Underage College Drinking Lessens as Kids Start Younger
Alcohol abuse, specifically underage drinking in colleges, has continued to
decline to a 20-year low, according to the 2001 American Freshman Survey and
the 2001 University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey as reported by
the Beer Institute. However,
researchers at Columbia University have found that America is experiencing an
epidemic of underage drinking germinating in elementary and middle schools.
A wide-ranging study, which Columbia’s National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse released Tuesday, found that the problem of binge drinking begins well
before teen-agers set foot on a college campus and adults share much of the
blame. The researchers say that many parents are “unwitting co-conspirators,”
whose ambivalence contributes to the problem of teen drinking.
Moderator Comment: Can a retailer ever win by providing
research (even if it is correct) on a controversial subject that goes against
popular opinion/sentiment?
“… lies, damn lies and statistics.” [George
Anderson – Moderator]