Century Council Blog
Boston Globe Highlights Social Host Laws
Last week on The Century Council's blog, we highlighted an article on Medheadlines.com that discussed the issue of social host laws. Unfortunately, this week we read about the devastating consequences that can occur when teens have access to alcohol.
In the February 25th edition of the Boston Globe, there is an editorial that highlights the deaths of two Massachusetts teenagers, one who was confirmed to have been drinking and another in which alcohol is suspected in her death. It is these tragic stories, which we read about far too often, that push us in our quest for stiffer penalties and tougher social host laws.
It is a fact - youth report their main source of alcohol is from their family or friends. There are numerous countermeasures that can be implemented to address this issue. A combination of effective penalties such as license suspension and comprehensive enforcement, coupled with public education efforts will enhance each community's efforts to fight this problem. The Century Council supports license suspension penalties, mandatory community service, mandatory fines dedicated to underage drinking prevention, and graduated penalties for repeat offenses. Additionally, we support the passage of social host liability laws that prohibit adults from providing and/or serving alcohol to people under 21.
Working to restrict access to alcohol by those under the legal purchase age is everyone's goal, but to achieve success, we must all take action together and work to change the perception that the underage consumption of alcohol is a rite of passage. As the editorial states, "parents must stand firm."
Join the Community
For nearly 20 years, The Century Council has developed and distributed educational resources to assist parents, youth, educators and communities nationwide in their fight against underage drinking. During this time, The Century Council has also learned what others are doing to be part of the solution.
Join the Community, the recently launched section of this website provides a resource for all those who are interested in either finding or sharing creative ways to deal with the dangers of underage drinking.
Want ideas on how to talk to your kids about underage drinking? Are you looking for a speaker to come to your school? Are you writing a paper on the effects of alcohol on the brain? Or simply, want to see what others are doing? The section "Find a Program" is a user-friendly search engine that will allow you to see examples of the efforts taking place throughout our nation.
Are you already doing your part? Then, this is your opportunity to "Share" with others what you are doing in your community. Posting your information will allow others to learn more about your organization or initiative and perhaps become part of your efforts to deter underage drinking.
Participation is this forum is free, voluntary and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation for The Century Council. We encourage you to join the community!
In the News: Social Hosting Laws Incriminate Parents of Underage Drinkers
Far too often we read a heartbreaking story of a tragedy involving underage drinking, and more often than not the source of alcohol for these youth is their family or friends. For nearly 20 years, The Century Council has been addressing the issue of adults providing alcohol to youth through stiffer penalties and tougher social host laws.
Medheadlines, a website that publishes articles on important medical news and other health information, recently posted an article that dealt with social host laws. "Social Hosting Laws Incriminate Parents of Underage Drinkers," mentions many important issues involving this very important component to stopping underage drinking. In 2006, The Century Council joined the Federal Trade Commission and other national organizations to launch a public awareness campaign to stop underage drinking. This initiative called "We Don't Serve Teens," is designed to inform adults that providing youth with alcohol is unsafe, illegal, and irresponsible. What this program showed was that overwhelmingly, parents, do not believe it is acceptable for other adults to provide beverage alcohol to underage youth. In a commissioned survey, ninety-six percent of adults said it is unacceptable for another parent or other adult to provide alcohol to their teenager without their permission. A significant percentage of parents said they would contact the police, file charges against the other parent, or take similar action if they discovered their child was being given access to alcohol.
The Century Council supports license suspension penalties, mandatory community service, fines, and graduated penalties for repeat offenders who furnish alcohol to minors. Working to restrict access to alcohol by those under the legal purchase age is everyone's goal, but to achieve success, we must all take action together and work to change the perception that the underage consumption of alcohol is a rite of passage.
Solutions to Hardcore Drunk Driving
Together with the Congressional Stop DUI Caucus, The Century Council teamed up with its partners to present joint recommendations to Congress this week in a briefing for Congressional staff. One of the speakers at the briefing was The Honorable Kent Lawrence, judge of the State Court of Clarke County in Athens, Georgia and a national leader on DWI Courts. The Century Council, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, the National Judicial College, the National District Attorneys Association, the American Probation and Parole Association, the National Association of Prosecutors, and the National Partnership on Alcohol Misuse and Crime are urging Members of Congress to provide funding to states in the next highway bill that will reduce hardcore drunk driving through expansion of DWI courts, Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutors and trainings for criminal justice professionals. For more information on these joint recommendations, click here.
Six hours of YouTube may be good for your teen
Nowadays, knowing how to navigate the Web is vital for teens - besides it's not like they would be hanging out with you
'Every single minute, as soon as she gets home from school until she goes to sleep at night, she's on the Internet. And if we try to pry her away, it's this huge fight. We hardly ever get to spend any time with her. It's like this powerful force that keeps pulling her back. All she does is sit there in front of that screen. Are her brain and her body turning into mush?"
First it was television. Then it was video games (especially for boys).
"Hey, what's wrong with video games? At least I don't watch as much TV."
But now it's the Internet that holds them hostage more than anything else.
They socialize. They talk to each other. They comment on each other's photo galleries. They get information. They play online games. They watch the latest YouTube video.
And it's just one way in which teenagers connect to their world of friends, and to a huge world of information. Often these connections are simultaneous: They're checking out a friend's Facebook page while they comment about it to another friend on their cellphone, while getting an urgent text message from yet another friend who's telling a joke he's just heard. (It is, of course, multitasking.)
So parents worry: Is all that time that they spend online - just the time itself, the fact that they are hooked up to the Internet for such a large proportion of their waking hours - bad for them?
Does it take away from physical activity? Yes. Does it take away from family time? Yes - to some degree. It's not as if all teenagers were dying to hang out with their parents before the Internet entered the picture.
"This family time has already gone over three minutes. Can I leave now? Please."
Does it erode intellectual and social skills? They may lose the ability to write in whole, clear sentences, or the tolerance for being out of touch with friends for longer than five minutes.
"Janelle, I think one of my fingernails is chipped."
But over all, I think, the drawbacks are outweighed by the benefits: The kids are learning the skills necessary to succeed - or just survive - in today's world. They're learning how to communicate with others in the language of the world they will inhabit. They're learning how to find information. Most of them are better at it than us.
A recent study directed by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University stated that for kids today, "the Internet is a positive and powerful space for socializing, learning and engaging in public life."
And anyway, what would they do if they weren't on the Internet?
"They could read a book. Or maybe develop a hobby. Or go outside to get some exercise, for goodness' sake. I don't know, maybe they could write poetry. They could experience what it's like to be alone for at least a little bit of the time, not constantly - every waking minute - hooked up with some friend."
All of this is true. What would happen if you took away all Internet use?
"She just sits there staring at the wall making these little sighing noises, and occasionally a little tear runs down her cheek."
Look, some control is good. They do not need to be on the Internet all the time.
"You are so wrong. I do need to be on the Internet all the time. How am I going to know what's going on? What if I miss something?"
But I do not think it is possible to say how much is too much for any given child.
Rather you should go with what you are comfortable with, and that will vary from parent to parent and child to child.
Better, I think, is to demand that there are certain times that they be off the Internet: an end time at night, during family dinnertime, any time you want to be with them, and perhaps a completely arbitrary Internet-free time - for example, an hour a night or Saturdays.
They will hate it, but those are your rules.
How do you enforce this? If they break your rules too regularly, you can temporarily take away Internet use - for example, for a day.
In effect, they can use the Internet. It is just that they have to do it within your rules.
My main point: Through the Internet they learn how to interact with the world. It is just that the interaction takes place on a screen.
Next column: How much should you be monitoring what they're doing online?
Got a teen who ignores curfew? Who's underachieving at school? Who's crabby 24/7? If you have a question about parenting teens, clinical psychologist and parenting author Anthony E. Wolf would like to help. Send your questions to awolf@globeandmail.com to get Dr. Wolf's expert advice. Your question may be featured in his advice column, which appears every two weeks in the print edition of Globe Life. (Your name will not be published.)
Source: [Toronto Globe and Mail]
Antawn Jamison in Nickelodeon Magazine
All-Star basketball pro Antawn Jamison is the second athlete that will be featured in Ask, Listen, Learn ads appearing in Nickelodeon Magazine throughout 2009. We interviewed Antawn about living a healthy and active lifestyle. Here is a sneak peak:
Q: What makes you laugh?
A: My family & friends
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: Chicken & Pasta
Q: Even a terrific athlete feels both positive and negative peer pressure while he is growing up. Can you give an example of how positive peer pressure has lifted you up—and how you’ve stood strong against negative peer pressure, such as the pressure to drink alcohol underage?
A: When I went to the University of North Carolina, it was your duty to uphold a certain standard…
For the rest of Antawn's answer and to read the full interview visit www.asklistenlearn.com.
