In 2022, Governor Spencer Cox signed a proclamation recognizing the month of April as Alcohol Awareness Month in Utah.
The month was developed to increase awareness and understanding of the causes and treatment of one of our nation's top public health problems: alcohol use disorder.
Tiffany Clason, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS), says it's also a great time for them and their Parents Empowered campaign to promote the reduction of underage drinking.
Regular alcohol use (known as past 30-day use) by underage youth in Utah is at the lowest rates ever recorded at 4.3 percent, down 64 percent since 2005, yet there is more work to do, as any given month there are roughly 15,869 Utah kids drinking. (2021 Utah SHARP Survey).
Because parents play a fundamental role in protecting kids' healthy brains, the Parents Empowered underage drinking prevention campaign is directed to parents, who are the number one reason kids don't drink.
Tiffany says anytime your child is about to leave the house, check in with these questions known as "The 5 W's":
o Where are you going?
o Who will you be with?
o What will you be doing?
o When will you be home?
o Will there be alcohol?
While kids may seen a little annoyed, ultimately, it shows your kids that you care about them and want to keep them healthy and safe.
Young, still-developing brains can be more vulnerable to addiction and even some alcohol use can harm areas of the brain associated with decision-making, memory, learning and impulse control.
To learn more about Parents Empowered and what you can do to help prevent your child from experimenting with alcohol visit parentsempowered.org.
