Ads, Billboards Highlight Younger Children

By Leslie Quander Wooldridge

Underage drinking is about high school kids, right? Unfortunately, the problem is appearing in children in middle school and elementary school, too. SAMHSA and the Ad Council have joined together to produce new public service announcements (PSAs) that reflect those age groups.

The PSAs support the Surgeon General’s Call to Action nationwide (see Reach Out Now Educates Teachers, Students). And as part of SAMHSA’s continuing leadership role in the Federal underage drinking prevention effort, the Agency is collaborating with stakeholders to disseminate the PSAs and other materials in time for Alcohol Awareness Month in April. (See Underage Drinking: A Call to Action.)

Brandon and Emily PSAs

Recently, SAMHSA released two new video PSAs to emphasize the young age at which children begin drinking.

“My name is Brandon. In 9 years, I’ll be an alcoholic,” says the young boy featured in the “Brandon’s Story” PSA. After greetings from adult attendees at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, he adds, “I’ll start drinking with the older kids and whatever they do, I’ll do.”

In “Emily’s Story,” a young girl says she’ll be an alcoholic in 7 years. “I’ll start drinking in eighth grade, but my parents won’t really notice, ’cuz I’ll do okay in school and everything will seem okay,” she begins. She pauses before saying, “But everything won’t be okay.”

The new PSAs continue the national campaign launched in fall 2005. The campaign’s objective is to help reduce or delay the onset of underage drinking. Specifically, the campaign targets parents of children age 11 to 15. Parents are encouraged to talk with their children early and often about alcohol, especially before they start drinking.

As Brandon says in one ad, “I know it will start with alcohol. I’m just not sure how it’s going to end.” Each of the ads, however, closes with the reminder that children who begin drinking at an early age are more likely to develop alcohol problems later in life.

SAMHSA’s PSAs respond to underage drinkers and parents with one question: “Why take the risk?”

For more information on the campaign, or to view these PSAs, visit www.stopalcoholabuse.gov.

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