The state Liquor Control Board released a report this week that shared a disturbing trend — underage drinking in local counties is above the state average.
The Pennsylvania Youth Survey, conducted in 2017, showed the state average of students who reported having used alcohol in their lifetime was 43.9 percent. Locally, Potter County was closest to the average at 45.7 percent; followed by McKean County at 50.2 percent; and Elk County at 54.7 percent.
Elk County was second only to Armstrong County with 56.6 percent.
Angela Eckstrom, executive director of Alcohol & Drug Abuse Services Inc., which serves Cameron, Elk and McKean counties, said, “Social norms, parental attitude and accessibility seem to be the primary contributing factors.”
The state report indicated 34.8 percent of the students in Potter County said a parent had supplied them with alcohol; 26.1 percent in McKean County; and 33.1 percent in Elk County. Potter County’s was the highest in the state.
The survey indicated Elk County’s students were the most willing to try alcohol at 36.4 percent of respondents, but a decrease from the 2015 survey where 53.2 percent of students said the same. McKean County’s rate in 2015 was 24 percent, but that increased to 31.4 percent in 2017. In Potter County, the rate in 2015 was 13.3, but that increased to 29.3 in 2017.
Eckstrom said, “Most youth report they obtain their alcohol at home or from a friend’s family.”
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Chairman Tim Holden commented on the report in a prepared release.
“What’s clear from the statistics is that parents’ attitudes towards alcohol have a significant impact on children’s decisions to try or not try alcohol,” Holden added. “Beginning ongoing conversations about the dangers of alcohol with kids early and securing alcohol in the home are positive actions parents can take to discourage alcohol use.”
Eckstrom agreed that parents play an important role in the solution.
“Parents can combat the problem by modeling healthy behaviors, becoming educated about the dangers of early alcohol use, talking to their children about the potential risks of using alcohol, making healthy decisions and making sure they are restricting access to alcohol in their own homes,” she said.
Her agency has programs that can help.
“Our prevention department educates youth with an evidenced based, ‘Too Good for Drugs’ curriculum in every school in the three counties in an effort to address this important issue, along with other substance use,” she explained.
“We recently were awarded a grant through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to address underage drinking and driving under the influence. Next school year, we will have the students in all 10 districts produce a video on the topic,” she said.
“They will use social media to spread the word and will be judged on the amount of exposure the video received through social media, and the quality of the content, by school officials and community members,” Eckstrom said. “There will be a $1,000 scholarship winner from each school.”
The PLCB works to reduce underage and dangerous drinking through a variety of efforts, including a statewide alcohol awareness campaign – Know When. Know How – that prompts parents to spark early conversations about the dangers of alcohol with their kids. More information is available at KnowWhenKnowHow.org.
The PLCB’s 2019 Report on Underage and High-Risk Drinking and more information about alcohol education efforts are available at lcb.pa.gov.
