Pangea Media, a leader in online quizzes and quiz technology, has released the results of its latest “Pangea Pulse,” which tracked the attitudes and preferences of over 2,000 of its tween and teen users towards drinking, ahead of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.
Contrary to popular media representations of teens, the recent survey on Quibblo found that 42 percent of teens and tweens said that they have never had a drink, and an additional 28 percent said they had only had a drink once. While 66 percent said they do not drink at a party where alcohol is served, the remaining 34 percent drink because they like the taste (15 percent), because they will have more fun (13 percent) or because everyone else is doing it (six percent).
Of those respondents who drink alcohol, 18 percent said their parents buy it for them, and nine percent said their parents let them drink in the house under supervision. The overwhelming majority of teens and tweens surveyed who consume alcohol, however, said they take alcohol from their parents (42 percent). Only two percent of those who drink and have a driver’s license said they drive after drinking.
The survey also found that perceptions of the effects of alcohol consumption differ between respondents who do and do not drink. Of the respondents who say they drink, the most common reason cited was that drinking makes them feel happy (27 percent). Meanwhile, of the respondents who do not drink, 35 percent imagine it would make them feel sick.