Every Day 7,000 Children Under Age 16 Try Their First Alcoholic Beverage
Taken from Leadership Foundation To Keep Children Alcohol Free
June 10, 2008
In fifth grade, she begins sipping beer from a friend's can.
FACT 40 % of persons who begin drinking before age 15 will become alcohol dependent at some point in their lives.
Then, someone offers her an "alcopop." It's a malt beverage, but it's so sweet she can't even tell it's alcohol. In eighth grade, she gets drunk several times.
FACT Approximately one-third of teen girls surveyed have tried alcopops.
In ninth grade, she binge drinks at weekend parties.
FACT Girls age 12 to 16 who are current drinkers are four times more likely than their non-drinking peers to suffer from depression.
Alcohol puts her at risk. She forgets part of an evening - who she was with, and what happened. The drinking makes depression, suicide and early pregnancy more likely for her than for girls who don't drink. Alcohol impedes her learning. Interferes with her development. Limits her potential.
FACT In a survey of 18- to 24-year-old current drinkers who failed to complete high school, nearly two-thirds had begun to drink before age 16.
When children drink, America loses. According to the Institute of Medicine, childhood drinking costs our nation $52 billion each year. The cost to our families and communities is incalculable.
FACT In 2004, 1.6 million youth age 12 to 17 needed treatment for alcohol abuse or dependence - only 8.0% received any treatment.
Why are so many adults ignoring it when children drink? Why has alcohol use remained steady, when illicit drug and tobacco use are declining? Why does alcohol continue to shape the lives and diminish the futures of so many of our nation's children? As a society, we have closed our eyes to the problem. Our nation is putting much less money into prevention, awareness raising programs and treatment of childhood drinking than of illegal drugs and tobacco. One reason may be that many people dismiss childhood drinking as a "rite of passage." It isn't. It's time to recognize childhood drinking as the serious public health issue it is, and to make a real commitment to stopping it.
FACT More than one in three ninth-grade students report having consumed alcohol before age 13, while fewer than one in five smoked cigarettes and one in ten used marijuana.
Too many parents breathe a sigh of relief if they learn that their son or daughter was "just drinking." They mistakenly believe that alcohol is safer than other drugs. It isn't. Alcohol is a powerful drug that impairs memory and verbal skills, alters perception, and can jeopardize children's health and safety. Alcohol carries second-hand effects. Children who drink put others at risk as well as themselves.
FACT Alcohol is a leading contributor to unintentional injuries, which are the leading cause of death for young people.
Parents who do talk to their children about the dangers of drinking, and monitor their whereabouts, often find their efforts undermined by society's attitudes, even though alcohol consumption is illegal for anyone under 21. Messages glamorizing alcohol are everywhere. Kids pick up on these messages, which suggest that alcohol makes you the life of the party, makes life more fun, and helps you be cool, desirable, even sexy. Peer pressure to drink is intense. It's time to counter the harmful influences and challenge the attitudes that fuel our nation's childhood drinking crisis. It's time to enlist policy makers at the highest level in efforts to meet this challenge.
FACT In the U.S. alone, alcohol kills more kids than all illegal drugs combined.
