Friday, December 12, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Positive Community Norms Project Seeps Into The Community with On The Road Again Days
The Healthy Youth Community Coalition shares information about our upcoming positive community norms project by sharing brochures on the project and coalition, handing out footballs with the message "Most SSP Students Do Not Drink Alcohol" and sharing posters with the community at large.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
CADCA News and Information
August 28, 2008 Understanding the Impact of Teen Alcohol Use
Research from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that there are about 11 million people between the ages of 12 and 20 who drank alcohol in the past month, and about 19 percent of underage drinkers were binge drinkers.
In an interview with CADCA´s Coalitions Online, Patricia Powell, Ph.D., Chief of the Science Policy Branch for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and Vivian Faden, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the NIAAA´s Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, explain the effects of alcohol use among teens and the role that parents and communities play in addressing underage drinking.
Q: How do drinking patterns differ for youth versus adults?
A: Young people drink less frequently than adults but when they drink they tend to drink more per occasion. While adult drinkers 26 and older consume on average 2-3 drinks per occasion nine times per month, young people aged 12-20 drink on average 5 drinks per occasion six times a month.
Q: Has there been any good news in the area of youth drinking?
A: We’ve had some positive results with high school kids. For example, there are more high school students who don’t drink now than previously. Unfortunately, those who do drink, often drink heavily.
Q: How important is the role of parents in preventing youth drinking?
A: Parents play a very important role. Parents need to understand that it’s not sufficient to have a single conversation about alcohol use with their children; rather it is necessary to have an ongoing dialogue about it. These conversations should begin early and parents should clearly express their expectations about their children’s behavior. Parents need to know what their children are doing and with whom. Research shows that the way parents learn about what their children are doing matters; gaining information from conversations with youth rather than from surveillance is recommended. Finally, parents need to model responsible drinking for their children.
Q: What’s your advice to community organizations who are working to prevent underage drinking?
A: An important goal is to get as many people in the community on board as possible because youth should hear the same message from multiple sources. One way to impact change is to create an environment that makes it easier for kids to choose not to drink. We need to create an environment where doing social activities that don’t involve alcohol are considered fun. That’s the real challenge—to change the culture around underage drinking so that drinking is no longer such a big part of growing up in America for so many young people. Hopefully over time, with enough people working on the issue, that will happen.
Q: What has been one of the most important developments in the area of understanding youth drinking?
A:The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking discusses underage drinking within the context of overall adolescent development. This developmental framework will help us better understand why alcohol is so appealing to young people and to more fully appreciate the risks it poses. This interview is part of an ongoing editorial series in Coalitions Online with experts from the NIAAA. For more information on the NIAAA’s research, visit their Web site on underage drinking.
Research from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that there are about 11 million people between the ages of 12 and 20 who drank alcohol in the past month, and about 19 percent of underage drinkers were binge drinkers.
In an interview with CADCA´s Coalitions Online, Patricia Powell, Ph.D., Chief of the Science Policy Branch for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and Vivian Faden, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the NIAAA´s Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, explain the effects of alcohol use among teens and the role that parents and communities play in addressing underage drinking.
Q: How do drinking patterns differ for youth versus adults?
A: Young people drink less frequently than adults but when they drink they tend to drink more per occasion. While adult drinkers 26 and older consume on average 2-3 drinks per occasion nine times per month, young people aged 12-20 drink on average 5 drinks per occasion six times a month.
Q: Has there been any good news in the area of youth drinking?
A: We’ve had some positive results with high school kids. For example, there are more high school students who don’t drink now than previously. Unfortunately, those who do drink, often drink heavily.
Q: How important is the role of parents in preventing youth drinking?
A: Parents play a very important role. Parents need to understand that it’s not sufficient to have a single conversation about alcohol use with their children; rather it is necessary to have an ongoing dialogue about it. These conversations should begin early and parents should clearly express their expectations about their children’s behavior. Parents need to know what their children are doing and with whom. Research shows that the way parents learn about what their children are doing matters; gaining information from conversations with youth rather than from surveillance is recommended. Finally, parents need to model responsible drinking for their children.
Q: What’s your advice to community organizations who are working to prevent underage drinking?
A: An important goal is to get as many people in the community on board as possible because youth should hear the same message from multiple sources. One way to impact change is to create an environment that makes it easier for kids to choose not to drink. We need to create an environment where doing social activities that don’t involve alcohol are considered fun. That’s the real challenge—to change the culture around underage drinking so that drinking is no longer such a big part of growing up in America for so many young people. Hopefully over time, with enough people working on the issue, that will happen.
Q: What has been one of the most important developments in the area of understanding youth drinking?
A:The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking discusses underage drinking within the context of overall adolescent development. This developmental framework will help us better understand why alcohol is so appealing to young people and to more fully appreciate the risks it poses. This interview is part of an ongoing editorial series in Coalitions Online with experts from the NIAAA. For more information on the NIAAA’s research, visit their Web site on underage drinking.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Welcome!
This blog has been created to keep members of the South St. Paul Healthy Youth Community Coalition better informed of meetings and events. It is also a wonderful way to provide background and current information about the coalition to future members.
We welcome your feedback as we design, update and modify this blog.
We welcome your feedback as we design, update and modify this blog.
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