Dear Parents:
Champions for Youth
Tri-Town Youth Services continues to promote Champions for Youth, enlisting parental support in order to successfully, comprehensively guide and protect our youth.
According to state and national data, Connecticut young people have a drinking problem. Connecticut is ranked 10 percent higher than the national average for youth alcohol use, and our children are using at earlier ages?as young as 11 years old!

Alcohol use cannot be considered a simple rite of passage for Connecticut teens. Alcohol  kills. It is one common factor in the four leading causes of death among teens: drinking and driving crashes, homicides, suicides and drowning. These tragic consequences of underage drinking are the primary reasons why adults in Connecticut are concerned about and support policy solutions to reduce youth access to alcohol and increase enforcement of existing underage drinking laws.

The underage drinking problem cannot be viewed solely as a matter of a teen’s individual choice and responsibility. Youth drinking has reached epidemic proportions because it is socially acceptable, does not carry heavy or consistent penalties, and is portrayed as appealing in the media.

Hence, there is no simple solution to reducing underage drinking. Champions for Youth is one strategy we can use to create public awareness for adults and to enlist adult support to help enforce the minimum legal drinking age and to provide positive role modeling for our youth. We’re pleased to report that in District 4, the tri-town area, the Superintendent of Schools has pledged support, as have all three towns’ first selectmen, resident state troopers, and over 100 parents and role models in our towns.

Research shows:

• Alcohol is the drug of choice for young people—beer and wine coolers in particular.
• Children who start drinking before the age of 15 are three times as likely to develop alcoholism during adulthood as those who wait until the age of 21 to drink.
• Children who get consistent no-use messages from their parents or other caring adults are three to four times less likely to abuse substances.

If you would like us to forward a pledge form to you, so you, too, can be a Champion for Youth, please call our office at 526-3600. Thank you.