Safe Spring: Practical Underage Drinking Prevention Strategies

Spring is in the air! Spring break, prom, and graduation soon follow. Daylight is long, and young people are spending more time outdoors, out of school, and away from adult supervision. Parents and other caring adults need to be aware of what youth are doing and be prepared to offer safe alternatives. Encourage families and friends to talk to their children about underage drinking. Your Town Hall Meeting (THM) can prompt parents to talk with youth now and help prevent serious problems later. A resource that parents and families can use is Start Talking Before They Start Drinking (PDF 1.34 MB), a guide that provides facts and practical advice on how to talk to children about underage drinking.

Spring is a great time for road trips, but it’s never a good time to drive under the influence. More than 7 percent of 16- or 17-year-olds reported driving under the influence in the past year.

Driving after drinking can result in fatal car crashes. According to The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking (PDF 1.41 MB), about 5,000 people under age 21 die from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking, and about 1,900 of the deaths involve motor vehicle crashes. Young people may not know that critical driving and decisionmaking skills are affected long before the obvious physical signs of intoxication are visible. Drivers, passengers, and others are all at risk when someone who’s been drinking gets behind the wheel.