by Terry Curran

On March 31, a Community Forum was held at the Roslindale House on Poplar Street as The Healthy Roslindale Coalition rolled out its assessment on underage drinking within Roslindale. About a year ago, following a one-on-one format, the Coalition began interviewing community leaders, public officials, safety personnel, and a cross section of the community at large about their perceptions and views on alcohol use by local adults and youth. This was the first step in assessing the local social norms on this subject. Written surveys were mailed to 1,100 parents in Roslindale with children between the ages of 11 and 17. About twenty percent returned the surveys with their confidential views on alcohol and teens. In addition, the Rossie Reps distributed a Youth Survey to their peers, so the Coalition could obtain an understanding of teen views, particularly their impression of alcohol use among adults and other teens, and to what extent advertising played a part in their opinion and use of alcohol.

The results of all the surveys were compiled and presented in a PowerPoint presentation, made by the Rossie Reps. Highlights of the Youth Surveys showed that 78% of teens start drinking between the ages of 13 to 16, while 41% of them replied that they or their friends have had beer, wine, or liquor. They cited their home and the homes of their friends as the places where they obtain alcohol. They also drink outside in the fields and parks. It was interesting to note that in the parent survey, 68% replied that they keep alcohol in their homes, but only 6% store it in a locked place.

The youths surveyed could easily recall twelve types of beer they had seen advertised, with Bud, Corona, and Heineken topping the list. They noted that they see alcohol advertising on TV and in movies, at local stores and gas stations, and on billboards. With the support of the Boston Police and liquor store owners, the Reps participated in a “Sticker Shock” program, during the month of May, by placing bright orange stickers on multi-packs of beer. The stickers remind consumers that they should not provide alcohol to youth.

The one-on-one interviews reported that underage drinking was primarily attributed by respondents to peer pressure, opinions and attitudes (i.e. social norms), parent modeling and influence, rebellion, advertising, relieving stress, and lack of youth activities.

As far as social norms and parent modeling are concerned, 77% of youth surveyed replied that they see adults drinking beer/wine/liquor “sometimes or a lot.” Does it make sense that only 50% of the parents surveyed thought that their teen has not sampled alcohol?

We as adults have to think about how our children follow what we do, more than what we say. Parents seem to be much more concerned about youth drinking than other adults surveyed in Roslindale, and they to want help with teen alcohol use before it turns into a problem. They favor stricter penalties for adults who buy alcohol for youth and 83% feel youth should be 21 to legally drink. This is apparent since 84% of parents surveyed have talked to their teen about the consequences of drinking. Is talking working, since we noted above that 41% of youth have tried either beer/wine or liquor?

In contrast, a majority of those adults surveyed who are not parents are only concerned about issues related to underage drinking if it affects them directly. Less than half felt youth should wait until 21 to drink. This reflects the responses of all surveyed, stating that apathy, denial, and attitude are the greatest challenge to the success of this project. To address this problem, the Coalition has to look at how to change people’s attitudes towards alcohol. If the findings had shown that restaurateurs and liquor stores were selling to minors, the problem could have been easily solved by increased police enforcement, however, when parents and other adults are lax about their own attitudes towards alcohol and feel that drinking is some sort of “right-of-passage,” the problem proves more difficult to address.

The Roslindale Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (“RMCA”) project is administered by The Medical Foundation in partnership with Healthy Roslindale Coalition through a grant from the State Department of Public Health. The project is following a scientific model being implemented throughout the country that employs environmental strategies to address the issue of underage drinking. This means that adults within the community must come together to limit young people’s access to alcohol.

Now that the results are in, the Coalition is in the process of formulating strategies that will change the norms of the community so that we can keep our young people safe and free from alcohol until they reach the legal age.