Communities and Underage Drinking

The attitudes and actions of a community play a critical role in the behavior and development of teens. Lax attitudes and actions regarding underage drinking fosters an environment of acceptance and dangerous teen drinking behaviors.  

When communities mobilize to take action to discourage teen drinking, they help create a healthier environment for its citizens. By banning together to reduce youth access to alcohol, communities send a strong message that underage drinking is not tolerated.

An active and engaged community acts as a catalyst to change community norms surrounding underage drinking to become a community that will not tolerate underage drinking. When working to implement effective, long-term strategies, communities begin to change the attitudes and behaviors of those who see teen drinking as a “rite of passage”.

It takes everyone in the community to make change happen. All of us can and should help change attitudes about teen drinking and help replace environments that enable underage alcohol use with environments that will not tolerate it.

While we know changing how people think isn’t easy, it’s imperative we involve the entire community in changing attitudes, perceptions and behaviors regarding underage drinking. Drinking is legal for adults. That’s why some people think drinking is a rite of passage for youth. Many young people think drinking is a way for them to feel more grown-up. People of all ages forget that underage drinking is illegal and dangerous.

Communities should come together to encourage a new attitude about underage drinking. A community that opposes underage drinking can help change how people think and act. But it takes time. So it’s important to keep sending the message that the community will not tolerate underage drinking. Together, communities can support teen decisions NOT to drink.

Get Organized

• Work on an underage drinking coalition as a community health and safety problem that everyone can solve together.
• Organize groups to change community thinking about underage alcohol use.
• Support the message that underage drinking is not tolerated.
• Work with sponsors of community events to craft policies and procedures to ensure those under 21 do not have access to alcohol.

Share Knowledge

• Ensure your community has social host laws on the books to make sure adults don’t give alcohol to youth and publicize the penalties. This includes age checks for people buying alcohol, including on the Internet.
• Teach people about the latest research on underage alcohol use. Include information about the dangers of youth alcohol use for teens and others. An informed public is key to ending underage drinking.
• Teach young people about the dangers of underage alcohol use and the health and legal consequences of underage drinking. Fully support programs that help teens already involved with drinking.
• Make sure parents have the tools to regularly talk with teens about alcohol use. Parents need to bond with their children, set boundaries and monitor their activities.

Change the Teen Scene

• Create friendly, alcohol-free places where teens can gather.
• Create programs, including volunteer work, where young people can grow, explore their options, succeed, and feel good about themselves without alcohol.
• Help teens realize that, like “doing drugs” or smoking, underage drinking is unhealthy and can drastically impact their lives.
• Let teens involved with underage drinking know that it’s okay to ask for and get help.
• Make sure teens know that most teens do not drink alcohol.

Take Action

• Make sure laws and ordinances are in place such as social host laws to eliminate underage drinking.
• Focus as much community attention on underage drinking as on tobacco and drug use.
• Work with state, tribal and local law enforcement groups to reduce underage drinking.
• Make it easier for young people who are involved with or at risk for underage drinking to get help.
• Get the word out about underage drinking laws. The law that makes drinking under age 21 illegal is only one of them. Other laws forbid selling or giving alcohol to youth. Others make it against the law to drink and drive. Work to help ensure these laws are always highly publicized and routinely enforced.
• Involve many partners in your underage drinking prevention efforts such as law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, treatment facilities, parents, educators and businesses to build a community coalition.
• Support increased enforcement of underage drinking laws such as social host, compliance checks, minor in possessions and zero tolerance laws.
• Report adults and businesses that provide alcohol to those under 21.

Some information provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking: A Guide to Action for Families. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 2007.