That’s what a recent nationwide poll of teens says about underage youth and alcohol use. The poll, conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA), shows two out of three teens reporting they get alcohol from their homes without their parents’ knowledge. Perhaps more disturbing, one-third said that it is also easy to obtain alcohol from their own parents knowingly—a figure that jumps to 40% when the alcohol source is a friend’s parent. Although laws and policies attempt to keep kids safe from the dangers of alcohol use, they are ineffective when legal-age buyers continue to supply liquor to underage drinkers. Both parents who buy alcohol for underage youth and those who do not protect liquor in their homes are a source for teenage drinking supplies.

In the same poll, among the adults that were questioned, 26 percent of parents of underage youth agree that teens should be able to drink at home with their parents. In fact, it is fairly common to hear parents comment that they allow teens to drink in their home so that they won’t drink someplace else. While this may seem logical, in fact, the message that kids hear is that drinking is no big deal. When we say, “We don’t want you to drink but, if you do, do it safely” we send a mixed message. That mixed message in combination with slick and persuasive promotion from the alcohol industry puts a lot of pressure on teens. The combination of an attractive portrayal of alcohol and the ease of obtaining it creates a dangerous situation for our youth.

Although many adults see drinking as a rite of passage, statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism paint a different picture. For example, underage drinking is the leading cause of death among youth. Forty percent of children who start drinking before the age of 15 will become alcoholics at some point in their lives. (Almost 42% pf ninth grade students report having consumed alcohol before 13 years of age.) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that alcohol is linked to two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens. An AMA report reveals the long-term brain damage that drinking does to teen brains.

If that’s the picture of teen alcohol use nationally, what about here in Northfield? The Minnesota Student Survey, given every three years to 6th, 9th and 12th grade students, provides with a local insight. For Northfield youth who reported using alcohol use in the past 30 days, about 30% of ninth graders and 10% of twelfth grades reported taking it from home. More than 40% of 9th grade girls said they got alcohol from family members. Large numbers of both 9th and 12th grade students said they got alcohol from their friends—43% of 9th graders and 68% of 12th grades.

What can parents (and other caring adults) do? Although the pressures for teens to drink and for parents to let them drink are strong, there are still plenty of things adults can do to reduce the risk of youth drinking. Here are some examples:

• Build and maintain a loving relationship with your child….and make it easy for your teen to talk to you. Be clear about expectations or rule and consequences.
• Talk with your child about the dangers of alcohol use; but also talk about your values and your concerns.
• Know where you child is and who your child is with; join with other parents in making common policies about youth drinking. Peer pressure can work for parents, too.
• Follow through with the consequences you have set if rules are broken.
• Set good examples with your own use of alcohol; show children that having fun does not require alcohol use.

It might be harder for today’s teens to get into an R-rated movie than to obtain alcohol. Do your part to keep your child or someone else’s child safe from the dangers of alcohol. Don’t intentionally….or unintentionally….send the message that teen alcohol use is acceptable.