• WARNING for teens and women of childbearing age.  The CDC states that women ages 15-44 should avoid alcohol unless they are using birth control. Alcohol can harm a developing baby before a woman knows she is pregnant.  The CDC estimates more than 3 million women are at risk of exposing a developing fetus to alcohol. This warning is to reduce the cases of fetal alcohol syndrome.    (CBS Morning News, USA Today, February 3, 2016)
  
  
• PARENTS:  For young people, alcohol is the drug of choice. In fact, alcohol is used by more young people than tobacco or illicit drugs. Although most children under age 14 have not yet begun to drink, early adolescence is a time of special risk for beginning to experiment with alcohol.
  
  While some parents and guardians may feel relieved that their teen is "only" drinking, it is important to remember that alcohol is a powerful, mood-altering drug. Not only does alcohol affect the mind and body in often unpredictable ways, but teens lack the judgment and coping skills to handle alcohol wisely.
  
  As a result:  The message is clear:  Alcohol use is very risky business for young people. And the longer children delay alcohol use, the less likely they are to develop any problems associated with it. That’s why it is so important to help your child avoid any alcohol use.
  
  The best way to influence your child to avoid drinking is to have a strong, trusting relationship with him or her. Research shows that teens are much more likely to delay drinking when they feel they have a close, supportive tie with a parent or guardian. Moreover, if your son or daughter eventually does begin to drink, a good relationship with you will help protect him or her from developing alcohol-related problems.
  
  The opposite is also true: When the relationship between a parent and teen is full of conflict or is very distant, the teen is more likely to use alcohol and to develop drinking-related problems.
  
  This connection between the parent–child relationship and a child’s drinking habits makes a lot of sense when you think about it. First, when children have a strong bond with a parent, they are apt to feel good about themselves and therefore be less likely to give in to peer pressure to use alcohol. Second, a good relationship with you is likely to encourage your children to try to live up to your expectations, because they want to maintain their close tie with you.  For ways to build a strong, supportive bond with your child, view College Drinking - Changing the culture at
  "http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/otheralcoholinformation/makedifference.aspx"
  Or A Parent’s Guide to Substance Abuse on Campus at "http://www.koolrecovery.com/parents-guide-guide-substance-abuse-campus/"
  
  
• The terrible impact of alcohol on many young brains is now medically established.  (source:  https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm)
  
  
• Most incidents of rape among college students involve the consumption of alcohol or drugs.   Drugs and alcohol impede judgment and the ability to react and think clearly.  In addition, date rape drugs are dropped into alcohol.  (source:  “Protecting Students From Sexual Assault, The U.S. Department of Justice, 2016 study released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics); Zinzow, et al. (2011), Krebs, et al. (2016), and Fisher, B. S., Daigle, L. E., Cullen, F. T., & Turner, M. G. (2003). “Reporting sexual victimization to the police and others: Results from a national-level study of college women [external link].” Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30(1), 6-38)
  

• In 2014 in Spokane County, 11% of adolescents reported binge drinking (higher than that of Washington state (9%).  Binge drinking increased as age increased.  (Spokane Counts 2015, Spokane Regional Health District) 
  
  
• Children whose parents allow them to sip adult beverages are more likely to become problem drinkers, according to research.  They are 5 times more likely to have downed a full glass of booze by the 9th grade, and 4 times more likely to be binge drinkers.    (New York Daily News, reported on CBS Morning News, April 1, 2015)
  

• The adolescent brain is more vulnerable to brain damage, toxins and addiction, because adult warning signals do not occur in the adolescent brain.  Children who start drinking before the age of 14 are much more likely to be chemically dependent later on in life.  40% of children who start drinking at age 14 or younger report having problems with chemical dependency, compared with 10% of those who wait until they turn 21, the legal drinking age in Washington.   (Information about Alcohol and Medicine, Alcohol MD, Adolescent Drinking, http://www.alcoholmd.com/alcohol_gender_age.htm)
  

• In 2014, 14% of adolescents reported using an illicit drug in the last month in Spokane County.  Research related to substance use by adolescent youth is clear.  Findings indicate that substance use is linked to a wide range of academic, social, mental and physical consequences including poor academic progress, dropping out of school, increased risky behaviors, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency and crime (Hawkins et al. 1992).  For example, Mandell and colleagues (2002) found that moderate substance use among middle and high school students substantially lowered overall academic achievement (standardized test scores) – a full level – as compared to groups of students with minimal or no engagement in substance use.  
  (April 2015 Washington State Needs Assessment Profile, Adolescent Substance Abuse, p. 70.
  http://www.k12.wa.us/SecondaryEducation/AWARE/pubdocs/ProjectAWARENeedsAssessmentProfile.pdf)
  
  
• Youth who drink before the age of 15 are 6 times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after age 21.  (CDC report, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings)
  
  
  

• Warn Boys and Youth:  There are 4 ways a man's health affects his offspring.  A fathers lifestyle may have far more effect on a child's health than doctors originally believed. Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center found, that there are 4 ways a man's health affects his offspring:
  

1)  An alcoholic father raises the risk of fetal alcohol syndrome and developmental difficulties, as three quarters of babies with fetal alcohol problems had fathers who were alcoholics.
2)  Kids of older fathers (40 and older) have higher rates of schizophrenia, autism, and birth defects.
3)  Your dad's diet impacts how you react to food.
4)  A dad who smokes may cause DNA damage.

Fertility specialists say men are not immune to reproductive aging.  A man's lifestyle, age, and genetics can play just as significant a role in the health of a baby as the mother's health.  ("Dads lifestyle linked to kids' health issues," and "Influence of paternal preconception exposures on their offspring: through epigenetics to phenotype," American Journal of Stem Cells, April 2016)