Stop Underage Drinking
Female Athletes Promote Healthy and Active Lifestyles
The Century Council recently teamed up with 3 influential female athletes to help promote healthy and active lifestyles among teenagers through radio public service announcements (PSA):
Misty May-Treanor, a professional beach volleyball player. Misty has won more tournaments than any other female player with 103 career wins. Misty was a gold medalist in beach volleyball at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. Misty and her teammate Kerri Walsh have been called "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time."
Sue Bird, a professional women's basketball player. Sue is a two-time national champion with the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team and she was the first player to be picked in the 2002 WNBA Draft. She currently plays for the WNBA's Seattle Storm, having won the national championship in 2004. She is also a member of the 2008 gold medal winning United States Women's Olympic basketball team.
Natasha Watley, a professional softball player. Natasha is currently with the USA Softball Women’s National Team. She plays the position of shortstop and first base, and helped her team to win the gold medal for softball at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and a silver metal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
To check out the PSAs head to our Media Center and take a listen!
New Underage Drinking Research From SAMHSA
SAMHSA has released a supplemental report from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) which looks at underage drinking by source and how the alcohol was obtained.
More than one in four youth ages 12 to 20 report they consumed alcohol in the past month, with 31% of these youth reporting they paid for the alcohol they last consumed and 69% reporting they got the last alcohol they consumed for free. Sources of alcohol vary by age, but among younger youth (12-14 year olds) the leading sources of alcohol is family, whereas a plurality of older youth (18-20 year olds) report their leading source of alcohol is a non-relative aged 21 or older.
Regardless of their source of alcohol, youth who paid for the last alcohol they consumed drink more, on average, than those who did not pay for the alcohol they consumed (6 drinks and 3.9 drinks, respectively.) Additional highlights from the report include paying for alcohol increases with increasing age and that females are less likely to pay for the alcohol they last consumed than their male peers (76% and 63%, respectively). The complete report can be viewed here.
New Survey
The Century Council commissioned a new national survey of young adults (18-24 year olds) including college students and non-students to investigate the impacts of college attendance and an active and healthy lifestyle, including involvement in sports, on underage drinking behaviors. The survey found that non-students report more dangerous behaviors than their college student peers - drinking at an earlier age, drinking more often, and consuming more. To learn more about the survey and its findings, click here.
Washington State's Governor Carded
Back in July, Christine Gregoire, Washington's Governor, was carded upon entering a bar. Unfortunately, Gregoire did not have her ID with her, which meant that the doorman had to turn her away from the bar. Even while people vouched for her ("She's the governor!") and her age ("She's 61!"), the doorman stood his ground and did not allow her in without an ID. Here at The Century Council, we applaud the doorman, the bar, and the state of Washington for carding appropriately to prevent underage drinking – even when it's the governor at the door! After the incident, Hannah's, the bar that Gregoire was turned away from, did a little updating of one of our signs to show their commitment to carding.
(photo credit: source)
Attorney General Patrick Lynch Honored
The Century Council honored Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch for his outstanding commitment to reducing drunk driving and underage drinking on August 26th.
"As the current President of the National Association of Attorneys General; General Lynch has dedicated his Presidential term to improving the safety of our nation's children," said Brandy Nannini, Vice President of Government Relations for The Century Council. "We applaud Attorney General Lynch's leadership and honor him for the progress he has made to reduce drunk driving and underage drinking not only in Rhode Island, but across the United States."
For more about the event, click here.
Sixth Annual Congressional Awards Reception
In July, The Century Council hosted its sixth annual Congressional Awards reception on Capitol Hill where we awarded 37 Members of Congress for their ongoing dedication to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking. Understanding the scope of this national problem, this year's award recipients joined us to help educate youth and their parents from middle school all the way up to college-aged students about responsible decision-making concerning beverage alcohol. Some Members launched our initiatives in their district, others signed onto the Council-supported HR 4453 (The Underage Drinking Prevention Act), and several Members did both. A complete list of award recipients can be found here.