It’s National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week!
2018 is underway and we hope you are enjoying all that a new year brings – resolutions, clean slates, reflection, opportunity, and more.
As we kick off the year, instead of focusing solely on what we want to change, let’s remember to give ourselves some credit and recognize the things we’ve been doing well and doing often, like keeping our kids healthy and safe.
Monday, January 22 marks the start of National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week – an excellent opportunity to continue the conversation about underage drinking with your kids and students. Use these five facts to guide you:
FACT 1: 77 percent of 8th graders report they have never consumed alcohol.
FACT 2: 85 percent of 8th graders disapprove of binge drinking.
FACT 3: Since 1992, the number of 8th graders who say it is “fairly easy” or “very easy” for them to get alcohol has declined 30%.
FACT 4: Parents have been the strongest influence on their teens’ decisions about alcohol for more than 25 years.
FACT 5: 3.4 million fewer American youth reported they consumed alcohol in the past 30 days in 2016 than in 2007.
These numbers should be encouraging to you that every time you talk to your kids about saying YES to a healthy lifestyle and NO to underage drinking it is making a difference.
With plenty of myths and misconceptions about alcohol and the prevalence of underage drinking, it’s important for you and your kids to recognize the facts. To take the conversation a step further, use our lesson on the medulla this week, which includes exercises on accessing appropriate resources, or check out our page for parents.
Underage drinking is down, and conversations are up – let’s continue the progress.
-The Ask, Listen, Learn Team