Underage Drinking
Drinking continues to be regarded as a normal part of growing up, but underage alcohol use is dangerous for the drinker and for those around him or her.
 
People who begin drinking early in life run the risk of developing serious alcohol problems, including alcoholism, later on. They also stand a higher chance of adverse consequences, including risky sexual activity and poor performance in school, and they present a risk to the rest of us through alcohol-involved car crashes, killings, suicides and injuries.

Identifying adolescents at greatest risk can help stop problems before they develop, says the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health, but general prevention programs also are important:

• Family-Based
  Parents’ ability to influence whether their children drink is well documented and is consistent across racial/ethnic groups. Setting clear rules against drinking, consistently enforcing those rules, and monitoring the child’s behavior all help to reduce the likelihood of underage drinking.

• School-Based
  The first programs of this sort often used scare tactics and were ineffective; it was assumed that if youth understood the dangers of alcohol use, they would choose not to drink. These programs were ineffective. Today, better programs are available and often address social pressures to drink and teach resistance skills.

• Community-Based
  Environmental approaches include: raising the price of alcohol, increasing the minimum legal drinking age (now 21 in all states), enacting zero-tolerance laws (it’s illegal in all states for people younger than 21 to drive after any drinking) and stepping up enforcement.

For more advice, go to:

• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  Use the institute as a portal to an interactive Web site and booklet, “Rethinking Drinking,” and alcohol facts and statistics.

• SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
  Order free publications about binge drinking or the facts and myths concerning underage drinking.

• Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth
  Want to know how advertising and promotion affect underage drinking?

• Mothers Against Drunk Driving
  Moms work to create safer communities.

• Leadership To Keep Children Alcohol Free
  A coalition of governors’ wives runs this campaign.

Local Resources

• The PLUS Program, Volusia County Schools
  386-255-6475, ext. 60164, or 386-734-7190, ext. 20512
  Prevention and early-intervention program provides alcohol and drug education, resources and support to identified middle and high school students in Volusia County Schools. Students and families are linked with community agencies when it is determined that further assessment and/or intervention may be needed.

• Stewart-Marchman Center Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC)
  386-226-0220;  Director, 386-226-0224
  Parents can access the center for a free substance abuse and mental health screening to include urine drug screening and treatment recommendations. If needed, more in-depth assessment may be recommended. 

• Stewart-Marchman Center Residential Adolescent Program (RAP)
  386-947-1334; Unit Supervisor, 386-947-1337
  Program uses a treatment team approach with the client and family combined with educational programming by Volusia County Schools.  Approximately four months residential with eight months continuing care.

• Stewart-Marchman Center Adolescent Outpatient Program (ADOP)
  (West Volusia) 386-668-3570
  Program permits youth to receive treatment in a less-restrictive environment to address problems related to substance abuse. Focus is on maintaining current support systems while encouraging abstinence and a drug-free lifestyle.