Parent Resources

See It. Hear It. Talk About It. Parents DO Make A Difference.

No parent wants to think of his or her child as one of the thousands of teens who drink or about all the things that can happen when they do. Still, by the time they’re in their senior year of high school, four out of five teens have consumed alcohol and adolescents who drink are likely to be heavy drinkers or binge drinkers.

Research shows that when parents communicate their expectations that their children abstain from alcohol, teens and preteens are far less likely to drink.

Parents Need To Communicate To Youths That:

Underage drinking is against the law.
Using alcohol is risky and unnecessary.
Lots of smart, cool people choose not to use alcohol.

Consequences of Underage Drinking Include:

Health Problems

Young people who began drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who abstained until age 21.

Alcohol use among teens is associated with the three most common causes of teenage deaths: accidental deaths(such as car crashes), homicides and suicides.

On average eight adolescents a day in the U.S. die in alcohol-related automobile crashes and nine out of 10 teenage automobile accidents involve the use of alcohol.

Ninety-face percent of violent crimes on college campuses are alcohol-related. The majority of college rapes(ninety percent) involve alcohol use by either the victim and/or assailant.

More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18-24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.

Sexual Behavior

Higher levels of alcohol use are associated with unplanned or unprotected sexual activity among adolescents. This poses increased risks for teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.