Prevent Underage Drinking

It’s hard to know just what to do about underage drinking.

The environment around a young person is a powerful influence in whether they choose to drink—or not.

And youth are less likely to drink if…

· Alcohol is really hard to get.

· They feel like adults in their community would disapprove.

· They believe their parents would disapprove.

· They feel like their friends and peers would think it’s uncool.

· They believe they’d get caught, either by their parents or by the police.

What is Straight Up?

Straight Up is a youth activity guide to prevent underage drinking. The activities in the guide aim to engage youth in creating permanent community change, rather than focusing on youth behavior.

How does it work?

Straight Up is organized like a textbook, with short activities and worksheets.

If you're in Portland, Maine: 21 Reasons staff can come do an activity with your class or youth group. Or you can implement activities on your own and apply for a minigrant from 21 Reasons.

If you're outside of Portland, Maine: Keep checking the 21 Reasons website. Straight Up will likely be available statewide soon.

FMI: Jen Hodsdon 21reasons@mcd.org or 207-773-7737

Football season? Time to free the bowl!

That's the Super Bowl, you know. The Marin Institute has once again launched a campaign encouraging kids to submit anti-alcohol ads in opposition to the tsunami of beer and alcohol advertising that happen during the Super Bowl. The contest is called "Free the Bowl."

In this year's contest Big Alcohol is personified as "Big Al:"

Marin Institute has launched its second annual, nationwide anti-alcohol-advertising contest, FREE the BOWL™. This year's theme is to "Free the Bowl from Big Al," (a.k.a Big Alcohol), as youth contestants will identify where they see the negative influences of Big Al in their lives.

The contest for youth and young adults from ages 10 to 25 seeks original anti-alcohol-ads 30 to 60 seconds long to counter excessive alcohol advertising and marketing. The alcohol industry watchdog launched the contest at www.FreeTheBowl.com today and will use the site as well as YouTube to showcase video entries. The contest deadline is January 25, 2010, two weeks before the Super Bowl, the biggest alcohol advertising and inebriation day of the year. This year groups may compete, such as high school or college classes.

Are you thinking of making a Free the Bowl ad? Check out last year's winners.

Free the Bowl Winners!

The winners of this year's Free the Bowl Contest have been announced!

In response to an avalanche of alcohol ads that appear during the Superbowl, the Marin Institute sponsored a contest in which youth produced ads promoting a "free the bowl from alcohol advertising" message.

This contest is timely: the 2009 Superbowl advertising lineup included beer ads that featured talking horses, a circus and clowns, summer parties, and slapstick comedy. These alcohol advertisements were intermingled with ads for PG-rated movies, theme parks, sugared breakfast cereal, and soft drinks.

The three winners' ads are below:

First prize winner Jeremiah Golden of New Hampshire, video:


The submission from second prize winner Jonathan Reed of California:


And from third prize winner Eric Shaughnessy, from Maryland:

ANFSCD, how 2 KIT w/yr kid w/TXT n IM

Some new research from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and MetLife Foundation shows that nearly 25% of all teens would prefer to have a serious conversation about drug and alcohol use over email or text message. Only three percent of parents would choose to communicate with their kids this way.

While face to face conversation is most teens’ choice for this kind of communication, parents might be missing a big opportunity if they don’t embrace new technology.

Parents who are waiting for the "right time" to talk with their kids about drugs and alcohol may be missing everyday opportunities to connect on this important issue, said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership. "While nothing can take the place of an in-person conversation between parents and teens, for some parents, emails, cell phone conversations, and even texting can help start a conversation with a reluctant teen and reinforce talks you've already had--plus, parents can reach teens at times when use tends to be likelier--after school, on weekends and during unsupervised time."

The survey underscores that "Generation Text" has arrived -- when asked which was more important for everyday communication with friends, texting or social networking; teens were far more likely to communicate directly by texting (63 percent) than to rely on websites like Facebook (38 percent) to stay connected. And teens don't only want to hear from their friends. A majority of teens -- 67 percent -- were open to receiving texts from their parents after school -- a time when teens are most likely to be unsupervised. For many parents, texting may be an additional tool for monitoring and staying in touch with teens.

For parents who are nervous about using technology, Partnership for a Drug Free America publishes a free how-to text guide (.pdf) and a list of 7 Ways to Connect With Your Teen Using Technology. There are several TXT MSG translations available online.

“Free the Bowl” anti-beer ad contest for youth

The Marin Institute is offering prizes (including a MacBook and iPods) for youth age 13-20 who create ads for their Free the Bowl contest:

"Year after year, Anheuser-Busch and the National Football League hide behind weak, ineffectual Beer Institute self-regulatory guidelines to justify exposing youth to exploitive alcohol ads," said Michael Scippa, advocacy director at the Marin Institute. "Big Alcohol turns a deaf ear to our protests, so we want them to listen to compelling messages from young people who resent being targeted as new customers."

Anheuser-Busch is expected to spend up to $19 million on ads during the 2009 Super Bowl.

Deadline for contest entries is Jan. 25. The winner will be announced on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1. Ads created for the contest will be posted to YouTube. For more details, see www.freethebowl.com.(via Join Together)

According to the Marin Institute, 30 million youth viewed advertising during the 2008 Superbowl--more ads for beer than anything else. Research shows that the more alcohol advertising teens see the more likely they are to drink, and drink to excess. This contest will give beer companies the message that this exploitation of youth must stop.

Teens Recommend Environmental Strategies

The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, MA is reporting that teens recommend environmental strategies to help them not drink:

When asked what parents could do to prevent them from drinking and other risky behavior, teens said parents could limit their child's participation in overnight parties, wait up for a teen to return from a date or party and call parents of the party's host in advance to make sure it will be well-supervised. Oddly enough, teens also said parents could help by establishing rules and consequences for breaking them, coupled with punishment, if needed.

The article also encourages parents to avoid the "myth of inevitability"—assuming that they’re not going to be able to stop their kids from drinking.

The 21 Reasons website offers resources on both Myths & Realities of underage drinking, and has suggestions for what parents and community members can do to prevent it. Click on the links below for access to these documents

Myths vs. Realities (.pdf)

So What Can I Do? (.pdf)