Parental influence is the most important factor in
helping keep teens safe. As part of Alcohol Awareness Month, April 21, PowerTalk 21® day was launched in 2010. This is the national day for
parents to start talking with their kids about alcohol.
Facts About Underage Drinking and the 21 Minimum
Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) Law:
- Research indicates that when the minimum legal drinking age
is 21, people under age 21 drink less overall and continue to do so through
their early twenties. When the drinking age has been lowered, injury and death
rates significantly increase.
- By the end of 2005, the 21 minimum drinking age law had
saved nearly 25,000 American lives. In fact, the law saves approximately 1,000
lives a year.
- In 2005, 2,035 youth ages 15 to 20 were killed in alcohol
related traffic crashes, translating to 33 percent of all traffic fatalities in
that age group.
- According to a 2008 Nationwide Insurance survey, 72 percent
of adults think lowering the drinking age will make alcohol more accessible to
those under the age of 21, and nearly half believe it would increase binge
drinking among teens.
- Traffic crashes are the number one killer of teens and 28
percent of fatal traffic crashes involving teen drivers are alcohol
related.
- Alcohol is the number one youth drug problem in America and
more young people die from alcohol related incidents than from all other illicit
drugs combined.
- Parents are the most common supplier of alcohol to those
under 21 and parents are the primary influencer of teens.
- While a myth exists that European teens have less alcohol
related problems than American teens, even though they start drinking earlier,
studies have found that this is not the case. In most European countries, young
people have higher intoxication rates than their U.S. counterparts, and a
greater percentage of young people in a majority of European countries report
binge drinking at higher rates than U.S. youths.
- Underage drinking costs American taxpayers approximately
$61.9 billion annually.
- A person’s brain does not stop developing until his or her
early to mid 20's. During this development, alcohol negatively affects all parts
of the brain, including coordination, motional control, thinking, decision
making, hand eye movement, speech and memory.
In preparation for PowerTalk21, parents can get tips and conversation starters through the MADD website
- parents can download the parent handbook and find a free 30-minute parent
workshop at www.madd.org/powertalk21
If you have further questions or comments please email ahendrix@tompkins-co.org Please forward this monthly message on to your networks. Thanks for all
you do!
Community Coalition for Healthy Youth
320 W. State/MLK Jr. Street
Ithaca NY 14850