Young people and parents tell how they discuss underage drinking. Experts offer facts, strategies, and the words to help young people and families talk about alcohol use. (48pp.) Recommended for grades 5 & up, parents and other caregivers.

Download classroom activity.

Read an excerpt of Words Can Work: When Talking About Alcohol.

“…a whole world of valuable information in a deceptively small package.”
Karen Friedman, FNP, Middlesex School

"... shows a thorough and careful understanding of teen-parent relationships, and of current research in the field of prevention.”
Anara Guard, Director of Information & Marketing, Join Together

Booklet, $4.99 plus $3.00 S/H

What people are saying:
“At Join Together, I see a lot of material about prevent on cross my desk every day. Words Can Work: When Talking About Alcohol stands out—it provides thoughtful, practical, well-grounded information that parents can put to use. It shows a thorough and careful understanding of teen-parent relationships, and of current research in the field of prevention.” Anara Guard, Director of Information & Marketing, Join Together

“Words Can Work: When Talking About Alcohol is a whole world of valuable information in a deceptively small package. Filled with real stories, striking statistics and professional feedback, it provides many concrete ideas to help adults (parents, teachers, friends, etc.) caring for kids.” Karen Friedman, FNP, Cruz Health Center Director, Middlesex School

“Our employees value their kids and spouses more than anything – sometimes more than themselves. While they may ignore prevention messages directed toward them, they are willing to listen and learn if it will help their families. Following the Alcohol: True Stories workshop for the entire Boston Fire Department and the distribution of the booklets Words Can Work: When Talking About Alcohol there was a significant increase of alcohol and drug-related referrals of spouses and young people to the BFD/EAP.” Lt. William J. Ostiguy LADC/1, CADAC, CAS, CCS, CEAP
EAP/Stress Coordinator, Boston Fire Department/Local 718, City of Boston

How people use it:
• Middlesex School and Buckingham Brown and Nichols mailed copies to every student’s home.

• Distributed to attendees of the International Association of Fire Fighters at the Redmond Symposium.

• Distributed to PTA state offices nationally.

• Distributed to physicians by the Ohio Dept of Health at its Medical Education Project Conference.

• 50,000 copies distributed to Massachusetts doctors’ offices by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

• Distributed 15,000 through schools, doctors’ offices, banks, grocery stores, and pharmacies by Partners HealthCare and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

• Featured in Boston Fire Department Employee Assistance Program. Distributed to all 1,600 firefighters.

• Incorporated into the New York City Fire Department’s Counseling Service Unit substance abuse prevention peer-to-peer program in all New York City firehouses.

• Distributed to employees at 3M‘s 60 plants nationally.

• Distributed to employees of Hewlett Packard.

• Distributed to employees of Eli Lilly.

• Distributed to employees of Draper Laboratories.

• Distributed to employees of John Hancock Financial Services.

• Incorporated into client sessions by probation officers In Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

• Distributed to families involved with Massachusetts’ Suffolk County Juvenile Probation office.

• Sent to home of every student of public and private schools in Massachusetts.

• Distributed parents in the workplace and through community outlets (libraries, banks, etc), in Colorado and Pennsylvania by the Walrus Foundation.

• Donated to libraries and schools in by Rotary International in Alabama, Massachusetts and Minnesota.

• Distributed to inmates at the Federal Correction Institution of PA by the Walrus Foundation.

• Distributed to employees at Bradford Regional Medical Center, Bradford, PA by the Walrus Foundation.

• Distributed to clients of Bradford Recovery Systems in Bradford, PA by the Walrus Foundation.

• Distributed to employees at Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems in Bradford PA by the Walrus Foundation.

Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1. Binge Drinking
Joan and her daughter Cici tell about the night Cici got drunk at a party where a classmate's parents served alcohol.

Chapter 2. Alcohol and Decision Making
Kyla’s classmate got drunk, had sex and passed out. Kyla and her mom discuss how alcohol can impact a young person's decisions about sex and many other behaviors.

Chapter 3. Talking About Alcohol
Len is at increased risk for alcoholism because of his family’s history of the disease. He and his mom tell why it’s important to continually talk about underage drinking and the potential consequences.

Chapter 4. Drinking and Driving
Robert, a star soccer player was injured in a drinking and driving crash. He and his parents, Ashley and Bob, tell how his decision to drink and drive affected their family.

Chapter 5. Alcohol and Addiction
Megan tells how at the age of 16 she was diagnosed with alcoholism. She and her parents tell what led to her getting professional help and how treatment was the beginning of an ongoing recovery from the disease.

Chapter 6. Choosing Not to Drink
Ilton avoids underage drinking. He tells why he chooses to not drink and how his Uncle Lino helps to influence his decisions.

Words Can Work booklets tell true stories and offer young people and parents information and the words to help them start and continue
lifesaving conversations about underage drinking.