Lauren Lauren.Harkins@madd.org

Why is MADD concerned with underage drinking? MADD’s Mission The mission of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is to end drunk driving, help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes and prevent underage drinking. Why is MADD concerned with underage drinking? MADD Mission. Click and the question “Why is MADD concerned with underage drinking?” Discuss: As our mission statement shows, MADD’s number one concern is the ending of drunk driving, so what does that have to do with underage drinking? Any thoughts? Underage drivers are over represented in the number of alcohol related crashes yearly. The elimination of underage drinking would eliminate those needless crashes. Additionally, teen drinkers have a higher likelihood to become addicted to alcohol and more likely to choose to drive drunk later in life. ©2015 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

The Truth About Underage Drinking. 3% 32% Simplify: traffic and non-traffic deaths Taking away the keys doesn’t take away the risks   You are not in control when you start drinking, no matter what you may trick yourself into believing, and sometimes you just get embarrassed at a party because you act foolish and other times you do things that you cannot take back. Car crashes cause only a fraction of all the deaths related to underage drinking. (Click and another chart will fly in.) This other 68% is made up of drownings, falls, murder, suicide and others.   Taking away the keys does not take away the risks when it comes to underage drinking.  ©2014 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Why 21? It’s bad for your brain. Two weeks alcohol free The introduction of alcohol now can have long lasting effects to multiple areas of the brain.  Here you can see how drinking on a regular basis can damage some memory and learning capacity.    The brain you see on the right is a “heavy drinker”.  The brain on the left belongs to a 15 year old non-drinking male.  Their brains were scanned as they were preforming identical memory tasks.  You can see the brain on the left is far more active.  The color indicates areas that are working to problem-solve.  Do you notice any difference between the brain on the right and the left?    Yes, the right brain appears to be much less active.    (Click Once) Something else to note on this scan.  The heavy drinker was two weeks alcohol free at the time of the scan.   Photo Credit: Brown SA, Tapert SF, Granholm E, Delis DC (2000 Underage alcohol use has long-lasting negative effects on learning and memory functions. ©2014 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

What Did We Learn During Spring Break 2018? Our society doesn’t seem to take alcohol very seriously as a dangerous threat. Many people think underage drinking is a rite of passage or just assume that all teens are going to drink and there is nothing that can be done, therefore nothing is done to prevent it. But, the truth is that alcohol is extremely dangerous to our youth and underage drinking needs to be confronted immediately. This infographic shows how many people under the age of 21 go to the emergency room due to illicit drug use. Yes – alcohol is considered an illicit drug for anyone under the age of 21. Emergency room visits due to underage drinking occurs every 3 minutes in our country.

We Surveyed A Group Of People From 11-25 Yes!  Every person is different, but most research shows that the brain continues to develop into the mid-twenties and the developing brain is adversely affected by alcohol. ii ©2015 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

45.9% Had Alcohol In The Past Week You may not realize this but good judgment is considered an executive function in the brain.  It is something that you develop over time.  Right now, this skill is rapidly developing.  I am sure you have heard your parents say, “What were you thinking?” at least a time or two.  Your brain is still under construction and this area in particular needs a little longer to develop fully.x     Your brain is more vulnerable to lasting effects of foreign substances.  Ingesting harmful chemicals, like alcohol, now, can attack these areas that are available for new information and damage them so that learning and retaining information is interrupted.xi  If you have tried alcohol, I don’t want to scare you.  You can choose to not drink moving forward, and because of how amazing the human brain is, it can start to repair itself.  The longer you continue to drink however, the harder that becomes. ©2014 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

56.9 % Of Teens Say Other Kids Get Alcohol From A Friend ©2015 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

5.1 Minutes-10 Minutes To Get Alcohol Do some math with me. If only 1 out of 6 of you are binge drinking, how many of you DON’T?  Teens like you who were surveyed share that the majority are not drinking. And around the nation, more and more of you are choosing not to drink.vii And for good reason. Binge drinking is defined as: 4 drinks for women 5 drinks for men In 2 hours time ©2015 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

93% Say Their Peers Are Drinking Alcohol . Bonus question. ©2015 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

They're Comfortable Talking To You Better sleep Less potential for unwanted or unplanned sex Better performance on tests Less likely to get in trouble with the law Less likely to do something embarrassing at a party Less likely to get involved with drugs Less likely to be involved in a drunk driving crash More in control of your own actions ©2014 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Start the conversation early Call 911 if you see an impaired driver What Can You Do Educate Be an example Start the conversation early Call 911 if you see an impaired driver  ©2011 Mothers Against Drunk Driving