harmful substances when she is pregnant. Teratogens, such as alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs are some of the substances that may cause negative effects towards the fetus inside the mother’s womb. These substances would in turn result to a sick or worse, abnormal baby.

Alcohol is one teratogen that could greatly affect the woman’s pregnancy. People may not be aware of its danger and still allow a woman to drink alcoholic drinks during her pregnancy, but the result of this would be carried by the baby for the rest of his or her life. In the United States, alcohol is the substance very famous to cause mental and physical birth defects. Though, this is only a possibility, the rate is high.

For one, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a disorder that can occur to the embryo when a pregnant woman ingests alcohol during pregnancy. Alcohol crosses the placental barrier and can stunt fetal growth, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structures, and cause other physical, mental, or behavioral problems. The main effect of FAS is enduring central nervous system damage, especially to the brain. Developing brain cells and structures are underdeveloped by prenatal alcohol exposure, often creating a collection of primary cognitive and functional disabilities including poor memory, attention deficits, impulsive behavior, and poor cause-effect reasoning, as well as secondary disabilities for example, mental health problems, and drug addiction.

There are different indications that can appear when one is diagnosed to have fetal alcohol syndrome. These indications include low birth mass, small head circumference, developmental delay, organ dysfunction, facial abnormalities, including smaller eye openings, flattened cheekbones, and indistinguishable philtrum (an underdeveloped groove between the nose and the upper lip), epilepsy, poor coordination, poor socialization skills, such as difficulty building and maintaining friendships and relating to groups, lack of imagination, learning difficulties, including poor memory, inability to understand concepts such as time and money, poor language comprehension, poor problem-solving skills, behavioral problems including hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, social withdrawal, stubbornness, impulsiveness, and anxiety.

As said earlier, damage of the central nervous system is the main feature of fetal alcohol syndrome. Central nervous system damage can be evaluated in three areas such as structural, neurological, and functional deficiencies. Structural impairments may include microcephaly (small head size) of two or more standard deviations below the average, or other abnormalities in brain structure. During the first trimester of pregnancy, alcohol interferes with the migration and organization of brain cells, which can create structural deformities within the brain. During the third trimester, damage can be caused to the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory, learning, emotion, and encoding visual and auditory information, all of which can create neurological and functional CNS impairments as well.

The evaluation of neurological deficiencies will take place when structural deficiencies do not exist. Neurological problems are expressed as either hard signs, such as epilepsy or other seizure disorders, or soft signs. Soft signs are broader, nonspecific neurological impairments, such as impaired fine motor skills, neurosensory hearing loss, poor gait, clumsiness, poor eye-hand coordination.

When structural or neurological impairments are not observed, all four diagnostic systems allow CNS damage due to prenatal alcohol exposure to be assessed in terms of functional impairments. Functional impairments are delays due to prenatal alcohol exposure (rather than hereditary causes or postnatal insults) in observable and measurable domains related to daily functioning, often referred to as developmental disabilities.

The production of birth deficiencies is not a measure on the amount of alcohol being ingested. Individual women process alcohol differently. Other factors vary the results, too, such as the age of the mother, the timing and regularity of the alcohol ingestion, and whether the mother has eaten any food while drinking.

Alcohol easily goes through the placental barrier and the fetus is less equipped to get rid of alcohol than its mother, so the fetus tends to accept a high concentration of alcohol, which lingers longer than it would in the mother’s system. this is the reason why the child is the one greatly affected when in fact it is the mother who consumes the alcohol. Unfortunately true.

Today people are facing an ever growing population of undereducated young adults. Perhaps not undereducated in the sense that they have dropped out of school. But undereducated in the arena of alcohol abuse information. The information is out there, but there seem to be a lack of alcohol abuse information classes that are correctly structured for the appropriate age groups.

Around the approximate age of eleven, kids are subjected to the DARE program which introduces them to the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. This program is a good way to begin an education on drug and alcohol abuse. But in order to be effective, the same type of education must continue throughout the teenage years. Too many children have used the D.A.R.E. program as a gateway into learning which drugs and alcohol they would like to try. While this program may steer some kids away from drug or alcohol abuse in the beginning, if they are not exposed to more education in drug and alcohol abuse information throughout their young adulthood, they run the risk of forgetting the realities of abusing alcohol or drugs. They may then use the alcohol abuse information they gained earlier on to locate these substances and unknowingly abuse them.

Therefore junior high and high school curriculums in every state should be examined to determine if they include substantial classes on alcohol abuse information. Students should be encouraged to take these classes at least once throughout their time in junior high and high school. In addition to classes on the dangers of abuse, students should be offered the opportunity to take classes on drug and alcohol counseling. This way they will not be bombarded with all the negativities of drugs and alcohol, but given a chance to see the positivity of helping those who do have a drug or alcohol problem.

In our current society with an ever growing population and troubled economy, it is more important than ever to give every young adult a proper education. But budget cuts and closing schools are making that very hard. We as a whole must realize that we cannot sit back and expect the government to fix this problem for us. We must be proactive. If you care about this problem, please attend city counsel meetings and voice your concerns. Starting local is the only way to be heard. But also write to your congressman and propose your ideas for new ways of educating adolescents with drug and alcohol abuse information. If no one continues to voice concerns about this issue it could easily be put aside due to other problems we are facing. But this is an issue that need to be kept on the forefront because if drug and alcohol abuse continue to rise among teenagers, it will undoubtedly cause a rise in problems our society is already facing.

Together we can make a difference in giving the kids of our nation a better chance at saying no to drugs, alcohol, and it’s abuse. We will also be opening their eyes to new opportunities and ideas for helping those who do abuse or face addictions with alcohol. We must let these kids know they have a chance. They are not alone. And they, even at a young age, can make a difference in the lives around them by becoming educated and practicing what they learn.