Shatter The Myths With Facts!

The Prevention Coalition of Mercer County is an established substance abuse prevention coalition serving the 12 municipalities of Mercer County. We are made up of county leadership, law enforcement, educators, parents, youth, healthcare professionals, faith communities, municipal alliances, business professionals, civic and volunteer community organizations and individual members of the community. It is vital to the health of our community that effective, coordinated prevention and treatment services be available. Alcohol, tobacco and other drug use problems directly and indirectly affect thousands of residents in Mercer County.

MYTH: Allowing teens to drink at home will make it less likely they will drink elsewhere.

FACT: Parents don’t have to drink with their children to teach them responsible drinking. A recent U.S. study shows that when parents don’t allow their teens to drink alcohol in high school, their children drink less in college and have fewer negative alcoholrelated consequences than do kids of more permissive parents.

MYTH: European teens are less likely to have drinking problems because they are allowed to start drinking at an earlier age.

FACT: A recent European study tested the theory that parents can teach responsible drinking by letting their teenagers have alcohol at home. Researchers found that European teenagers drink more alcohol more often than their American counterparts and get drunk more frequently.

MYTH: The 21 minimum drinking age just makes kids want more alcohol because it is the “forbidden fruit.”

FACT: If this were true, teen drinking would have increased after adoption of the legal drinking age. It did not — teen drinking has decreased by 24 percentage points since 1984. And here is another advantage of the law: the drinking habits of 18-year-olds have a big influence on younger teens — 13 to 17. Since the 21 minimum drinking age was enacted, data show a big decline in drinking by 10th and 8th graders too. (Source: FTC)