• Underage Drinking
    Not a Minor Problem

    media campaigns Opens in New Window

  • Did You Know?

    • Most kids who consume alcohol do so in their own home or in the home of a friend.
    • One out of three 13-year-olds in New York State has tried alcohol.
    • Forty-nine percent of high school seniors in NYS have consumed alcohol in the past 30 days - that's more than 100,000 seniors.
    • Nearly 52 percent of NYS students in grades 7-12 reported their parents had never talked to them about the dangers of underage drinking.
    • Research indicates the brain continues to develop into the mid-twenties. Alcohol use can have a detrimental effect on the developing brain.
    • A teenager who begins drinking before the age of 15 is seven times more likely to have an alcohol abuse or dependence issue later in life than someone who waits until age 21 to drink alcohol.

"Taking Action in New York" Downloads

"Taking Action in New York" highlights the underage drinking efforts across the state and issues a call-to-action to elicit involvement from prevention, law enforcement, judiciary, parents, colleges and community coalitions. (Download Windows Media Player or QuickTime to view videos.)

Underage Drinking Prevention Video Sections

  • Introduction: Adults do not have a sense of how recklessly youth drink and how much they drink. Underage alcohol use is about excess and binge drinking often resulting in slipping grades, sexual assaults, property damage and automobile fatalities. Parents, educators, community members and law enforcement are urged to come together to reduce the incidence of underage drinking.
  • Strengthening Communities: Collaboration is Key - Collaboration between parents, schools, churches, law enforcement and other community groups is essential in tackling the issue of underage drinking. Effective prevention of underage drinking requires the cooperative efforts of these groups as well as the combined community resources necessary to address this problem.
  • Changing Public Perspectives: Media as a Tool - The media glamorizes alcohol use and youth often believe that drinking is necessary to have a good time. Prevention professionals along with their community partners change this attitude of community acceptance of underage drinking through education, media campaigns and public service announcements.
  • Creating Change: The Importance of Policy - Policy change at the state and local levels is a necessary tool to address the prevailing culture that supports underage drinking in some communities. Social host laws, keg registration requirements and local business ordinances are effective tools in decreasing youth access to alcohol.
  • Enforcement: A Shared Responsibility - The focus of enforcement is to reduce and ultimately eliminate youth alcohol access. Retail compliance checks, enforcement details, training and promotion of the 1-866-UNDER21 Hotline to report underage sales all contribute to the prevention effort.
  • Dispelling Myths: Taking Action - The new science regarding alcohol and brain development as well as the powerful influence that parents have on a youth's decision to drink alcohol is a central theme in prevention education. From law enforcement recruits to college peer educators to even judges, dispelling the myths and providing accurate information is the primary goal of education.