Alcohol use among children and adolescents starts early and increases rapidly with age. In 2008, 15.9 percent of 8th graders, 28.8 percent of 10th graders, and 43.1 percent of 12th graders reported drinking an alcoholic beverage in the previous month. Heavy drinking is a problem at all three grade levels. Among eighth graders, about 1 in 20 (5.4 percent) reported being drunk at least once in the past month. Nearly 1 out of every 7 10th graders (14.4 percent) and about 2 out of every 7 12th graders (27.6 percent) reported being drunk at least once in the last month.
To help educate young people and caring adults about the risks associated with underage drinking, the Federal Government’s Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking is supporting a series of Town Hall Meetings. The meetings will take place in communities across America during the week of March 22–March 26, which coincides with the start of April’s Alcohol Awareness Month.
North Lawndale Friends of Library, Prevention Force Family Center and Career Educational Network Center is hosting a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, March 18, 2010 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at the Douglass Library Branch located at 3353 W. 13th Street, Chicago Illinois.
The purpose of the Teen Against Underage Drinking Town Hall Meeting is to increase parents talking with their children about drinking on prom night and the hazards of drinking. Recent statistics only affirm parents’ concerns about teenage consumption of alcohol and prom night has been seen in recent years as a drinking rite of passage for some adolescents. Also, this meeting will give us the opportunity to educate parents, teachers, officials, youth, and other community members about the impact of underage drinking and will allow us to develop possible solutions
