Letters to the editor for Friday, May 15, 2015

Parents talk to teens about drinking

Prom and graduation season means a lot of preparation time for high schoolers and their parents. Parents spend months helping her picking out the right prom dress or planning his graduation party, but it’s important to find time to talk with teens about making safe choices when it comes to underage drinking.

For more than 20 years, research has proven parents have the greatest influence on their teens’ decisions about drinking alcohol. In fact, parents’ influence has increased 24 percent since 1991, according to the GfK Roper Youth Report. Parents play an important role in helping teens make smart decisions when it comes to alcohol. Those who want to use their role as an opportunity to positively influence their teens can start by downloading a free copy of the Anheuser-Busch Family Talk About Drinking parent guide at Familytalkaboutdrinking.com. The guide and other available resources aim to help prevent underage drinking by encouraging parents to start and have ongoing conversations about alcohol with their children.

We at Capital Beverages would like to thank the parents, educators, law enforcement and many others who are making progress in reducing underage drinking. Let’s continue this positive trend by talking it out with teens this prom and graduation season.

Sincerely,

Jason Brown

General manager, Capital Beverages