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Teenage drinking has been around a long time, but today it is on the increase. A great many teens do drink—and many of them drink too much, according to Dr. A. Mort Casson, assistant commissioner for substance abuse, Virginia Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Virginia is observing October as Teen Alcohol Awareness Month, in recognition of the many problems of teenage drinking. Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., in calling the attention of Virginians to this observance, expressed his own concern for the situation.
A recent survey by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that among seventh graders, 63 percent of boys and 54 percent of girls had tried alcohol. By twelfth grade level, the number had increased to 93 percent of boys and 87 percent of girls.
Although marijuana is still very much a part of the scene for young people, alcohol outranks marijuana as the number one Virginia high school drug problem, according to the State Department of Education.
The U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, in a youth survey, found that almost one out of four teens reported having been drunk four or more times during the previous year. This figure was three to four times that for drinkers of all ages.
Dr. Casson feels that many persons, both adult and teen, have a number of mistaken ideas about alcohol.
"If we identify a certain whiskey with the 'good life’ ”, he says, "these types of values enhance the desirability of social drinking.
"We are kidding ourselves,” he adds, "if we think we can separate values for young people and adults. As long as there is social prestige associated with drinking, we will have people with drinking problems," Dr. Casson said.
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