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Alcohol Schools take action

Parents can make a difference
• Children are less likely to drink when parents stay involved with them. ¹

• Adolescents drink less and have fewer alcohol-related problems when their parents discipline them consistently and set clear expectations.¹

Alcohol and academic achievement
• Eleven-to-thirteen-year-olds report feeling a lot of pressure to achieve in academics and in extracurricular activities, and they use alcohol and other drugs to cope.²

• Among eighth graders, those with higher grade point averages reported less alcohol use in the past month.³

Other short and long term consequences
• The brain does not finish developing until a person is around 21, Alcohol use at an early age can affect one's memory, ability to learn and make good judgments.⁴

• Underage drinking is a factor in nearly half of all teen automobile crashes, the leading cause of death among teenagers.⁵

• Alcohol abuse is linked to as many as two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens and college-age students.⁶

Words Can Work: When Talking About Alcohol booklet written by Jeanne Blake offers questions to help children think through consequences of drinking, and words to help you talk with your kids.

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Sources
1. Hawkins, J.D., et al. Exploring the effects of age of alcohol use initiation and psychosocial risk factors on subsequent alcohol misuse. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 58 (3): 280-290, 1997.

2. Child Development, September/October 2002, Volume 73, Number 5, Pages 1593-1610

3. 3. Brown, S.A., et al. Neurocognitive functioning of adolescents: effects of protracted alcohol use. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 24(2): 164-171.

4. Reported by MADD. From Dr. Swartzwelder, Duke University Medical Center

5. Adapted from the AAP brochure, "Teens Who Drink and Drive: Reducing the Death Toll" and the AAP book Caring For Your Adolescent: Ages 12 to 21

6. CASA, Dangerous Liaisons: Substance Abuse and Sex, 1999

^{Copyright 2015 Blake Works Inc.}

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	Words Can Work: When Talking About Alcohol - Booklet Young people and parents tell how they discuss underage drinking.
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