Helping Young Nebraskans Make Healthy Choices

As a young man, I was presented with the choice to join a friend in drinking alcohol. Like a number of young people, I decided not to take that first drink. Unfortunately, many more young Nebraskans are making a different choice – a choice that can have life-changing consequences.

Every day, 5,400 young people under the age of 16 take their first drink of alcohol, according to information included in the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. As a grandparent that number boggles my mind, but another set of numbers is as troubling. Last year, one out of six eight-graders, one in three tenth-graders, and nearly one out of two twelfth-graders had consumed alcohol in the last thirty days. These students are putting their lives and their futures at risk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that every day, three teens die from drinking and driving. And at least six more people under the age of 21 die each day of non-driving alcohol-related causes, such as homicide, suicide, and drowning.

The threat of death from alcohol consumption is not the only risk that these young people are running. Recent studies have found that heavy exposure of the adolescent brain to alcohol may interfere with brain development, causing loss of memory and other skills. Alcohol-dependent 15- and 16-year-olds who drank heavily in early and middle adolescence performed worse on both verbal and non-verbal memory tasks than did their peers who have no history of alcohol or other drug problems. In addition, teenagers with alcohol use disorders have also been found, like alcohol-dependent adults, to have smaller than average regions of the brain that are involved in complex thinking and emotional control.

As if these consequences of underage drinking are not dire enough, alcohol consumption often leads to the use of illegal drugs, putting young people at even greater risk of compromising their futures. According to the Nebraska Alcohol and Drug Information Clearinghouse, of the approximately 2,000 Nebraska students in grades 9 through 12 surveyed, 21% of the boys and 13% of the girls said that someone had offered them an illegal drug on school property during the last 12 months. 

Parental and community involvement can make the difference between young people choosing a healthy path or going down a road that will lead to heartbreak. Realizing the pivotal role that adults play in protecting their children from these dangers, some Nebraska communities are raising awareness about underage drinking and drug use and its impact on their young people. The people of Central City, Lexington, and Ord organized community awareness events to educate others about the risks that their children are facing and the role that they can play to lessen this risk. I am hopeful that their strong example will encourage other communities to band together to fight for their children and against substance abuse.

Protecting our state’s young people from the dangers of underage drinking and drug abuse is critical to their future and the future of Nebraska. Today’s students will become tomorrow’s business and community leaders, but they need our leadership now to help them stay on the course to a healthy, productive life.