| Keep Kids Alcohol Free: Strategies for Action Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol
Free
Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free, a unique coalition of Governors’ spouses, Federal agencies, and public and private organizations, is an initiative to prevent the use of alcohol by children ages 9 to 15. It is the only national effort that focuses on this age group. Evidence shows that young people are drinking more at earlier ages and that alcohol can have serious, often lifelong consequences for their health and well-being. The Leadership initiative is alerting the Nation to this critical public health problem and mobilizing action to prevent it.
Note: You may order a hard copy of
Keep Kids Alcohol Free: Strategies for Action on the Leadership's publication page
.
The strategies included in this guide were selected by
a panel of scientists convened by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. The scientists were chosen for their
distinguished careers in research on alcohol abuse and dependence and
related prevention programs. We are indebted to the following panel
participants for their invaluable contributions: A
special note of appreciation goes to Michael Klitzner, Ph.D., Science
Writer, Mary Wendehack and Patricia Green, Managing Editors, and Rich
Smith, Graphic Designer. Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among our
Nation’s young people, surpassing tobacco and illicit drugs.
1
Alcohol is a powerful, mood altering
drug, and its use by children poses very serious health risks for bodies
and minds that are still maturing. It can cloud judgment and interfere with
developing social skills and academic achievement. For example,
research demonstrates that adolescents who abuse alcohol may
remember 10 percent less of what they have learned than students who don’t
drink.
2
Alcohol use may also lead to increased
sexual activity, exposure to sexually transmitted disease, unplanned
pregnancy, suicidal and violent behavior, criminal activity, injury, and
death. Moreover, children are beginning to drink at very young ages, sometimes before they finish elementary school. Many drink specifically to get drunk. Although drinking is often considered a normal part of growing up, like starting to date and learning to drive, it is not. The Nation must recognize this overlooked group of drinkers—the 9-to-15-year-olds—and understand the extent of the problem and its dangers. The statistics tell the story.
The age at which a person first uses alcohol is a
powerful predictor of lifetime alcohol abuse and dependence. More than 40
percent of individuals who begin drinking before age 13 will develop
alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.
4
The dangers of early alcohol use are clear. What may be
less clear is how to begin to prevent it. This guide is a starting point for
people like you—parents, teachers, health professionals, law enforcement
personnel, alcohol retailers, policymakers, and others who are concerned
with the well-being of children. It describes three basic prevention
strategies and ways they can be applied in the home, the school, and the
community.
Addresses for online “e-sources” point to further information. To help you better understand how these strategies can
be put into action, the guide also includes real-life examples of efforts
by people around the country to prevent drinking by
9-to-15-year-olds. Although the strategies may be adapted
in different ways by different communities, their science base ensures
that no matter what the location, from rural farming areas, to suburban
school districts, to inner city neighborhoods, these strategies work. How to use the guide Start by reading the brief descriptions of the three
basic prevention strategies covered in the guide. Then learn how
they are applied in the home, the school, and the community. Discover
examples of how other communities have used the strategies. Take advantage
of the A call to action While the idea of starting a prevention campaign in
your community may seem a little daunting, experience indicates that an
appeal based on the need to protect children, combined with some friendly
persuasion, will get people involved. Studies showing high levels of underage
drinking, easy accessibility to alcohol, and lack of compliance with
existing laws can serve as triggers to action. Small,
informed groups who actively address these types of problems are able to
achieve remarkable outcomes. The following survey results show that
the desire for change is there: Research and experience show that successful alcohol
prevention programs should incorporate one or more of the following three
science-based strategies:
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Reduce the availability of alcohol The most documented principle in alcohol use
prevention is this: Make it harder for young people to get
alcohol, and they will drink less. Communities can make alcohol less
available by promoting responsible adult behavior and holding adults
accountable when they provide alcohol to minors; by raising the price of
beer, wine, and liquor; or by reducing the number of places where alcohol
is sold or served. Improve the effectiveness of law enforcement Communities can better enforce policies designed to stop drinking among children and adolescents. Studies find that existing laws regulating underage drinking are often not enforced. When these laws are ignored, it not only enables young people to drink, but also communicates a general indifference. Change social norms Children draw conclusions about alcohol-related social norms from what they see and hear about
alcohol in their families and communities. These norms strongly influence
their own attitudes and behaviors regarding alcohol. When communities
consistently prevent underage access to alcohol, publicize and enforce
alcohol-related laws, and limit the promotion of alcohol, they reinforce
the message that alcohol use by young people is unacceptable. Choosing An Initial Strategy As you plan your campaign, you should choose one or a
combination of strategies from this guide that will work best for your
community.
The ideas listed below will help you decide. The strategy
should be:
Start now and your community will be a safer and
healthier place for young people of all ages. The sanctity of one’s home and family is a
long-standing American value. Some may feel that regulating alcohol
service in private homes and at parties violates this sanctity. However, when
adults recognize the problems and dangers associated with underage
drinking and their legal responsibilities to prevent it, they understand
the need for these regulations. Change begins at home. For example, a recent study shows that
children whose parents are involved in their lives—holding regular
conversations, attending after-school events, listening to their
problems—are less likely to drink or smoke.
12
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism has prepared a pamphlet called Make
A Difference: Talk to Your Child About Alcohol. This 24-page
guide is geared to parents and guardians of young people ages 10 to
14. It
contains a short description of the risks and problems associated with
alcohol use among young people as well as actions parents can take to talk
with children about these issues. It offers specific suggestions for
teaching children how to say no to a drink, hosting alcohol-free parties
for teens, and noticing the warning signs of drinking problems in children
and adolescents. Available online in English and Spanish:
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“Parents Who Host, Lose The Most.”
Too often, especially at graduation and prom
time, well-meaning parents host parties at which they serve alcohol
to their children and their children’s friends. In their
effort to provide a controlled event, they unwittingly support the
idea that teen drinking is acceptable. The Ohio
Parents for Drug Free Youth, working with The Ohio Task Force on
Combating Underage Drinking, large corporations, and community
groups, developed a Statewide project called “Parents Who Host, Lose
The Most.” The spokesperson for this partnership is First Lady Hope
Taft.
State corporations and local businesses convey the program’s
message, “Don’t be a party to teenage drinking. It’s against the
law,” on paycheck envelopes and grocery bags, on signs in store
windows, and at checkout stands.
13
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Prevent Availability to Minors in Homes
– In some States, social host
liability laws spell out the responsibilities of parents and other
adults for providing alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 and the
penalties for disobeying the laws. Public information campaigns can teach
parents about these laws as well as their responsibility to keep alcohol
where children and adolescents cannot get it.
For examples of two new laws enacted in Minnesota that
specifically target adults over 21 who serve alcohol to youth,
see http://www.miph.org/mjt/newlaws.html
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Parents pledge to provide safe homes In Safe Homes, a long-running program to prevent
underage drinking, parents sign a pledge to follow some simple
principles that provide a safer environment for their children. Safe
Homes recognizes that parents and kids need support to resist peer
pressure to drink. The pledge is a one-year
commitment, renewed annually. Parents agree to:
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Regulate Home Delivery – More than half the
States in the United States allow home delivery of alcohol. However,
jurisdictions can forbid or restrict home delivery of alcohol to prevent
unsupervised alcohol sales. If communities choose not to ban home
deliveries of alcohol, they can require that delivery people record the
purchaser’s ID. In the future, home delivery to
underage persons may become a bigger problem as Internet purchases become
more widespread.
For examples of two proposed ordinances prohibiting
home delivery, see
http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/local/delivord.html
Break Up
Parties – Large parties of underage drinkers pose a problem
for police.
On the one hand, police have a responsibility to get involved and
make arrests or issue warnings. On the other hand, they know that young
people may scatter to their cars when the police arrive, increasing the
risk of crashes.
Some jurisdictions have developed special police procedures that
have been successful in breaking up large parties safely.
For a discussion of safe ways to break up parties, see
A Practical Guide to Preventing and Dispersing
Underage Drinking Parties at http://www.udetc.org/documents/UnderageDrinking.pdf
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Letters to parents explain social host
laws In Oregon, when school personnel learn about
teen parties at which alcohol is served, they contact the Alcohol
Beverage Control Commission. The Commission, in turn, sends a
letter to parents explaining that they are breaking the law by
hosting a party at which alcohol is served to minors.
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As school-based prevention programs have become more
guided by research, they have grown from a focus on the individual to a
broader focus that includes environmental influences and social norms, in
particular the effects of peers. For example, studies show that sixth
graders who think that more of their peers are drinking than actually are
drinking are more likely to drink when compared with those students who
learn that their peers do not approve of drinking.
16
Project Northland, developed by researchers at the
University of Minnesota with a grant from the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is a comprehensive alcohol use prevention
program for students in grades six through eight. This program
has successfully reduced alcohol use in this age group. The participants
learn that fewer of their peers drink alcohol than they thought, how to
resist pressure to drink, and to talk with their parents about what
happens if they do drink.
17
For more information about Project Northland and other
school-based curricula, see http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov
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School district action results in a community
coalition The Troy, Michigan, school district put in place
a three-pronged prevention effort when the town started seeing more
youths using alcohol. It included a peer pressure
resistance program in the schools, a parent group, and a community
program.
The federally funded Troy Community Coalition that resulted
from this initial effort worked with groups from preschoolers to
senior citizens. The coalition offered a class to
help parents talk to their children about alcohol and encouraged
police to make sure bars and stores were not selling alcohol to
minors.
Because youth were stealing alcohol from grocery store
shelves, the coalition also successfully worked for legislation
requiring retailers to safeguard the alcohol in their stores. In
addition, the coalition trained pediatricians to help parents
understand the problems associated with underage
drinking.
18
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Change Social Norms
Reinforce Acceptable Social Norms – Schools can establish alcohol policies that clearly
state expectations and penalties regarding alcohol use by students. Such policies
reinforce the norm that underage drinking will not be tolerated. School staff,
students, parents, and the community must support and enforce such
policies consistently in order to shape appropriate attitudes about
alcohol among students.
For more information on what schools can do, see http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/policy/schools.html
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Nevada Department of Education survey galvanizes
action A survey by the Nevada Department of Education
in 1998 showed that 4 percent of sixth graders had consumed five
drinks in a row in the past two weeks. These results sparked
coalitions across the State to support laws and other enforcement
efforts to reduce access to alcohol by minors. In
Washoe County, Nevada, a group of parents set up a system in which
retailers who failed compliance checks received follow-up visits
from members of the group, while those who passed received special
recognition.
19
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Offer Students Feedback About Use Rates
– Schools can teach students actual alcohol use rates
through education programs. Participants discuss how many students
actually drink and whether drinking is a good idea. Students
taught with this approach, use alcohol less and have fewer related
problems because they want to be in the majority.
20
For more information about normative education, see
http://www.tanglewood.net/products/allstars/article1995.htm
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Community awareness results in a peer mentoring
program In Haverhill, Massachusetts, a community
partnership of citizens conducted surveys of schools, businesses,
neighborhood groups, and various communities, including Hispanic
neighborhoods. Learning that minors could easily
get alcohol, they published the results of these surveys and
received support for local prevention efforts. One effort was to
recruit a core group of non-drinking students to act as peer mentors
in the schools.
21
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Alcohol is a regular feature of leisure activities in
most communities. Alcohol ads and billboards commonly
display attractive, youthful models. Neighborhoods allow alcohol companies to
sponsor local fairs, races, sports activities, and other family-focused
events.
And communities often turn a blind eye to underage drinking and
sales to minors.
In all these ways, society tells children that alcohol use is
accepted, expected, and even essential to having a good time. Many
communities are using a variety of strategies to control the visibility
and availability of alcohol in their children’s environment.
For example, in an experimental program funded by the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, seven participating
communities made changes in local alcohol-related policies and practices
when compared to eight non-participating communities. The changes
involved local institutional policies as well as practices of law
enforcement agencies, licensing departments, community and civic groups,
houses of worship, schools, and the local media. The direct
impact of this program, called Communities Mobilizing for Change on
Alcohol (CMCA), required more checking of age IDs by alcohol retailers,
resulting in fewer purchases of alcohol by 18- to 20-year-olds. CMCA shows
that changing the alcohol-related social and policy environment in
communities is essential to long-term prevention.
22
For free action guides developed by community groups
for this project, see
http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/
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Volunteers win vote to eliminate alcohol
establishments In Chicago, Illinois, a neighborhood study
showed that 60 percent of the area’s crimes revolved around liquor
stores and bars. In response to these findings,
volunteers, under the leadership of their church pastor, gathered
statistics about the spread of liquor stores in their neighborhood.
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Raise the Price of Alcoholic Beverages –
Higher prices can reduce alcohol purchases,
particularly those by minors. 24, 25 Most studies have found that when the
price of alcohol goes up, consumption by young people goes down. 26, 27 In addition, research shows that an increase
in the price of alcohol is linked to reductions in alcohol-related
problems among adolescents. 28 The most efficient means of increasing
the price of alcohol is by increasing taxes.
For a discussion about raising the prices on
alcoholic beverages, see
http://www.cspinet.org/booze/taxguide/tax_toc.htm
Control the Number of Alcohol Outlets –
Studies show that the more alcohol outlets there are
in a community, the more citizens drink and the greater the probability of
alcohol-related problems. 29 Large numbers of alcohol outlets make
it easier to buy alcohol and make it a more visible part of the
community.
Large numbers of outlets can also stretch the resources of
enforcement agencies, making it harder to enforce minimum age laws.
Communities can control the number of alcohol outlets through planning and
zoning ordinances and conditional use permits.
For a discussion of how to use local regulatory and
land use powers to prevent underage drinking, see http://www.udetc.org/documents/regulatory.pdf
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Liquor license denied due to citizen
action In Salinas, California, a small group of
citizens was concerned about the concentration of alcohol outlets in
their primarily Hispanic neighborhood. They urged others in the
community to oppose plans granting a liquor license to a proposed
supermarket in a new shopping mall. They persuaded the city council
to deny the liquor license and to lease the property to a daycare
center.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, the image of a young child
with a shovel breaking ground for the new center captured the spirit
of a community that cares about a healthy environment for its
children. 30 |
Train and License Servers and Sellers –
In many States and jurisdictions, alcohol licensees
and their employees must be trained before they can do business. Training may
cover the importance of checking IDs, how to identify false IDs, how to
refuse politely to sell to underaged persons, and who is liable (sellers
or employees) when sales are made to minors. This training
is more effective when alcohol managers and owners are also trained in how
to establish alcohol policies and practices for their businesses. 31 Some States and jurisdictions are also
setting a minimum age for servers and sellers of alcohol and requiring
them to be licensed or certified.
For examples of what some States are doing, see
[Alabama] http://www.abcboard.state.al.us/edu.html
[California] http://www.abc.ca.gov/
[Virginia] http://www.abc.state.va.us/Education/tips/Tips%20Workshops.html
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RASS: Retailers and law enforcers team up to
find solutions In North Carolina, retail and beer and wine
executives, the Alcohol Beverage Control agency, and alcohol law
enforcement officials formed a coalition called the Responsible
Alcohol Sales and Service (RASS) Coalition. Their
goal is to reduce sales of alcohol to underage persons. Their
comprehensive State plan includes strengthening penalties for adult
providers and underage purchasers; using color-coded drivers
licenses to check age; conducting secret shopper programs to monitor
sales; and holding a media campaign to let people know about the
problem.
The RASS coalition members are wholesalers, retailers, law
enforcement personnel, elected officials, trade association members,
health care professionals, and government officials.
Benefits include increased customer respect for and
understanding of retailers’ responsibilities, increased community
support, and greater public and retailer awareness of the dangers of
underage drinking. 32 |
Register Kegs – Large, unsupervised parties where alcohol is
served, both in private homes and in other settings, have become a common
part of the youth scene in many communities. Too often
these parties take the form of “keggers”—parties where beer is available
to everyone who attends. With keg registration, each keg is
engraved with a unique identifier that is linked to the purchaser’s
ID. If
the keg turns up at a party where underaged people are drinking, the
authorities can use the keg ID to trace the person responsible and impose
appropriate penalties.
For a discussion of the issues surrounding keg
registration policies, see
http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/policy/beerkeg.html
Enforce Establishment Policies – One way to reduce sales to minors is to check the
age identification of all individuals who appear to be younger than
30.
Establishments that regularly check IDs and closely supervise sales
by employees have lower rates of underage sales.
33 Communities can request owners and
managers of alcohol establishments to require ID checks as a standard
policy and to make sure their employees understand this policy.
Communities that publicize and praise retailers who do not sell to
anyone under 21 encourage retailers to become partners in the effort to
prevent underage drinking.
For a discussion of age identification policies, see
http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/policy/checkid.html
Conduct Compliance Checks – Compliance checks can show whether sellers and
servers of alcohol are obeying minimum age laws. A decoy (an individual
who is underage or looks underage) attempts an alcohol purchase using no
ID or a false ID. If a sale is made, the police can take appropriate
action. Police incident reports can also point to the merchants who made
the underage sales. These enforcement strategies work
better if they are widely publicized to outlet owners and their
staff. 34
For a practical guide to developing and implementing
a compliance check system for establishments that sell or serve alcohol,
see http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol/pdf/manual.pdf
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Community action greatly increases
enforcement In Minnesota, law enforcement officers found
that in many communities teens could easily buy alcohol in almost
half of the stores tested with compliance checks.
Citizens united to work for better enforcement of local laws
to stop minors from having easy access to alcohol. Calling
themselves the Action on Alcohol and Teens, the original group of
seven broadened its network by speaking to civic groups, setting up
an e-mail action alert, starting a newsletter, and reaching out to
other already existing prevention groups. Efforts
resulted in a St. Paul City Council mandate to conduct yearly
compliance checks for all St. Paul liquor establishments and a
decision to prosecute parents and others over age 21 who illegally
give alcohol to kids. 35 |
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Putting the mayor on the team gets
results In Pottsville, Pennsylvania, an anti-underage
drinking group received funds from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control
Board to develop a community coalition. The
coalition, the Pottsville Partnership for Youth Alcohol Prevention,
in turn asked the mayor to chair its steering committee. With
the mayor on the team, the partnership passed a city ordinance
requiring all alcohol licensees in Pottsville to pass an alcohol
server training course. (In Pennsylvania, the State
Liquor Control Board offers businesses free training and technical
assistance.) Eighty percent of the licensees completed the training
in the first three months after the ordinance was passed. Responding
positively to the training, participants also asked for more help
with other responsibilities, such as checking IDs. 36 |
Deter Third-Party Sales – Surveys suggest that many minors get alcohol from
adults of legal age who buy it for them. 37 Such “third-party sales” are illegal in
most States.
In those States, adults who buy alcohol for underaged persons can
be warned, cited, or arrested by the police. Merchants can
also inform their customers about criminal and civil liabilities for
providing alcohol to individuals under the age of 21.
For a discussion of this and other methods to deter
third party sales, see http://www.udetc.org/documents/Reducing%203rd%20Party.pdf
Remove Alcohol Promotions That Appeal to Children
– Children see and hear positive messages about
alcohol every day. Billboard ads and store promotions for
alcoholic beverages often display attractive young people and cute cartoon
characters.
Many products, from T-shirts to cookie jars, feature alcohol
beverage logos.
Some communities can ask billboard companies and local merchants to
stop alcohol promotions and remove tie-in products that target
children.