According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, underage drinking is a serious public health problem in the United States.
Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America’s youth, and drinking by young people causes multiple health and safety risks.
The 2018 Prevention Needs Assessment (PNA) for Sweetwater County’s data shows that 33.5% of Sweetwater County high school students consumed alcohol within the past 30 days. Of the 33.5%, 22.29 obtained the alcohol from another person over the age of 21 and 15.25% obtained the alcohol from their parents.
Underage drinking is illegal and can cause serious harm to teens as the brain is still developing, not to mention the increased risk of teens driving impaired. According to the Alcohol and Crime report from the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police (WASCOP), there were 30 underage DUI arrests in Sweetwater County in 2018.
Sweetwater County Prevention will be running the Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking® campaign to educate parents and individuals over the age of 21 about the health and safety risks associated with serving alcohol at teen house parties and increases awareness of and compliance with state underage drinking laws.
Have a conversation with your teen today about the dangers of underage drinking!
If you have further questions about Sweetwater County Prevention, please contact Megan Weston mweston@swcounseling.org or Dani Deters ddeters@swcounseling.org
