A study of sixth, seventh and eighth graders suggests that if parents want to keep alcohol away from these 11-14 year old students the best place to start is at home. One-third of middle school students get their alcohol from their own parents or from a friend's parents or guardians, the study found.

The research was conducted in 58 Chicago-area public schools with surveys of 3,709 students who were mostly Hispanic and African-American. The surveys were given and the beginning and the end of each year for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students.

High Level of Drinking

Some of the study's finding include:

• Only a small fraction (2.4 percent in the 6th grade, rising to 5.6 percent at the end of the 8th grade) obtain alcohol from commercial outlets.

• More than one-third of the alcohol consumed by these children came from their own or a friend's parents or guardians.

• Of those sixth graders surveyed, 17 percent used alcohol.

• By the time they became eighth graders, 41 percent were using alcohol.

"Early onset of drinking leads to a long list of alcohol-related problems. It is important to educate parents about the consequences of alcohol use at a young age and try to prevent them from being their child's primary source of alcohol." comments the lead author Mary O Hearst in a news release.

The authors say that parents "need to consider their positions as role models at the crucial time when their middle school children are likely to have their first serious encounters with alcohol."

The study, "Who needs liquor stores when parents will do," was published in the June 2004 issue of Preventive Medicine.

More Information:

• Negative Self-Image Promotes Damaging Teem Behaviors
  
• Kids Most Influenced by Siblings' Drinking, Smoking
  
• Youth Drinking Spells Later Alcohol Problems

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