“Too many Americans consider underage drinking a rite of passage to adulthood,” says former acting surgeon general Kenneth Morisugu. Research shows that young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life. But from 2001-2007, youth exposure to alcohol product advertising on T.V. rose by 38%, and in 2007 approximately 1/5 of all alcohol products ads. on T.V. were on T.V. programming for which viewers' ages are between 12 and 20.
So my questions for you . . . are children overexposed to alcohol advertising? What can be done to help children not start drinking until they are of legal age?
Thanks!
Melody Nelligan
19 comments:
as long as there is the fun college parties and the people to go alone with it there is going to be alot of underage drinking. when teens get in high school the drinking starts becasue they are partying and at parties there are drinks. i dont think there is no way to stop underage drinking. i just say parents should talk to there childeren and tell them about drinking. parents need to take a big stand in this position its all up to the parents tell there childeren about drinking and the help of parents may help lower the drinking rate of underage drinking.
ASHIA STEVENS
i dont think underage drinking is really that bad. yeah alcohol influences some stupid ideas but in the end the person did what they wanted. they say the drunk mind speaks for the sober hear right? so aside from doing stupid things while drinking what is so bad about underage drinking? personally, i think its fine at a certain age, like sixteen. but a twelve year old drinking is just bad parenting
I believe the issue is not only with the company's that advertise it, but the parents as well. IO feel the best course of action is to talk and explain to others that drinking is not necessarily bad thing, but teach that it should be done in moderation. For example trying a few sips of dads bear at the age of 12 I learned it tasted nasty, and yeah I occasionally had a sip, but mostly I stayed away from it. I think that if it is introduced in a family setting environment, and explained with a sit down conversation, then their will be less casualty's then in most cases.
Cameron Smucker
I don't think theres a way to stop the underage drinking, unless you crack down the parents. There either the ones supporting there kids with it or there kids friend, sisters or brothers are. The parents should let kids drink until college. Its not a good idea to drink in high school either if the partents don't know then they can't stop there kids. Parents should be buying the kids alchol or anything like that because thats not teaching the kids anything there just going to keep asking there parents to get them there stuff and keep drinking. Its just going to hurt the kids in the long run and the family, because who knows what could happen later on in that kids life if they started to drink when they were young.
Aubrey Welch
My parents always drank around me when I was a kid. They didn't overdo it very often, but I could tell how much they enjoyed it. I started drinking when I was 15 and have been drinking pretty much regularly since then--over 10 years now. I think alcohol is glorified in our culture. One reason people drink is to make an event (or even just a normal day) feel like a party, a holiday, or a celebration. Drinking goes hand in hand with leisure, so if you drink, you feel like you're living the good life. Of course ads take full advantage of this mindset, and it comes as no surprise that ads are aiming at a younger audience, hoping to hook them early to a long life of drinking (and spending). I think once you are tuned in to the drinking culture, be it through parents, friends, or media, it takes strong discipline to tune out. Once you get caught up in the drinking culture, you pretty much stick with it until you hit bottom (DUI, alcoholism) or find another way to get the same buzz you get from drinking (drugs, sports success, new city or new group of friends).
I sometimes wish I had not started drinking so early because it feels like I have used drinking as a substitute for other things I might have done in life, such as becoming a serious photographer or traveling the world. Instead of getting off my butt and going after worthwhile pursuits, I pour another drink and dream about them. Kind of sad, really, and yet I have had a LOT of fun drinking with friends and family that I might have enjoyed less totally sober.
But I'm getting off topic . . . to answer more directly: I do think children are overexposed to drinking via parents, friends, older siblings, and the media. It would make a huge difference if parents didn't drink in front of their children, and if they talked to them about the dangers of over-indulging. Very rare that kind of communication nowadays--only in non-drinking households, probably.
James Koltz
I really think that they should cut down on the commericals about drinking the alcohol , and show some commercials about the harmful effects about thedrinking of alcohol. People are given a choice about their drinking; whether to drink or not to drink. College students tend to overindulge and considering the crime rate on some these campuses, it would pretty much do them very much good to stop drinking over a certain limit.They need the advertisments but, they do not know that while they are producing the wrong image about the drinking and how much freedom and fun , it also produces the wrong image about those things that really are associated with drinking alcohol, they never show too much of the right thing. Tracey Boswell
I do agree that there is way to much underage drinking. I was not an underage drinker. My parents talked to me very openly about drinker and what it can or would do. I think that helped me understand it better than my friends that parents were not open to talk to their kids about it. I totally disagree with the parents that let their children drink at home.That is not showing them any responsibility. I think it just shows that they can do whatever they want. People don't realize how many kids die each year from drinking.They don't just die from drinking to much but, from car accidents, and being in the car when a drink driver is driving. We need to make this a bigger topic in schools, and with parents. This may save lifes. Dawn Smith
I don't think that the teens are over exposed to alcohol as far as t.v programing is concerned. There is alcohol sold at gas station, grocery stores, restaurants, and etc. Teens are already to young to drink, so if they are doing it now, that is say that they are is going to find a way. Parent just need to instill in their children that drinking before legal age is wrong, and hope they listen. I feel the age limit should be drop to 18. I say this because must children are on there way to college. They are entering adult and should be able to make chooses for themselves. Maybe, there won't be so much underage drinking if they know they have the freedom to do so. The college life brings parties.
Brittany Williams
There are a lot of alcohol advertising that children do see on a daily basis but you can't blame them for what the child decides to do, they are not responsible for the child who wants to drink, and plus it is up to the parents to talk to their child about the negative influences that they will encounter in the real world, the best thing that can be done to help children not to drink until the legal age is to give them all the helpful information they need to make a wise decision about drinking,such as the cause and affect--- ex: if you drink too much you can have liver problems.
S.Cooper
I agree that kids are drinking WAY too young, and possibly laws set so that a business can't try to target younger kids into using their product(drinking), but drinking is something almost all 16+ kids do now a days and it's not really needed but it's not really possible to stop either, so maybe parents being more open with their kids so that they understand their limits and don't drive etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc!!!!
Matt Funk
Underage drinking is one of those things that no matter what we do its going to happen. Alcohol is something very easy to get a hold of now days, and with all the movies and tv shows out now about drinking kids want to have fun like they show it on these movies so therefor they are going to drink with their friends. I think that drinking early before you go to college is good because you can build up a tolerance and not get alcohol poisining when you do end up living on your own at college.
Kevin McBride
I think it might help if they lowered some of the restrictions on drinking. I think a lot of the problems that our society has with alcohol stem from the fact that the time that alcohol becomes legal, or even just convenient, coincides directly with the first time in life that a large part of our youth is free of direct supervision. In America college and drinking are closely tied together.In Europe the drinking age varies, but it is almost universally lower. In Germany for example, people are rarely belligerently drunk in public and at night you can see small groups of people amiably walking down the street, open drinks in hand. I think that if the drinking age in America were lowered to 15 or 16 then parents could directly supervise their youth with their first experiences with alcohol so that by the time those youth moved away, they would already know how to handle their drink.
David Nadermann
Underage drinking is a huge problem. That's why there are laws. Children are overexposed to alcohol. Even if it's not on tv, but if their parents are drinking at home a lot then they pick it up from them. There are so many alcohol related deaths that could be avoided. Alcohol can affect the brains development up to age 21. There is probably a good reasons why the "drinking age" is 21+. Alcohol companies know that kids that don't have bills to pay will buy their product.
Sarah Albin
there isn't really anything you can do to stop it. I don't think the ads are that bad. I mean the companies have to advertise but they aren't going overboard with it. If they want to drink, let them. It's their own lives they are messing up. the only way for them to stop or slow down is for them to experience the bad effect the day after.
Samantha Odendaal
I think it will be close to impossible to keep children from exposure to anything they show intrest in. In our day in age there are so many sources to go to and you can find anything your heart disires. Even if we stopped the advertisements there is still peer pressure so one way or another they are going to get that exposure so you just have to do the best you can to instill good values into your children and hope they take your words to heart and make the right choices.
To be honest i kind of think it's to late to stop under age drinking. It has got to the point to where parents are the ones buying the drinks for their own children. Also sometimes a under age person may know some one over 21 so they will just have them buy it for them. There are so many "EASY" ways to get alcohol, it has got way out of hand!
I feel like alcohol advertisments are not that big of a factor until after someone has drank for the first time, I believe that friends have the biggest influence on kids drinking. But, I do feel as though children are overexposed to advertising. Not only are they overexposed, but when they see the commercials or whatever advertisment, it always tries to portray that you will have a good time when drinking, which is not the message to be sending to the younger generations.
Kenneth East
yes I think kids are over exposed. I myself did not start drinking until I was 21 it wasn't as much parenting about alcohol as it was my own decision. Kids have a choice to give into peer pressure or walk their own line. Most times they give into alcohol thinking that it is what adults do so it must be cool or right. T.V. shows kids these things in order to sell products and i think parents should teach their kids to make the right decisions rather than letting them go off and do what they want.
Children are definately overexposed to alcohol! (As well as sex,violance,smoking and drug use.) TV is the worst of the violators. I'm a lunatic? Leave your TV off for a month and see how much of a culture shock it is to turn it back on.
Kids today, even if the parents are nondrinkers, see advertisements for alcohol or see it common place in movies or programs on TV. The commercials are on sports, daytime TV and even family programming. (So much for restrictions.) The Alcohol ads are usually high dollar ads also. Think about the superbowl ads. Of course, everybody wanted to see those! How many were for alcohol? That's where the big advertising money comes in. As much as it should happen, it would be hard to get the networks to stop advertising because of money--even at the risk of damage that may be done to children.
I remember growing up that it was "cool" to drink. Even as a kid, we would pretend to drink and smoke (seems those go together). It seemed like the adult thing to do. That was long before the advertising and show content was as intense as now. I can only hope that the programs like DARE, church outreaches or parental input stand in the gap to help counter the influence.
The above mentioned programs may help, but not very much if parents do not reinforce that message in the home. If drinking is common place at home, the old adage "Habits are caught not taught" would apply. Kids do what they see Mom & Dad do. Programs have a hard time changing that. Parents HAVE to take their responsibilty to BE parents seriously. The welfare of their kids depends on it!
Joann Logsdon
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