ALCOHOL: How to Keep Youth Safe

Alcohol use is a serious problem in Wisconsin. Taking away car keys is not enough to keep teens safe. Falls, fights, sexual assaults, poisonings, and death are not worth the risk.

How to create a safe environment:

• Ensure the parties your child attends and hosts are alcohol-free. In Wisconsin, providing alcohol or a place for your kid’s friends to drink is illegal and can result in fines up to $10,000 and/or jail time. For tips on how to keep parties safe and legal, visit our Not in My House Campaign website. 

• Support the minimum drinking age of 21. Research shows that if you disapprove of underage drinking, your teen will be less likely to drink

• Monitor your alcohol supply. If you have a garage beer fridge or liquor cabinet, lock it up. Contact us for a FREE lock!

Some tips on what to say to your teen:

• Talk about the effects of alcohol. Alcohol is a powerful drug that slows down the body and mind. It impairs vision, clear thinking, judgment, coordination, and reaction time, especially for youth, whose “logical brains” are still developing. Research shows that people who drink heavily are slower in thinking and reacting, even when they are sober!

• Stress that no level of drinking is safe for those under age 21. Teens who drink are 70% more likely to have problems with addiction later in life.

• Focus on short and long-term consequences that matter to your child. In addition to interfering with healthy brain development, youth alcohol use can also negatively affect information processing, learning, attention, and mental health, making it more difficult to realize your dreams in sports, music, arts, academics, and just generally having a happy and healthy life.

• Make sure your teen knows you are available for help. Try: "Never drink and drive or ride with someone who has been drinking. People are very bad at judging how seriously alcohol has affected them. Please call home instead. We’ll come get you with no questions asked at that time."