Alcohol in the Media Tips
Talking frogs and booze
- A 2006 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly half of beer, wine, and liquor radio spots aired during youth programs
- Kids who own alcohol-branded items, such as T-shirts and baseball caps, are 1.5 times more likely to use alcohol than those who don't
- A Dartmouth Medical School study in 2006 found that kids who watched movies with alcohol use were more likely than those who didn't to try drinking
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Advice and Answers
What’s a talking frog telling your kids about booze?
Those funny beer commercials. They’ve become entertainment in their own right. And those slick, stylish ads for liquor – you can’t miss them. One of the most popular plot lines for teen movies? Scoring alcohol for a party. It’s nearly impossible to undo all this influence, but you can try to balance it. With honest discussions about drinking, and by keeping an eye on what’s influencing your kids.What is it?
Your kids and teens get all sorts of messages about drinking and drugs from the media. And mostly what they see is that it’s fun and exciting, and it’s what celebrities and popular people do. Not only do they see alcohol ads on TV, but also drinking and drunkenness on shows and movies targeting teens. Alcohol companies also target teens by sponsoring concerts. A number of the most popular young stars have ended up getting busted for DUIs and going to rehab.Why it matters
There is a direct link between role models, advertising, and the effect that both have on your kids’ behavior. Alcohol companies know this – and that’s why they go after your kids. Studies have shown that the more kids drink before their brains are fully developed (in their early 20s), the more likely they are to develop lifelong alcohol dependencies. In fact, kids who start drinking before they turn 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics than adults who begin drinking at 21.Parent tips for elementary school kids
- Keep them away from alcohol ads. Mute the ads when they come on. Especially the funny ones because the kids remember them and repeat them. One recent study showed that elementary kids could name almost all the alcohol brands showed to them but could only identify 2 past presidents.
Parent tips for middle and high school kids
- Spell it out. Let your kids know about marketing, and that alcohol advertisers are trying to hook them on their brand – just to get more money in their pockets. Help them decode ads’ messages: What kind of lifestyle are they selling? Do these ads tell the whole story – or do they leave something out? Like DUIs, addiction, liver disease, etc.
- Moderate alcohol on TV. You have a right to say no to programs that seem to celebrate teen drinking or show too many alcohol ads. This goes for movies, radio stations, magazines, and Web sites, too. Check out our reviews to see how a program portrays alcohol, then set your own rules.
- Look for teachable moments. If you’re watching a TV show, and there’s a scene featuring teen drinking – or you read about a celeb arrested for driving drunk – check in with your kids. Ask them about if their peers are using alcohol, or if they have any anxieties or questions about drinking. Take time to share your opinions – and expectations – about teens and drinking.
- Watch your messages. Be a good role model by not being drunk in front of your kids, or by using alcohol as a way to escape problems. Make sure that you don’t glamorize alcohol by sharing a lot of stories about any “wild days” in your past.
Wow. So if a teen sees a beer ad they will get beer out of the fridge and drink it? Of course not. Kids and teens do not immitate everything they see on TV. If your kid knows that they should not drink alcohol until 18 (or 21 depends where you live) and knows underage drinking is illegal, then there is nothing wrong with letting them watch.
This whole "teens and alcohol" thing is just something I don't get, I mean really not just the media can be blamed for a teen's alcohol consumption, in fact the media isn't the problem its those delinquent-little brats, that are peer-pressuring everybody and its the kids who aren't thinking correctly for themselves, and its the parents that don't talk to or monitor their kids correctly when it comes to drugs or alcohol. I don't get how everyone thinks that seeing, alcohol in the media really, effects kids. I am a child who has seen alcohol ads before, and I have never been encouraged to drink! Because, I have just always known that underaged drinking is bad, because that is what my family members have taught me, In my opinion, if someone who has a child who has been drinking at parties, or with friends or something, I believe that it is the parent's fault for not paying enough to their child's activities and the child is at fault for not understanding the consequences for underaged drinking as well. The main starting point of underaged drinking and drug addictions, is peer-pressure, nowadays, which is why you should also talk to your children about peer-pressure after alcohol and drugs.
Mute the ads.
oh please you parents are scared of us copying beer comercials youre way to overprotective gimme a break! u guys need to stop being such worry warts
wow, you are WAY too parental, miss bun head. You have to give kids more credit than you do. I've read your reviews too, and WOW is all I have to say. I mean, look at me. I'm nowhere near as innocent as you want me to be at age eleven, and I'm not messed up or whatever you think will happen to kids if they even get a tiny taste of real life.
Yep, this review says it all. I agree completely, I also think that we should not show anyone under 21 booze or let them know it exists.
Images of alcohol permeate our sports culture. Not only are there alcohol ads, but adults often drinking beers in the stands. A couple things you could do here: 1) limit commercials or 2) use them as conversation starters. Use Tivo or DVR to skip through or avoid the commercials, but better yet, what a great opportunity to use media as a "conversation starter" to talk about the normalization of alcohol and sports in our culture (not to mention the major money flowing in from alcohol sponsors of sporting events). For instance, you could talk about why a beer company spends millions of dollars for just one commercial slot during the superbowl. You could deconstruct a commercial that you see--who is the target audience? How do they try to get your attention? You could connect to identity issues, for instance, How are beer and masculinity connected? Do most beer commercials target men or women? Why? Combining being a good role model, limitation, and starting conversations with your child will help him or her become aware--and critical--of alcohol and sports.