Posted on April 7, 2010

Alcohol Awareness Month has arrived and policy makers are encouraging parents to prevent underage drinking. In a recent Read Media post, State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo advised parents to learn the facts about alcohol and how to prevent the early onset of alcoholism.

"Teens who start drinking alcohol at a younger age are at a much greater risk for developing an alcohol problem as an adult, said Commissioner Carpenter-Palumbo, in Read Media.

"Parents remain the No. 1 influence in their child’s life. By knowing the facts about alcohol, setting clear "no-use" rules, establishing an open and honest relationship, and communicating to their child, they can help teens make the right decision not to drink and prevent alcoholism from developing."

The dominant drug problem for youth is still alcohol. In fact, the OASAS 2008 Youth Development Survey of 92,000 students found that children start drinking alcohol as early as 13 years old. One third of all youth have tried alcohol; half of high school seniors admitted to drinking alcohol in the past 30 days; and 31 percent of seniors reported at least one binge drinking episode during the previous two weeks.

The majority of young people today are exposed to hundreds of alcohol advertisements, images and media messages by the time they are teenagers. Contributing to the problem is the fact that alcohol use in the media is portrayed as fun, sexy and the “grown up” thing to do.

This growing problem among today’s youth is about more than simply being illegal. The American Medical Association highlights that damage to the brain from alcohol during adolescence can be long-term and irreversible. Short-term or moderate drinking impairs learning and memory and youths only need to drink half as much as adults to suffer negative effects.