Underage Drinking Not A Minor Problem Campaign

Funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and NYS OASAS, this campaign is a collaboration of the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition and the Glen Cove Police Department to spread awareness about the dangers of underage drinking.

Underage drinking is a serious public health problem in the United States. Alcohol is the most widely used substance among America’s youth, and drinking by young people poses enormous health and safety risks.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent—or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter—or higher. For a typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 4 or more drinks (female), or 5 or more drinks (male), in about 2 hours. Research shows that fewer drinks in the same timeframe result in the same BAC in youth; only 3 drinks for girls, and 3 to 5 drinks for boys, depending on their age and size.

The consequences of underage drinking can affect everyone—regardless of age or drinking status. Either directly or indirectly, we all feel the effects of the aggressive behavior, property damage, injuries, violence, and deaths that can result from underage drinking. This is not simply a problem for some families—it is a nationwide concern.

The Bach-Harrison Prevention Needs Assessment (PNA) Survey is administered by the Coalition’s School Committee every year to students in 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades. The purpose of this survey is to gather information needed to plan important prevention and intervention programs to combat such problems as alcohol, tobacco, other drug use, and violence in our schools and communities.

Results of the 2021 PNA indicate Alcohol still remains students drug of choice even though decreases in use were seen in all grades except 6th grade. These lower rates helped push the overall rate of binge drinking in Glen Cove to 6.1% – a 5-point decrease from 2018 and 4.0 points below the nationwide rate of 10.1%.

The degree to which grades participated in binge drinking may be due to students’ attitudes about the riskiness of using alcohol to excess. When asked how much someone risks harming themselves by drinking 5 or more drinks in a row once or twice each weekend (e.g. binge drinking at parties), only about half or fewer (53.9% of 6th graders, 50.7% of 8th graders, 47.7% of 10th graders, and 45.0% of 12th graders) of students in the district thought it put them at “great risk.”

Social Host Hotline

Serving alcohol to teems under the age of 21 is against the law. Do you have any questions about Social Host Law? Do you know someone who is serving alcohol to teens?

Call the Social Host Hotline: 516-320-7944