Underage drinking is community, family issue
Before they reach age 12 most Idaho children have seen or heard hundreds of advertising messages promoting the use of alcohol. By age 18 nearly half will be drinking, at least occasionally, and one in five will be engaging in binge drinking.
Despite the efforts of parents, schools, police, courts, community organizations and state agencies, Idaho has a huge underage drinking problem. One reason is that children and adults get too little information, including results of recent research.
• Children who drink before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent. The addiction rate is also higher for those starting at 18, 19 or 20 rather than 21.
• Much brain development occurs between the pre-teen years and age 21. Use of alcohol impairs critical "brain wiring" affecting memory, learning ability, decision-making, judgment and impulse control. Early drinkers may never reach their full potential.
• Underage drinkers are more likely to use illicit drugs. A survey showed that children drinking before 15 were 22 times more likely to use marijuana and 50 times more likely to use cocaine.
• Alcohol is a major killer of youth, contributing to auto crashes, drowning and suicide. Last year 28 Idaho children and young adults died in crashes with young drinking drivers. Thirty percent of twelfth graders had ridden with a drinking driver in the past month.
• Nationally, binge drinking kills as many young people as all other drugs combined. Children can consume lethal amounts of alcohol without passing out.
• Alcohol use contributes to school dropouts, teen pregnancy and juvenile crime. Victims include infants damaged by fetal alcohol syndrome.
A 2005 study put the annual cost of underage drinking in Idaho at $228 million. Add to that millions spent on law enforcement, courts, jails, prisons and health care related to alcohol abuse by adults who started drinking before age 21.
What can be done?
Parents are the first line of defense. Studies show that parents have the greatest influence on the behavior of adolescents. Non-drinking teens give parental disapproval as the number one reason they choose not to use alcohol.
Prevention literature offers strategies: Set clear rules, have daily positive communication and interaction, know where children are and who they are with, ensure that their social settings are alcohol free. Eat dinner together. Find ways to check on kids when no adults are at home.
Underage drinking is a community as well as a family issue. Civic organizations and government leaders can promote prevention. Teens can provide leadership. Community coalitions can work with schools, law enforcement and courts.
(Ken Robison is an Idaho Safe and Drug Free Schools advisory board member and a former legislator. He can be reached at kenneth.robison@worldnet.att.net. You can find information on the web from Idaho Safe and Drug Free Schools, the Boise RADAR center, Stop Alcohol Abuse, Treasure Valley Drug/Alcohol Coalition, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Nancy Lopez has information on prevention grants for community coalitions. She can be reached at lopezn@dhw.idaho.gov.)