| |
Youth Alcoholism:
Addressing the Problem
Strategies to Curb Underage Drinking and Youth Alcoholism
Underage drinking continues to have devastating effects with more than 5,000 deaths each year attributable to alcohol consumption by young people under the age of 21, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) as reported in its January 2006 issue of Alcohol Alert.
These deaths result from intoxication-related motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicide, falls, burns, and drownings. Strategies to curb underage drinking and youth alcoholism fall into two distinct groups:
Environmental: These initiatives are designed to reduce opportunities for youth to engage in underage drinking and include heightening awareness of the problem, increasing legal penalties for underage drinking and engaging community support to stop alcohol use by youth.
Environmental approaches include:
- Raising the price of alcohol
- Increasing the minimum legal drinking age
- Raising public awareness through public service campaigns and other initiatives
- Restaurant and bar server training and compliance checks
- Deterring adults from purchasing alcohol for minors or providing alcohol to minors
- Restricting drinking in public places
- Preventing underage drinking parties
- Enforcing penalties for the use of false IDs, driving while intoxicated, and violating zero-tolerance laws
Individual: These initiatives help educate and prepare youth to resist the urge to experiment with alcohol and drink in spite of influences and opportunities to which they are exposed.
Efforts focus on education that includes addressing attitudes and motivational factors, as well as providing youth with skills that enable them to “say no” and wait until they are of legal drinking age.
Individual-focused interventions include:
- School-based prevention programs that follow social influence models and include setting norms, addressing social pressures to drink, and teaching resistance skills.
These programs also offer interactive and developmentally appropriate information, include peer-led components, and provide teacher training.
- Family-oriented prevention initiatives where parents’ ability to influence their children’s behavior and attitudes play a critical role.
Setting and enforcing rules against underage drinking and monitoring the child’s behavior have proven to help reduce the propensity of underage drinking and onset of youth alcoholism.
For the complete NIAAA report on addressing underage drinking, click here.
Related Information
Teenage Alcoholism Facts
Parenting Tips for Talking with Teens About Drinking
Where to Find Help for Teen Alcoholism
Return HOME from Youth Alcoholism information
|
