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)

"I shouldn't have done it because I was not sober"

One of the many risks for underage drinking is unintended sexual contact.


Several young people described this experience during a recent Real Life. Real Talk. event.

Click on the logo below to see the clip from the "It's okay. You can say it." campaign, in which community members were invited to talk about what they wished someone had told them about sex:

Tip of the Month: November Mythbuster

• Did you know?
  MYTH: “It’s better for kids to start drinking young so they can learn how to handle it.”
  REALITY: The adolescent brain is still developing—especially the part of the brain that deals with decision making. This places kids at a higher risk for academic failure, depression, suicide, sexual assault, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection, and other substance abuse. Younger drinkers are also more likely to develop alcohol dependence.
  
  
  
• Do you have a minute this month? When your teen is going out for the evening, take a minute to remind them about your family’s rules and consequences of underage drinking.
  
  
  
• Want to learn more? Visit our website at www.21reasons.org

UMaine Greek Students Participating in Alcohol-Free Week

This week (October 19-25) University of Maine students are participating in an alcohol-free week hosted by the Greek Peer Educators Program. The point of the week—which falls during homecoming this year-- is to encourage students to spend a week alcohol-free. "This is offering you an opportunity to figure out what kind of role alcohol plays in your life," says Greek Peer Education Founder and Director Sarah Caron.

In the past, participation has been between 1,000 and 3,000 students; this year’s goal is for participation by 2,008 students.

The University of Maine student paper covers the event in depth.

While college drinking is a serious national problem, it’s good to keep in mind that many college students don’t drink at all. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 40% of 18-24 year olds reported no alcohol use in the past month, and only 14.9% reported heavy alcohol use.

Maine’s Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership has some great resources on preventing and reducing campus alcohol use available on their website.

Study Suggests "At-Risk" Teens Aren't The Only Ones At Risk for Alcohol Problems

A new study out from the University of California, Irvine suggests that substance abuse programs geared towards at-risk youth are missing almost half of their audience. Efforts to reduce or delay early substance exposure should not be restricted to at-risk adolescents, researchers say—all adolescents exposed to alcohol suffered :

“Specifically, we asked whether there is evidence that early exposure to illicit substances is a causal factor in adolescents’ future lives (“are drugs bad for kids?”), or whether adolescents with a developmental history of conduct problems are simply more likely than other adolescents to be exposed to alcohol and illicit substances and to experience poor adult outcomes (“do bad kids do drugs?”)…

“Results support the policy position that early substance exposure poses independent risks for adolescents’ future lives; these risks extend beyond the development of later substance dependence, to include risks for herpes infection, early pregnancy, and crime. With respect to prevention, it is important to note that in our study, 50% of the adolescents exposed to substances before age 15 did not have a prior history of conduct problems, yet they experienced many of the same ill consequences as their peers who are already at risk.”

Here's a link to the full study, published in the October Edition of Psychological Science.

(via The Daily Pilot)

Fall 2008 Newsletter

We're excited to announce the release of our Fall 2008 newsletter! The newsletter features City Council candidates' responses to a questionnaire on youth accesss to alcohol, as well as program updates and news.

Click here to view the newsletter; click here to subscribe to future editions.

Tip of the Month: October Mythbuster

• Did you know?
  MYTH: “It’s okay as long as they don’t drive. Most teen alcohol-related deaths are from drinking and driving.”
  REALITY: Only one-third of underage drinking deaths involve auto crashes. The remaining two-thirds involve alcohol poisoning, homicides, suicides, and unintentional injuries such as burns, drowning and falls.


• Do you have a minute this month? Thank store clerks when you see them card someone who is buying alcohol.


• Want to learn more? Visit our website at http://www.21reasons.org/