Alcohol Awareness Month

Artwork designed by Casey Sheehan
Blessed Sacarament School
Springfield, IL

Alcohol & Youth

• The social damage from underage alcohol use far exceeds the harm caused by illicit drug use.1
• Approximately 9.7 million drinkers in the United States are between the ages of 12 and 20. Of those, 18.7 percent are involved in binge drinking and 6 percent are heavy drinkers.2
• The social cost of underage drinking is $53 billion per year. That includes $29 billion in alcohol-related violent crime costs, more than $19 billion in traffic crashes and $1.5 billion in suicide attempts. Other costs: Treatment ($1 billion); fetal alcohol syndrome (493 million); drowning ($426 million); alcohol poisonings ($340 million); burns ($189 million).3
• Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death among young people ages 10-24: motor-vehicle crashes, unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide.4
• Young people under the age of 21 who have been drinking are involved in fatal crashes at twice the rate of adult drivers.5
• Use of alcohol or other drugs at an early age is an indicator of future alcohol or other drug problems; people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at 21.6
• In elementary school, children's attitudes toward smoking and drinking are negative. But researchers found that by the time they reach middle school, students who associated with friends who drank and smoked were more likely to pick up the habits themselves.7
• More than 90 percent of 12th graders report that alcohol is "very easy" or "fairly easy" to get. And when underage youth drink, they drink more heavily and recklessly than adults.8
• Several studies suggest teen drinking may cause more neurological damage than was previously thought. Contrary to the notion that the brain is fully developed by age 16 or 17, studies have found that significant development happens until the age of 21 and heavy drinking by teen-agers may inhibit that development.9

What parents can do!

• Set clear rules and be consistent in discipline
• Learn to express love in ways your children understand
• Talk to children early and often about your disapproval of underage drinking and concerns about their well-being
• Monitor children's activities and provide adult supervision
• Help your children find meaning and value in life
• Socialize and have fun without alcohol

What churches can do!

• Involve youth in church activities and give encouragement
• Pray for those experiencing problems with alcohol and for their families
• Educate about the impact of alcohol on individuals, family, and the community
• Inform people that abstinence from alcohol is an acceptable lifelong decision

What communities can do!

• Support a "no use" policy about underage drinking
• Encourage enforcement of underage drinking laws
• Initiate alcohol-free community events
• Reduce the availability of Alcohol to Underage Drinkers
• Limit promotion of alcohol in the community

[ Addiction Information ]