Educators have a unique opportunity to open a dialog about alcohol with their students. Use the following resources for more information about underage alcohol use and pointers for broaching the subject with students.
A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism This comprehensive report summarizes the results and recommendations of the 3-year NIAAA Task Force on College Drinking. The Task Force was comprised of college and university presidents, researchers specializing in college alcohol use, and selected students. The report contains information on the consequences of excessive and underage college drinking, recommendations for possible interventions, and suggested areas for future research.
Alcohol Alert No. 67 : Underage Drinking - Why Do Adolescents Drink, What Are the Risks, and How Can Underage Drinking Be Prevented? National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Alcohol is the drug of choice among youth. Many young people are experiencing the consequences of drinking too much, at too early an age. As a result, underage drinking is a leading public health problem in this country.
Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings (1–5).
Challenging College Alcohol Abuse Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Challenging College Alcohol Abuse uses social norms and environmental management strategies to prevent alcohol abuse among college-aged students. The program's primary target population consisted of all University of Arizona students.
College Alcohol Risk Assessment Guide: Environmental Approaches to Prevention Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Despite general agreement among campus officials and students alike that alcohol use contributes to a range of problems confronting colleges and universities, prevention often does not command a high priority for students, faculty, and staff. This guide is designed to help college administrators identify factors within the campus environment that contribute to alcohol-related problems.
Community How To Guides On Underage Drinking National Highway Traffic Safety Administration These Community How To Guides address fundamental components of planning and implementing a comprehensive underage drinking prevention program. The guides are designed to be brief, easy to read, and easy to use. Each guide contains a resource section to assist readers in obtaining additional and detailed information about the topics covered in that guide. The appendices include useful tools for each topic area that provide coalitions and organizations with a jump-start in their planning and implementation activities.
Environmental Management: A Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Use on College Campuses Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Despite the concerns of college presidents, heavy episodic or binge drinking on college campuses has often been viewed as a rite of passage for young adults. Some educators have assumed that most heavy drinkers, if left alone, will learn from their mistakes and then approach alcohol consumption with a greater sense of responsibility. This view not only overlooks the deaths and injuries that student drinkers experience each year but also their negative impact on other students and campus life in general. The purpose of this publication is to present a comprehensive strategy for alcohol and drug prevention in higher education, called environmental management.
Focus On Prevention Center for Substance Abuse Prevention This guide was developed to help a wide range of groups and communities move from concerns about substance abuse to proven and practical solutions. It is a starting point that offers brief, practical, and easy-to-read information that is useful in planning and delivering prevention strategies.
NIAAA Science Education Programs National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism This curricula aims to translate and apply research findings about the science of alcohol use and abuse in a variety of formal and informal educational settings.
Reach Out Now National Teach-In Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration To further alert children, parents, and teachers about the dangers of underage alcohol use, and to reinforce the messages in these school-based materials, SAMHSA encourages prominent national, State, and local leaders to conduct Teach-Ins for fifth- and/or sixth-grade classrooms nationwide during April each year. The already-prepared Teach-In curriculum focuses on the lessons in the Reach Out Now materials.
Reach Out Now: Start Talking Before They Start Drinking, Family Resource Guide (Sixth Grade) Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration This guide is part of Reach Out Now, a program your sixth-grade child may be taught in school. Reach Out Now was developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Scholastic Inc. It can help you open the door to discussion and help young people build skills to make smart and healthy choices for life.
Reach Out Now: Start Talking Before They Start Drinking, Teaching Guide (Sixth Grade) Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration Taking action against underage alcohol use isn't easy, but knowledge is the first step. School is a great place to open a dialog about alcohol with students. As you know, sixth grade isn't too early to start this kind of discussion. This publication, targeted specifically to you—the sixth-grade teacher—will help you and your students, with their parents or guardians as partners, get the conversation started.
Reach Out Now: Talk With Your Fifth Grader About Underage Alcohol Use, Family Resource Guide Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration This guide is part of Reach Out Now, a program your fifth-grade child may be taught in school. Reach Out Now was developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Scholastic Inc. It can help you open the door to discussion and help young people build skills to make smart and healthy choices for life.
Reach Out Now: Talk With Your Fifth Grader About Underage Alcohol Use, Teacher Pages Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration Taking action against underage alcohol use isn’t easy, but knowledge is the first step. School is a great place to open a dialogue about alcohol with students. As you know, fifth grade isn’t too early to start this kind of discussion. This publication, targeted specifically to you—the fifth-grade teacher—will help you and your students, with their parents or guardians as partners, get the conversation started.
Safe Lanes on Campus: A Guide for Preventing Impaired Driving and Underage Drinking Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has published Safe Lanes on Campus: A Guide for Preventing Impaired Driving and Underage Drinking. This guide addresses alcohol use by college students under the minimum legal drinking age, and driving under the influence of alcohol by college students of all ages.
SAMHSA News: Teachers Receive Information on Underage Drinking (Vol. 10, No. 2, Spring 2002) Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration In Spring 2004, in a unique collaboration between SAMHSA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Scholastic Inc., classroom teachers nationwide received a two-part set of materials related to underage drinking. This information is designed especially for use by fifth-grade students, their families, and their teachers.
Setting and Improving Policies for Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Problems on Campus Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Setting and Improving Policies for Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Problems on Campus: A Guide for School Administrators has been written for administrators—including college presidents, vice presidents, deans of students, and deans of residential life—at both 2-year and 4-year institutions of higher education who are responsible for developing and implementing alcohol and drug policies on campus..
Sober Truth On Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act U.S. Congress This Act states that the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, with input and collaboration from other appropriate Federal agencies, States; Indian tribes; territories; and public health, consumer, and alcohol beverage industry groups, annually issue a `report card' to accurately rate the performance of each State in enacting, enforcing, and creating laws, regulations, and programs to prevent or reduce underage drinking. The report card shall include ratings on outcome measures for categories related to the prevalence of underage drinking in each State.
The Cool Spot National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism The Cool Spot's content is drawn from research-based alcohol prevention curriculum for students in grades 6 - 8. The site includes the key elements of effective prevention programs: norms perception correction, facts about alcohol misuse, challenges to positive expectations, and information about peer pressure and resistance skills. The Cool Spot adapts this content in an engaging, interactive format featuring vivid graphics and characters drawn in the 'anime' style of Japanese comics. It focus tested very well in its intended audience of 11-13 year olds, who particularly appreciated the peer pressure and resistance skills sections. The site includes an interactive, 10-question assessment that educators can use to determine whether students have gleaned some of the site's key learning objectives.
Tips For Teens: The Truth About Alcohol Center for Substance Abuse Prevention This brochure provides facts and dispels myths about alcohol use. Information is provided on long-term and short-term effects, physical and psychological risks, impact on sexual performance, and legal implications.
Underage Drinking Prevention Poster National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism The selections in this colorful poster’s vending machine represent the many activities kids can choose to do instead of drinking. Aimed at middle-school underage drinking programs, the poster directs students to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s adolescent underage drinking prevention Web site at www.thecoolspot.gov.
Persons with disabilities having problems accessing the files on this page may email Webmaster@samhsa.hhs.gov or call 240-747-4980 for assistance.
PDF formatted documents require Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader software. If you do not already have this software installed on your computer, please download it from Adobe's Web site.
Web site jointly supported by the following agencies:
