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Good morning. Welcome to the official launch of "Talk. They Hear You". SAMHSA's newest
underage drinking prevention campaign. My name's Pam Hyde, I'm the Administrator of
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, as we call it.
It's an operating division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I
want to thank all of you for joining us today as we unveil a series of new national public
service announcements aimed at empowering parents to talk to their children as early
as nine years old about the dangers of alcohol use. We're excited to launch what we believe
will be a very important public awareness and education campaign. This event is being
simultaneously webcast and I'd also like to welcome those joining us virtually. We've
allotted time today at the end of the launch for questions and answers, so those joining
us via the webcast may type their questions into the chat function of their webcast screens.
And we'll try to take as many questions as we can in the time that allows and follow-up
afterwards with those that we did not get a chance to answer their questions today.
I'm joined here on the dais this morning by an incredible array of individuals with a
passion for educating young Americans about staying healthy. Beginning with America's
doctor. We like to call her the rock star of public health-the U.S. Surgeon General,
Dr. Regina Benjamin. She's an important voice in the conversation about underage drinking
and how parents and caregivers can help reduce it. Dr. Benjamin provides the American public
with the best scientific information on how to improve its health. And it was a Surgeon
General's Call to Action to prevent underage drinking that informed much of the campaign
that SAMHSA's launching today. So we're very pleased that Dr. Benjamin could join us.
We're also happy to have nationally renowned substance use expert-Deputy Director Michael
Botticelli of the Office of National Drug Control Policy-with us this morning. Deputy
Director Botticelli brings over two decades of experience supporting Americans who have
been affected by substance use disorders. Prior to joining ONDCP, Mr. Botticelli served
as Director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services as the Massachusetts Department of
Public Health where he successfully expanded innovative and nationally recognized prevention,
intervention, treatment and recovery services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We're
delighted, Michael, that you're able to join us today.
Also joining us is Michelle Nicholas, [phonetic] who two years ago this week lost her 18 year
old best friend in an underage drinking car crash. The crash also took the lives of two
others and the driver of the vehicle was imprisoned. Michelle will share her personal crusade to
educate others about the deadly consequences of underage drinking.
And we're also pleased to have A.J. Senerchia, a young person who has been in recovery since
2006, here with us today. A.J. began drinking in the seventh grade and his underage alcohol
use escalated throughout high school. He experienced firsthand the often underreported consequences
of underage drinking-mood swings, depression, anxiety. And along with being a young person
in long-term recovery, A.J. has consummated a multitude of achievements in his recovery
as well as accomplished many of his goals he has set out to conquer. So he's here to
share his story with us today as well. I also want to recognize some other special
guests joining us today. Rob Morrison from the National Association of Substance Abuse
and Drug Addiction Directors; Sue Thau and Mary Elliott from the Community Anti-Drug
Coalitions of America; John Magnuson from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Dependence; and there's many, many others. I also just want to recognize a couple of
staff. Mary Beth Bigley from the Surgeon General's Office; Fran Harding, our Director for the
Center of Substance Abuse Prevention; Pete Delaney, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics
and Quality at SAMHSA; Steve Wing, our Associate Administrator for Alcohol Policy; Marla Hendriksson,
the Director of our Office of Communications; and Rob Vincent, and David and Nel and Kay
and a host of other SAMHSA staff. Thank you to every one of you for being here today.
Now, SAMHSA has championed underage drinking prevention for decades and I'm pleased to
share that over the past decade, the nation has actually seen national reductions in the
rates of underage drinking. But although there has been progress in reducing underage drinking
in the United States, rates of alcohol use among young people is still unacceptably high.
According to the latest SAMHSA national survey on drug use and health, more than a quarter
of the American population who are too young to drink are doing so anyway. An estimated
ten million young people under the age of 21 drank alcohol in the past month in the
United States. That's more than the entire population of New York City. One of our major
challenges is that many young people start drinking before the age of 15-affecting their
brain development, academic performance and safety. Underage drinking should not be a
normal part of growing up. Yet despite its prevalence, research shows that it's not a
top of mind issue for many parents. Many parents simply don't realize that they have a significant
influence on their kid's decision to drink or not to drink. And yet children cite parents
as the primary messengers for underage drinking prevention. Parents who don't discourage underage
alcohol use may have an influence in their children's decisions to drink. When parents
are educated, they can help prevent underage drinking and prevent their children from the
high risk behaviors associated with it. So "Talk. They Hear You" helps parents do just
that. It raises parents' awareness around these issues and provides them with tools
to build confidence in their abilities to start conversations about alcohol use with
their children even before they're teenagers. Today's launch has been timed to coincide
with SAMHSA's 2013 National Prevention Week, which is this week. National Prevention Week
is an annual behavioral health observance dedicated to increasing public awareness of
and action around substance abuse and mental health issues. We couldn't think of a better
week to unveil the new "Talk. They Hear You" PSAs and campaign materials-bringing renewed
attention to this serious public health issue. And throughout the week, SAMHSA's network
of dedicated grantees and stakeholders will hold prevention events addressing substance
abuse and mental health throughout the country. As the traditional school year winds down
and the summer months approach, a time when first time use of alcohol for young people
nearly doubles, yes, in the summer it nearly doubles, this is an opportune moment to introduce
to parents the message of starting the conversation about underage drinking with their children.
In a few moments you're going to view the premier of one of SAMHSA's new underage drinking
prevention PSAs and learn about the innovative tools and materials now available to parents
across the country to help them feel confident engaging their kids in a conversation about
alcohol. But first I'd like to turn the microphone over to Dr. Benjamin.
Dr. Regina Benjamin Good morning and thank you, SAMHSA Administrator
Pam Hyde, Deputy Director Michael Botticelli, and all of you for joining us for today's
launch of SAMHSA's new underage drinking prevention campaign. And welcome to those of you in internet
land. You know, President Obama, Secretary Sebilius
and I are long-term champions of the power of prevention and it's the foundation of my
work as Surgeon General. You know, health does not occur in a doctor's office and the
hospitals only-health also occurs where we live, where we learn, where we work, where
we play, where we pray. Health occurs in everything that we do. I believe that prevention offers
the greatest opportunity to improve the health of America's families now and for decades
to come. I also believe that prevention is the key to building a stronger and more sustainable
healthcare system and prevention is not new to the national dialogue. However, in recent
years it's become more vital and relevant than ever before. It's becoming imperative.
And that's largely due to the changing dynamics as more American families struggle to deal
with chronic illnesses. Much of the chronic illness and death related to chronic diseases
is caused by just four modifiable health risk behaviors- lack of physical activity, poor
nutrition, tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption. We have to make prevention part
of everything that we do, our everyday lives and empower people to make better health choices.
So preventing underage drinking is critical to improving the health of our nation and
the health of our youth. In 2007, my office released the Surgeon General's
Call to Action to prevent underage drinking. It's a report that, as was stated earlier,
that's providing the foundation of today's important campaign. I want to give you a few
of the statistics from the report, but let me start by pointing out that underage drinking
is very common. In fact, in 2011, alcohol was the most commonly used drug among our
nation's young people. The monitoring of the future report or survey found that 33% of
eighth graders and 70% of tenth graders said they had consumed alcohol in the last 30 days.
Drinking often starts very young and alcohol use and binge drinking increases dramatically
during adolescence. The studies show that youth who report drinking prior to age 15
are more likely to experience problems related to alcohol later in life. And underage drinking
has profound negative consequences. Both on the underage drinkers and for others who they
harm or may harm while drinking. For example, underage drinking is connected with academic
problems, motor vehicle accidents and crashes, risky *** activity and alcohol and drug
poisoning. It also puts the adolescents at risk for burns and falls and drowning and
contributes to violence, including assault and ***. But most importantly, more tragically,
alcohol is a factor in the deaths of 5,000 young people in the United States every year.
Over the long-term alcohol can cause alterations in the structure and the function of the developing
brain, which continues into the person's twenties. And may have consequences reaching beyond
adolescence. But the good news is that the, as Administrator Hyde has mentioned, decades
of research have provided us with sound, evidence based guidance on underage drinking prevention.
We know that a strong bond between the children and their parents or caregivers have a protective
factor. We know that parents are among the most influential factors in a child's decision
not to drink. So I commend SAMHSA for responding to the Surgeon General's Call to Action to
prevent underage drinking and I thank you for taking the lead in protecting our youth
by encouraging parents and their caregivers to talk with the young children about the
dangers of alcohol. So, parents, talk with your kids, they really do hear you.
Michael Botticelli Good morning, everybody, I'm Michael Botticelli
from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and I really want to thank Administrator Hyde
and Dr. Benjamin and our youth who are here today, for allowing us to be part of this
exciting launch and campaign. I also want to acknowledge many of the people
that Administrator Hyde did in terms of our federal partners and also introduce David
Mineta, who is the Deputy Director for Demand Reduction. Prevention falls under his domain
and we're really excited to have this strong partnership.
President Obama has outlined his vision of an America built to last where an educated
skilled and knowledgeable workforce hast eh energy and expertise to compete in a global
marketplace. And for far too many Americans, especially young people, that vision is limited
by substance use. Despite our recent progress to reduce underage drinking in America, the
fact is that we still have too many young people using alcohol. Making matters worse,
underage drinking, dangerous as it is in and of itself, can also lead to many other risky
behaviors-including drug use. While we heard the critical role that parents play in reducing
underage drinking, we know that we are not powerless around substance use in America.
That is why just three weeks ago the White House released a science based policy to reduce
substance use and its consequences in the United States. Our plan is based on the premise
that we cannot arrest our way out of the drug problem and that our nation's drug problem
can be treated, and should be treated, as a public health issue.
It's no coincidence that our national drug policy strategy begins with prevention. We
know that preventing substance use before it begins is the most cost effective way to
reduce drug use and consequences in America. So today "Talk. They Hear You" campaign goes
a long way to support the President's strategy to stress a public health approach to drug
policy and prevent substance problems. This campaign also goes hand in hand with other
very important national work that is happening. The Drug Free Community Support Program, a
partnership between SAMHSA, ONDCP and CADCA, supports nearly 800 local community based
coalitions across the country to reduce and prevent substance abuse among young people.
Our national youth anti media campaign-Above the Influence-enjoys widespread brand recognition
among young people. Prevention works and I commend our partners at SAMHSA and others
in the room today who have worked so hard to help young people make healthy decisions
about their future. Thank you.
Michelle Nicholas Hello everyone. My name is Michelle Nicholas
and I am 20 years old. I'm a graduate of Magruder High School in Rockville, Maryland and I currently
am a student at LIM College-a fashion school in New York City.
Two years ago this week changed my life forever. I am here to tell you about my experience
with drunk driving and how it has affected my life. On May 15th, 2011, my three friends-Haeley
McGuire, Spencer Datt and Johnny Hoover passed away in an awful crash in Olney, Maryland
as a result of drunk driving. The loss devastated our community.
After going through this tragedy, my friends and I needed a way to heal. An avenue for
turning something so devastating and tragic into something positive. In the spring of
2012, along with two friends and the parents of my dear friend Haeley, we formed a nonprofit
organization to help prevent tragedies and to honor the lives of our friends.
To this day, nothing will ever be the same. And no words can express the pain I feel when
I think of the loss of my friends. I wish I could explain how it feels to go to sleep
with a best friend and to wake up without one. But I'm not sure that I can do it justice.
I miss my best friends and their parents miss their children. No one should have to attend
their child's funeral or identify their body in the hospital.
When I think back to the week following the crash, it's almost as if it's frozen in time.
Haeley, Spencer and Johnny were all loved by so many and happened to be three of the
best people I will ever know. I will never be able to attend Haeley's wedding and she
will never be able to attend mine. She will never again be able to tell me about a boy
or the silly color she dyed her hair. And I will never again be able to tell her anything.
It's hard to miss someone so much and not have given the chance to say good-bye.
The reality that my best friends died so young in a drunk driving crash is a reality that
I will never fully understand. No one should have to go through what my community has gone
through. After everything, I've experienced that it's a thousand times better for parents
to create a close and open relationship with their children, especially about drinking,
rather than avoiding the issue until it's too late. If parents start talking to their
children at an earlier age about alcohol and the dangers associated with it, especially
drunk driving, I believe they can prevent their children from being a part of a story
like mine. When we're younger, the earlier and more often
we hear something, the more effective that message is. Parents should be talking to their
children about the dangers of drunk driving and drinking as much as possible. Parents,
please talk to your kids about underage drinking. Make sure you emphasize the life-threatening
situations they may face. Make sure your children know that even if they do not drink or drive
drunk themselves, there is still grave consequences if they get into a car with someone who is
driving drunk. The worst thing you can think of after a loss like mine is I wish I would
have said that or I wish I would have talked about that.
Talk to your kids early as you can-before it's too late. You will never regret telling
your kids to be safe, however if you don't and something were to happen to them, you
might always end up regret failing to do so. Thank you.
A.J Senerchia Good morning. My name is A.J., and I'm sure
for most of you who have been trying to pronounce my last name-it's Senerchia. I'm a young person
in long-term recovery from substance abuse. Although I first entered recovery when I was
18, I did not become completely abstinent until 2010, when I was 22 years old. I'm here
to share a little bit about my story, but before I do, I'd like to thank SAMHSA and
the other entities that have brought me here today. It's truly an honor to be here in front
of you all right now. I had my first experience with alcohol when
I was in seventh grade. And I could tell from an early age, looking back on it, that it
was going to become a problem. You know, at that time, when you're an early child, or
when I was an early child, there's so much still there that I needed to develop emotionally,
you know, physically, and just everything and when I opened the doors to substance abuse
when I was in seventh grade, a lot of that emotional development stopped. Or it lagged
a little bit. And, you know, by the time I got into high school, you know, I was using
on a fairly regular basis. And, you know, the toll that alcohol took on me when I was
younger, and I didn't have necessarily severe outward consequences, I was never involved
in any type of crash, I wasn't arrested as a juvenile, but, you know, the main thing
that happened for me in my experience underage with alcohol was the effect it had on my family
and I, but also the effect that it had on me emotionally, which ultimately caused the
most pain for my family-having to see me go through the things that I did have to go through
and basically have to be a bystander at times. You know, when the drinking turned from, I
guess, the weekends to kind of the weekday basis as well, that's when it really began
to become a problem and very quickly I developed emotional issues-I was, you know, depressed,
I was manic, you know, but mostly I was just angry, young and hostile. And the thing that
my parents, you know, I'm, I say this whenever I speak or share my story, you know, I'm the
black sheep in my family. Addiction or alcoholism doesn't run in my family, I was the only one.
My family never experienced having to deal with this with my two older sisters who, you
know, went through school with flying colors. You know, they never had to deal with it through
any friends or anything like that, it was just me and I don't think that they were properly
prepared. And I think that what this does, this campaign, is create for awareness. It
gives parents the opportunity to speak to their child-not only when they're younger,
but understand that, you know, it doesn't have to run in the family necessarily, you
know? Like it singled me out. And, you know, no one really in my family was kind of prepared
for what was going to happen down the road. I was a student athlete and when the drinking
kind of took over, you know, my progression athletically kind of peaked my junior year
of high school. You know, my grades started to slip, it's not that I fell in with the
wrong crowd, but I started doing the wrong things. And, you know, ultimately, and this
is a form of prevention in itself, the road that this eventually led me down was not just
alcohol. Um, and it was many other substances and it was a far greater quantity and on a
regular basis type of ordeal. Now, the effect that it had on my family and
I, it was, you know, I was the only child. It was, you know, an Italian family and, I'm
not the only child, I'm sorry, I'm the youngest child-Italian family and the only boy, you
know, I'm a mama's boy, you could say. You know, my mother loves me very much. So when
this all was going on, you know, I think that, you know, that probably took a large toll
on her inwardly. And I know that my father was much more outwardly and we would often
butt heads and it would happen often and it really just put a strain on the family. And
I can tell you that since I entered long-term recovery and I've remained abstinent, that
I've probably had about three arguments with my father in almost three years and it's an
amazing turnaround for me, but, you know, I can truly say that since I entered recovery,
like I've gotten my family back. You know, like when I had nine months in recovery, my
mom told me that, she said, "You know, I finally feel like I have my son back." You know, it's
things like that, or when people say things to me like that, which is why I'm here right
now and I do what I do, because, you know, prevention works and this campaign can be
so influential and it's so important. You know, and if, for some reason, it doesn't
work for your child, there's still hope, you know, um, I, I want to make it clear that
this campaign, you know, it's prevention and it works. But if it doesn't, you know, recovery,
there's a solution in it and I'm living proof of that today-I'm able to advocate for a nonprofit
organization that supports youth in recovery and it's like, you know, I sat down in college
and I finally graduated college, right, after years of in and out, in and out, in and out,
and I sat down and I wrote an 80 page thesis paper on Mario Savio and the student movement
of the 1960's and the free speech movement and it was like, you know, looking back on
it now, it's like it was just unbelievable what I've been able to do in, you know, recovery.
And I am a recovery advocate and, you know, above all, I have my family back, you know,
I'm living a healthy, productive life now and, you know, like Michael was saying-it's
time to kind of treating this as, with handcuffs, right? And it's time to start treating this
as a public health issue like it is. And with that, I just want to thank everyone again
for being here and allowing me to share a little bit of my story with you and thanks
again.
Administrator Hyde Thank you to all the speakers here today-Dr.
Benjamin, Michael, Michelle and A.J. especially, thank you for sharing your personal stories
with us and showing why it's so important that parents and caregivers start talking
with their children early about the dangers and consequences of underage drinking.
Each of the stories and experiences shared today only further reinforce the importance
of talking, of making sure that we all do our part to help our nation's young people
avoid using alcohol and other drugs. The bottom line fact is that underage drinking often
has severe consequences and that parents can help keep their children alcohol free by simply
talking directly with them about this issue. So in developing the campaign-"Talk. They
Hear You," SAMHSA interviewed children to hear their perspective on the issue. And more than
80% of the children we talked to said parents are the leading influencers in their decision
to drink alcohol. Now some of you who are parents may find that hard to believe. You
may not think your children listen, but they do. Research shows that most six year olds
know that alcohol is only for adults. But by the time they get to age nine, so between
about ages 9 and 13, children start to think a little differently about alcohol. Many begin
to think that underage drinking is okay and some even start to experiment. Some of the
key insights we discovered as we interviewed hundreds of parents across the U.S. to develop
this campaign is that they often didn't know what to say or how and when to begin the conversation
with their children. It's not that they didn't want to, they just didn't feel they could
or knew how to. They needed some guidance and confidence before they could. Parents
wanted to see how others do it first and they wanted help identifying natural times to initiate
the conversation. Instead of that big talk, it's these little talks as they go. This was
a key finding that formed the basis of the PSAs you're going to see in just a moment-showing
parents seizing the right moment in just a sentence or two to start the conversation
about alcohol use. And on this premise, SAMHSA developed a series of TV, radio and print
public service announcements in both English and Spanish, Chinese, other languages, and,
as you'll see, these PSAs show parents seizing the moment to talk with their children, sometimes
even a bit awkwardly, about the dangers of underage drinking. So let's take a look at
the TV PSA. Oh, hey bud. Where, uh, where are you headed?
Uh, just going to hang out. (It's a school night.) With Gary and Todd?
Yeah. (I'm not sure about those two.) I've been
meaning to ask you (This is tougher than I thought.) is there any drinking going on in
this crowd? No.
I hope not, because alcohol can lead you to say things and do things that you really wish
you hadn't. (Isn't this what you're supposed to say?)
I know. So if any of your buddies ever pressure you
to take a drink, just tell them you promised your dad you wouldn't. (I'd do anything to
keep you safe.) Okay, I will.
(I hope this is working) I promise. (I love you, too, dad.)
They really do hear you. Ryan.
Yeah? So start the conversation even before they're
teenagers. Good idea.
For tips on what to say, visit underagedrinking.samhsa.gov. A message from the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration.
We hope you watch for those as you watch TV over the next few months. Let's take a look
now with the print PSAs. We used real families for these and we have some of them here with
us today. Many of whom are going to-we recreated with them real situations from moms and dads
to show how other parents were initiating the talk with their son or daughter during
a routine activity on any given day-while preparing dinner; while doing chores; en route
to soccer practice; or while taking a quick break from shopping at a local diner. The
headline "Dinnertime, a perfect moment to talk about alcohol". The copy reads "An alarming
number of preteens are drinking alcohol, which makes it urgent to find every opportunity
to talk to your kids about the dangers of underage drinking. For tips on how and when
to begin the conversation, visit underagedrinking.samhsa.gov. " So that is the one over there. So they're
all similar-oh, over there and over here. So they have similar messages, but they try
to identify easy and good times to have this conversation with children.
So now let's look at the website. There is a new website-on the screen is a snapshot
of the "Talk. They Hear You" website, which went live today and it houses all the materials,
PSAs and parent information. These PSAs are being distributed to more than 7,000 TV, radio,
print and online media outlets across the country today.
Now, another aspect of "Talk. They Hear You" is the important work of campaign partners
such as the National Parent Teacher Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the National
Alcohol Beverage Control Association and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America,
among others, that are committed to helping get these materials into the hands of those
working with parents. And additionally, local coalitions and SAMHSA grantees also are partnering
with the campaign to spread this important message in communities across the country.
Now to assist "Talk. They Hear You" partners, a partner toolkit is available at underagedrinking.samhsa.gov
so any organization out there who is interested in implementing the campaign at the local
level can do so. Developed with direct guidance from our partners, it contains customizable
information that organizations can tailor with their information, copies of all the
PSAs, materials for parents and promotional templates that can be adapted to their program's
work. In fact, each of you will leave today's event with a DVD containing all of these materials.
So there's a way to get started. Finally, I'm really very excited to share
one more important tool coming later this year. It's still in development, but SAMHSA's
working with behavioral health experts on a first of its kind online parent learning
simulation. It's like a videogame. So parents using videogames. This simulation will give
parents the chance to actually practice virtually talking with a child avatar about underage
drinking, helping build their skills and confidence to conduct these conversations with their
own children in real life. This innovative tool is based on research and social cognition,
learning theory and neuroscience and similar simulations have been developed for other
behavioral health topics such as suicide risk assessment and posttraumatic stress disorder-but
never before for underage drinking. So here's just a little sneak preview.
My daughter's in middle school. Maybe it's too early to talk about alcohol.
What can I do? My son doesn't listen to me. So how was the party last night?
Why? Am I in trouble? No, you're not in trouble, I just want to
know what's going on. Well, Brandon's mom was there. It was totally
legit.
So we've actually gone into the social media and digital age. So we hope this will be a
really helpful promotional tool so that a parent who's a little maybe not sure what
to do can kind of try it out with an avatar before they try it out with their own young
person. So before we take any questions, I want to
leave you with this comment. Good communication, as actually Michelle said, is the foundation
of strong family relationships. It helps parents catch problems early and supports positive
behavior and stay aware of what's going on in their children's lives. As parents and
caregivers, we have more influence with children than we sometimes think. The importance of
strong, effective parenting throughout adolescence and the young adult years has long been shown
to be central to helping prevent adolescents from engaging in substance use. So to every
parent or caregiver of America's youth-start talking with your sons and daughters now about
underage drinking and keep talking to them as they grow older. What you say when they're
nine may be different than what you need to say when they're 15, but you need to start
before they're age nine. They need your critical guidance and they really do hear you.
All right, we're going to take a few questions from both people in the audience and from
on the web. If you're watching that way, you can write in a question and we will take a
few of those in the time allotted. And, as I said earlier, if we are not able to get
to all the questions, someone will follow-up with you later. So who has question?
Everybody knows exactly what to do, right?
Okay-how can efforts aimed at preventing underage
drinking, violence, mental illness, poor academic performance or truancy and drug use among
youth be strengthened at the community level? Well, as you heard earlier, there are about
800 local community coalitions throughout the country that we fund. There are probably
others, many others, that the federal government does not fund. But there are local community
coalitions that I urge all of you to get information about, to get in touch with and work with
to develop community based approaches to preventing substance abuse. If you want to know something
about those or where you can find one in your community, you can either contact CADCA, Community
Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, or SAMHSA, and we can help you find that.
All right, are there other questions? Do we have some being written that people are going
to bring me up here? Okay. And Michael or Regina or Michelle or A.J., if you guys want
to jump in on the answers, please let me know. Why start at nine years old? Why not at eight
or ten? It's a good question. Research tells us, as I said a little bit earlier, that up
through about age six or so, young people really do know that alcohol is for adults.
Somewhere around eight or nine they start changing their beliefs about alcohol and thinking
maybe it's okay and thinking maybe it's actually all right to experiment with. They start to
see their peers and slightly older young people whom they just adore doing those behaviors
and so they start thinking a little differently. But up through age 15 especially they're still
really listening to their parents. So the ages between 9 and 15, while ages that we
need to be concerned about, are ages that are very possible to engage your children
and to have them listen to you and hear you, if you talk about alcohol. So that's why we
start around age 9 to 15. Anything anybody else wants to add to that? Do you guys remember
any discussions before you started drinking? [A.J.] No.
Except for your peers, right? [A.J.] There were some, I guess, school programs
and other community organizing programs that were going on during the time that I was growing
up, but before nine years old, I don't believe so, no.
I think most of us would say that that was the case. We just tend to think that young
people, eight, nine, we don't need to do it yet, but the answer is we do.
How are you doing? I'm Orlando Barker with Ward Seven and Eight DC Prevention Center.
I actually had a question for the young man and, you know, I'm not going to butcher your
name, so A.J.
A.J. Can you talk a little bit more about why you actually started drinking during the
seventh grade? [A.J.] At that time it was kind of a group
of my friends and I and we were at, you know, a birthday party that wasn't supervised, it
was kind of a sleepover. And then, you know, sure enough we got a bottle from somebody
and the first guy took a sip and he spit it out. The second guy took a sip and he threw
up. And then it came to me and I took a sip and then I took another. And so my path was
kind of laid out for me like that. It's hard for me to recognize like was there an underlying
kind of mental illness growing up. I can't, I can't fully remember. To the outsiders who
might be able to chime in on that, like family or friends, you know, they always told me
I was an outgoing kid growing up. I mean I always had a lot of friends, it was, you know,
never a problem. So, sure, like social reasons, to feel comfortable in settings in high school,
when I got a little bit older, like parties and things like that, like absolutely. But
like the first few times, I, we just did it to do it. We were, I guess, experimenting
with it. [Administrator Hyde] I think the information
also tells us that an awful lot of people get alcohol for free. They get it from a friend
or parent, they get it in their own homes or in their friends' homes. I think we, as
parents, don't pay quite as much attention as we should to protecting things like alcohol
and prescription drugs that may be in our homes that we need to make sure are not available
to our young people. Yes. Are there resources on the SAMHSA website
for a parent who knows about another parent or another family member who's influencing
the underage drinking? That's a great question and I'm going to look
too. Is there stuff on our website about this? I know we can get you some information, I
don't know if it's on our website, that's what I'm asking about. Why don't we talk to
you offline and see if we can find a place for you to direct people for that kind of
information. That's a great question though-how do we help other parents. Michael?
[Mr. Botticelli] That is a really good question and I think the value of our community coalitions
is that parents need to be supportive of other adult influences in their lives and so we
know that coaches and teachers and law enforcement and priests and reverends need to also play
a role in supporting you as a parent around messaging. So I think that's the value of
the community coalitions is that so other adult influencers in your son's life are supporting
the messages that you're giving yourself. [Dr. Benjamin] When I was in family practice,
in practice, I would have parents who say well, I'd rather my kids drink at home than
drink in public, or I knew what they were doing-that is not okay. And we have to tell
parents that no, that's not okay. They watch you, they do what you're saying. And so often
times you'll get that. So I think you guys have materials on that as well.
[Administrator Hyde] Okay. Other questions? I see some being brought up here. Can you
guys give us other questions? This is a parent question via Twitter. What do you say to your
kids if you, yourself, use alcohol? That's a great question because the fact is it's
legal for adults to drink. It is not for young people under age 21. There are definitely
differences in the developing brain and the other emotional development for young people
and why alcohol is not good for their bodies or for them. I think it is important for parents
and all adults to know that young people watch us. We are models. So to the extent that it
is legal to drink alcohol, many of us do, we also have the responsibility not to drive
while we're drinking; we have the responsibility not to drink beyond the appropriate amount
in any one setting or each day; and to give a good role model for what appropriate adult
drinking is as well as to be clear that it's illegal and not okay to drink under the age
think of other questions later, there's a new website, I encourage you to go on it.
For those of you on the webcast who have questions, we will follow-up with you later, if we didn't
get to you today. Thank you.