Underage Alcohol Prevention and Programs

There are many people in this world that are trying to do many things to help with the fight against underage drinking. There are many programs out in our society that may help this us turn the fight against underage drinking and there are some prevention steps that parents are able to take and help their children with this issue. As I mentioned before Alcohol is a major public health problem and is becoming more of an epidemic. Alcohol is the mostly commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States more than any other illicit drugs and tobacco (http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm). Underage drinkers consume more drinks than adult drinkers on average (http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm).

 In order to help in reducing underage drinking it’s going to take a lot of effort from different places. Reducing the underage drinking statics is going to require community based efforts to help in monitoring the activities of youth and decrease youth access to alcohol (http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm). There have been many suggestions from the Surgeon General and the Institute of Medicine which have suggested actions on national, state, and local levels which would permit the enforcement of minimum legal drinking age laws, national media campaigns targeting youth and adults, increasing alcohol excise taxes, reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising, and the development of comprehensive community-based programs (http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm).  Completing all these tasks that our researchers and study suggests is not going to make all the problems of underage drinking go away, but in fact it may help reduce our numbers or even prevent it in the long run.

Underage drinking promotes hype and exaggeration which actually is an important part of the problem (http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/UnderageDrinking.html). Promoting the problem may make part of an impact on our society, but only in a positive way showing it through statistics or issues dealing this matter. If it shown in a negative way through drinking statistics or other issues dealing with this matter it may have a negative impact on drinking behaviors by contributing to a "reign of error” to others that might be looking at these issues (http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/UnderageDrinking.html). Making a big deal on the amount of alcohol abuse around tends to create a self-fulfilling prophesy. The more youth believe heavy drinking is occurring, the more heavily they tend to drink in order to keep up with their peers to try and fit in (http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/UnderageDrinking.html). The suggestion is that research has demonstrated that reducing misperceptions of alcohol abuse is an effective way to reduce actual abuse among adolescents (http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/UnderageDrinking.html).  Being able to reduce the statistics of underage drinking is going to help us as a society beable to help our youth. The number one goal of society is safety and having underage drinking being an epidemic does not help people in our society feel safe



Educating our youth on the risks and consequences of underage drinking could help in reducing and preventing the use of alcohol. Being able to locate personal factors such as childhood behavior problems or a family history of alcohol use disorders can help in identifying the high risk youth as potential users of underage drinking and how or when to intervene (http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm). Knowing this type of information could show mentors and interns and such which students might need the most help out of the student body, but they will also focus on the student body as a whole. Many of the research based interventions from before target the child’s most relevant behavior such as their ability to react to peer pressure to engage in drinking, as well as their knowledge, attitudes, and intentions regarding the use of alcohol (http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm). Family factors, such as parent–child relationships, discipline methods, communication, monitoring and supervision, and parental involvement, also exert a significant influence on youthful alcohol use (http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm). Having the children being able to connect with certain adults around them may help, but having them connect with their parents is the main prevention of underage drinking. I remember having many talks with my mother and her using some of my relatives as examples which would help me think before I acted. If many parents acted like my mother did which she talked to me aboutalcohol abuse our society might be a little different. Not all parents have the strong bond that my mother and I have, but they could try. The bond I share with my mother is due to a program designed to help prevent underage drinking which I will list below.

   

Most prevention programs include social norms education, which use survey data to counter students’ misperceptions of their peers drinking practices and attitudes about alcohol (http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm).  Some school–based programs are aimed at adolescents who have already begun drinking. Preliminary research also has found promise in high school–based motivational programs that encourage self–change in problem drinkers (http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm). There are many programs that help with the fight of underage drinking and I am going to talk about the few programs that have helped me reach out to others throughout high school and eventually will help me in my future career which I want to work with at risk youth and try to change their lives.

The one program that has helped me bond on a level I never knew existed is the every fifteen minutes program. “This program is an event designed to dramatically instill teenagers with the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking alcohol and also texting while driving. This powerful program will challenge students to think about drinking, texting while driving, personal safety, and the responsibility of making mature decisions when lives are involved.  During the first day events the “Grim Reaper” calls students who have been selected from the student body every 15 minutes. A police officer will immediately enter the classroom to read an obituary which has been written by the "dead" student's parent(s) - explaining the circumstances of their classmate's demise and the contributions the student has made to the school and the community. A few minutes later, the student will return to class as the "living dead," complete with white face make-up, a coroner's tag, and a black Every 15 Minutes T-shirt. From that point on "victims" will not speak or interact with other students for the remainder of the school day. Simultaneously, uniformed officers will make mock death notifications to the parents of these children at their home, place of employment or business. After lunch, a simulated traffic collision will be viewable on the school grounds. Rescue workers will treat injured student participants. These students will experience firsthand, the sensations of being involved in a tragic, alcohol-related and texting while driving collision. The coroner will handle fatalities on the scene, while the injured students will be extricated by the jaws-of-life manned by Fire-Fighters and Paramedics. Police Officers will investigate, arrest, and book the student "drunk driver". Student participants will continue their experience by an actual trip to the morgue, the hospital emergency room, and to the police department jail for the purpose of being booked for "drunk driving". At the end of the day, those students who participated in the staged accident as well as those who were made-up as the "living dead" will be transported to a local hotel for an overnight student retreat. The retreat will simulate the separation from friends and family. A support staff of counselors and police officers will facilitate the retreat. During the most powerful program of the retreat, the students will be taken through an audio - visualization of their own death. Then each student will write a letter to his or her parents and parents will also be asked to write similar letters to their children. These letters will be shared the following day when students and parents will be reunited at a school assembly. The assembly will be hosted by an Officer (Project Coordinator), who will guide the audience through the devastating effects of losing a loved one due to a bad choice. Speakers will include students who will read letters to their parents, police officers, and hospital personnel who shared their emotional trauma of dealing with kids killed in traffic crashes. Parents will share their personal reflections of their involvement in this program. We will also have a powerful speaker who actually lost a child to a drunk driver, or as the result of driving while under the influence or texting while driving. The focus of the assembly stresses that the decision to consume alcohol can affect many more people than just the one who drinks and the dangers of texting while driving. This very emotional and heart-wrenching event will illustrate to students the potentially dangerous consequences of their use of alcohol and texting while driving, regardless of how casual they believe their use is” (http://www.every15minutes.com/aboutus). This program has brought me and my entire family closer and we have created a bond that is unbreakable especially my bond with my father and mother I have never once thought about drinking and driving and to this day always think about my actions before I do something. I would never want to leave such heartache and sorrow on my loved ones as in the way it would happen if something like this event were to take place.

  

Another program that I was very active in during high school is the decoying with the Alcohol and Beverage Control Agency. I would go into liquor stores and other places that alcohol was sold and attempt to buy alcohol when I was way under the age of 21 which I did because in 1997 the Supreme Court ruled that minor decoys could be used by law enforcement to check whether stores were selling alcohol to minors (persons under age 21) (http://www.abc.ca.gov/programs/shoulder_tap.html).  It was during this time that I realized that many people in our society are attempting to make a difference in our epidemic of underage drinking. I also acted in shoulder taps with this agency which got a lot of people in terrible. “The Decoy Shoulder Tap Program is a newly-created enforcement program that ABC and local law enforcement agencies use to detect and deter shoulder tap activity. During the program, a minor decoy, under the direct supervision of law enforcement officers, solicits adults outside ABC licensed stores to buy the minor decoy alcohol. Any person seen furnishing alcohol to the minor decoy is arrested (either cited or booked) for furnishing alcohol to a minor (a violation of Section 25658(a) Business and Professions Code)” (http://www.abc.ca.gov/programs/shoulder_tap.html). This program has changed my life as well because it has showed me what I want to do when I get into my career which is helping at risk youth and trying to make a difference in our society.

Casey’s Pledge is a program that has truly touched my heart and to this day will always hold a place in my heart along with my other two programs. “Casey's Pledge encourages youth to live a healthy lifestyle by committing their lives to staying alcohol free or never drinking and driving, and never getting into a car with a drinking driver. Casey's Pledge was designed to provide young people with a toolkit of resources and project ideas to implement the project in schools, and communities at large” this programs was enacted in memory of the death of Casey Leanne Goodwin (http://wwww.fridaynightlive.org/programas/programs_underageprev.htm).  This program we did during dances, prom, and sporting events. My last senior sports events were always senior night and had the game dedicated especially to Casey. This program I have seen touch many hearts at my school a lot of people were changed by this program once they understood the story behind it and learned about Casey’s mother and how hard she is trying to fight underage drinking and drinking and driving. Lynn Goodwin who is the mother of Casey Goodwin is a very moving and motivational speaker so she is able to touch many hearts and let us know the emotions and things behind it all.

One of the most life changing experiences for me was the Every 15 Minutes program that I participated in and also being active with the ABC agency also helped me make the choices I have made today. Having programs such as these and others that I know of really do make a difference in individual’s life. All that a person needs to do is want to make a difference like myself and help youth in their community. Not all of the programs are going to beg for youth to act in it, but I do know from personal experience that once a person is active friends behind join and that is how at my alma matter Friday Night Live was born from myself and others following.  I know that there are many other programs in our society fighting against drinking and driving and underage drinking. Some of these programs are: MADD, SADD, Trace, Friday Night Live, Club live, Mentoring programs, Trace and so many more. I will continue throughout my life to make a difference in youth’s lives. I did a lot of work in high school and only plan to do more to try and better our society. If we as a society help in the fight against underage drinking there is no telling what is possible in our future!

References:

http://www.abc.ca.gov/programs/shoulder_tap.html

http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm

http://www.every15minutes.com/aboutus

http://wwww.fridaynightlive.org/programas/programs_underageprev.htm

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/UnderageDrinking.html

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa59.htm