Parents

A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
This comprehensive report summarizes the results and recommendations of the 3-year NIAAA Task Force on College Drinking. The Task Force was comprised of college and university presidents, researchers specializing in college alcohol use, and selected students. The report contains information on the consequences of excessive and underage college drinking, recommendations for possible interventions, and suggested areas for future research.

A Family Guide to Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy & Drug Free 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Some parents believe that it’s safer for their teens to drink at home than to drink anywhere else. Other adults, including some parents, mistakenly think that underage drinking is part of growing up. They may view it as a rite of passage—one that often follows a teen’s high school graduation instead of his 21st birthday. But new social host liability laws in States across the country are changing parents’ minds as the responsibility for underage drinking moves from teens who consume alcohol to parents who provide it to teens.The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have designed this guide to assist parents in talking with thier teens about these issues.

A Minute of Health with CDC: Alcohol Ads Sway Teens? (Podcast) 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
There is a correlation between the amount of exposure to alcohol advertising and underage drinking. Parents should assume their teens are exposed to alcohol ads, both print and television, and should make it a point to remind them about the dangers of drinking.

Community How To Guides On Underage Drinking 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
These Community How To Guides address fundamental components of planning and implementing a comprehensive underage drinking prevention program. The guides are designed to be brief, easy to read, and easy to use. Each guide contains a resource section to assist readers in obtaining additional and detailed information about the topics covered in that guide. The appendices include useful tools for each topic area that provide coalitions and organizations with a jump-start in their planning and implementation activities.

Life’s First Great Crossroad: Tweens Make Choices That Affect Their Lives Forever 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
We are all too familiar with today’s portrayal of teenagers—rebellious, difficult, and driven by peer pressure. However, what we don’t see is that kids often start making good or bad choices before their teen years. Often referred to as the tween years, children between 9–13 years of age (grades 4–8) are straddling the fence between childhood and choice. On the one hand, they are beginning to branch out in their lives, looking to new horizons and taking on new responsibilities. Yet, as children, they still look to their parents for guidance about what is right and what is wrong; they still longingly seek approval and support from the adults who surround them. Tweens are facing life’s first great crossroad: the decisions they make today will last a lifetime. If we reach them now, we can help them grow into healthier adults.

Llamado a la acción del Cirujano General para prevenir y reducir el consumo de alcohol por menores de edad: Lo que significa para usted—Guía de acción para las familias 
Office of the Surgeon General
This Spanish-language guide, based on The Surgeon General’s Call to Action, gives families the knowledge and tools to take action against underage drinking. It explains why underage alcohol use is a problem and suggests ways that families can end underage alcohol use in the home, in the community, and across the country.

Make A Difference: Talk to Your Child About Alcohol 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
This guide is geared to parents and guardians of young people ages 10 to 14. Keep in mind that the suggestions offered in the guide are just that—suggestions. Trust your instincts. Choose ideas you are comfortable with, and use your own style in carrying out the approaches you find useful. Your child looks to you for guidance and support in making life decisions—including the decision not to use alcohol.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet  
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This fact sheet gives statistics about teenagers who drive and facts on driving under the influence.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Initiative on Underage Drinking 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
This initiative is an undertaking borne of the convergence of recent scientific advances and increased public concern about the seriousness of this longstanding societal problem.

Parents—Help Your Teens Party Right at Graduation 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Simple, important precautionary measures such as prom-planning involvement and open communication with your child and student can make a difference for this memorable occasion. For information on how to “Help Your Teens Party Right at Graduation,” view this flyer.

PREVENTION Alert: Prevention Works! (Vol. 3, No. 4, November 19, 1999)  
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The influential adults in a youth’s life are an important target for prevention efforts. In 1996, research conducted by Wagenaar and colleagues at the University of Minnesota found that the community and social environments play important roles in facilitating underage drinking. Therefore, program managers and school administrators must develop strategies that extend beyond the youth population itself.

SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies (OAS) Web site on Underage Drinking 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
SAMHSA's OAS collects and reports on national and State data to assist policymakers, treatment providers and patients make informed decisions regarding the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders. This specific site on underage drinking includes reports on underage drinking, detailed tables on underage and legal age drinking, SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, current rates of underage drinking by race/ethnicity, region, and size of metropolitan area, and underage drinking trends by State and region.

Sober Truth On Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act 
U.S. Congress
This Act states that the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, with input and collaboration from other appropriate Federal agencies, States; Indian tribes; territories; and public health, consumer, and alcohol beverage industry groups, annually issue a `report card' to accurately rate the performance of each State in enacting, enforcing, and creating laws, regulations, and programs to prevent or reduce underage drinking. The report card shall include ratings on outcome measures for categories related to the prevalence of underage drinking in each State.

Start Talking Before They Start Drinking: A Family Guide 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Start Talking Before They Start Drinking: A Family Guide provides facts and practical advice on how to talk with your children about underage drinking. This brochure incorporates the latest information from the Call to Action, and will give you the knowledge and tools you need to take action against underage drinking.

The FACTS About Youth & Alcohol 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
This one-page fact sheet outlines information on the prevalence and consequences of teen alcohol use.

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking: What It Means to You―A Guide to Action for Families 
Office of the Surgeon General
This guide gives you the knowledge and tools you need to take action against underage drinking. It tells you about underage alcohol use and the damage it can do. And, it suggests ways you can end underage drinking in your home, family, community, and across the country.

TheAntiDrug.com  
Office of National Drug Control Policy
TheAntiDrug.com was created by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to equip parents and other adult caregivers with the tools they need to raise drug-free kids. Working with the Nation's leading experts in the fields of parenting and substance abuse prevention, TheAntiDrug.com serves as a drug prevention information center and a supportive community where parents can interact and learn from each other. The site provides parents and other adult caregivers with access to helpful articles and advice from experts in the fields of parenting and substance abuse prevention; science-based drug prevention information, news, and studies; support from other parents striving to keep their children drug-free; and teen perspectives.

Too Smart To Start Implementation Guide 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The materials contained in this guide are designed to help you plan, develop, promote, and implement a local initiative to educate 9- to 13-year-olds and their parents about the harms of underage alcohol use and to support parents and caregivers as they participate in their children’s activities.