By MICHAEL LANGER and ROGER HOENo
Across the nation, families and friends are busy planning for Super Bowl parties. Whether you’re attending a party or throwing one, adults caught up in game-day festivities can sometimes forget how their drinking behavior, and all the Super Bowl ads that encourage drinking, impact the young people around them.
According to the most recent Washington Healthy Youth Survey, 20 percent of teens who drink obtained their alcohol at home, and half said they had their parents’ permission. While most parents do not give their teens alcohol, nearly one in five adults thinks it’s acceptable to provide teens alcohol in their own home, according to a Century Council Survey cited by Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna.
In that same study, 96 percent of parents said it was unacceptable for another parent or adult to provide alcohol to their teenager without their permission—and they said if they found out about it, they would consider taking action against the other parent, McKenna says.
Alcohol is by far the biggest drug problem among Washington’s youth. It has taken more young lives than tobacco and illicit drugs combined. If you think this doesn’t apply to the young people in your life, you should know that one in four 10th-graders and one in three 12th-graders has been drunk in the past 30 days, according to the Healthy Youth Survey.
Because a teen’s brain is still developing, alcohol can cause long-term damage to memory and learning. In fact, kids who drink before age 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol problems when they’re adults.
Parents and other adults can avoid an “excessive celebration” penalty by sticking to a basic Super Bowl game plan:
1. Talk to the young people in your life about all the risks involved with drinking: alcohol poisoning, unplanned and unwanted sexual activity, fights, injuries, car crashes and impaired brain development.
2. Don’t ignore drunken behavior at your Super Bowl gatherings—explain to the young people in attendance that alcohol can cause people to say and do things they wouldn’t otherwise say or do.
3. When your kids see alcohol ads during the Superbowl, help them separate facts from fiction. Visit www.StartTalkingNow.org for a family guide on teaching your children to analyze media messages to make good choices.
4. Don’t let adults drive after drinking, and let the young people at your gathering hear you planning how to ensure it doesn’t happen
5. Never give alcohol to those under 21, and make sure other adults don’t give it to the young people in your life.
6. Set clear rules for youth about not drinking alcohol in your home– and enforce consequences for breaking them.
7. Be a good role model – show kids you don’t need a drink to celebrate.
8. Get help fast if you know a teen who is already drinking or dependent on alcohol. Call the Alcohol/Drug Helpline for free, confidential information and referrals (1-800-562-1240).
9. If you are a parent, remember you are the primary influence on your children. Get tips on talking to them about alcohol at www.StartTalkingNow.org.
Whether you’re a Steelers fan or a Cardinals fan, Super Bowl Sunday should be a day filled with the thrill of competition and a celebration of the ultimate in athleticism. Score a touchdown on game-day by setting a positive example for the youth in your life.
Michael Langer and Roger Hoen are co-chairmen of the Washington State Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking. Hoen is a member of the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Langer is acting office chief of program services for the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
