Underage drinking: The problem and what you can do about it

    Substance of the week: Alcohol
    Statistic of the week: 37 percent of County students in grades 6-12 report that the first time they had their first drink (more than a sip or two) of alcohol was before 15 years of age (data source: 2006 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey).     Current event: A recent episode of CW’s “Gossip Girl” presented a glamorized picture of underage drinking as several of its young teenage characters downed multiple hard alcoholic beverages with no consequences.
    So what? Although our young teens may not lead the “glamorous” life depicted in “Gossip Girl” episodes, they are starting to drink alcohol at a young age. Recent research strongly suggests that initiation of drinking prior to age 16 increases a child’s risk of developing alcohol dependence later in life and also puts him at greater risk of developing dependence more quickly and at a younger age.
    According to a study completed by the Boston University School of Public Health, 47 percent of youth who began drinking before 14 years old experienced dependence at some point, as compared to 9 percent of those who started drinking at age 21 or older. Moreover, “each additional year earlier than 21 that a [study] respondent began to drink, the greater the odds that he would develop alcohol dependence at some point in life” (Source: NIH News — http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/NewsEvents/NewsReleases/earlydrinking.htm).
    What can you do? Parents and adults can take measures to delay alcohol consumption by underage youth by
• Modeling responsible drinking;
• Refraining from serving alcohol to underage children at home (in order to send a clear and unequivocal message that it is best to wait until 21);
• Setting firm limits, and sticking to them, on what teens can and cannot do; and
• Initiating discussions about how not to drink now and how to drink safely and moderately when they reach 21.
    Resource of the week: Parents Empowered to Eliminate Underage Drinking – visit their Web site at: http://parentsempowered.org/
    This column is brought to you by Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), a county-wide substance abuse prevention collaborative. For more information about ASAP and its prevention efforts contact Clare Desrosiers, project director, at 521-2408. ASAP’s local partner agencies include Aroostook Band of Micmacs, ACES – LLC, Aroostook Healthy Maine Partnership, Aroostook Mental Health Center, Aroostook Teen Leadership Camp, Cary Medical Center, Community Alcohol and Drug Education Team, Community Voices, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Link for Hope Coalition, Power of Prevention, STOP, The Aroostook Medical Center, United Way, and University of Maine Presque Isle.