Keep your cool by choosing not to drink.

Alcohol impairs the part of the brain responsible for self-control. It dulls the brain signal that warns people they are making a mistake. Those drinking may know they’re making a bad choice, but alcohol causes them to care less about it. That helps explain why drinking is connected to risky behavior like impaired driving, fighting, and skipping school.

Stay in control by staying away from alcohol. You have what it takes to make great choices.

Inspiring teens:

Greta Thurnburg:
named Person of the Year by Time Magazine for her climate change activism.

Jaylen Arnold:
started his own nonprofit that educates children across the U.S. about preventing bullying.

Marley Dias:
launched the #1000BlackGirlsBooks Twitter campaign to collect and donate books to help Black girls feel seen in children’s books. Source:https://tinyurl.com/59wrefav

Plenty of youth and many adults wonder why drinking alcohol is not allowed until age 21. Share the facts so they can understand the importance of that age requirement.

It’s not about keeping them controlled. It’s to keep their brains and bodies strong so they can fully develop.

Know that anyone can develop an alcohol problem, even a teen. Alcohol use should be delayed as long as possible. Someone who begins drinking as a young teen is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than another who waits until adulthood.

If this information is new to you, don’t sweat it. When we know better, we can do better.

• Alcohol can slow reaction time and impair judgment, vision, and coordination.
• The brain has been shown to develop well into a person’s twenties. Teens are far from that age, and alcohol use could cause changes in their brains while they’re still developing.
• School performance difficulties and other risky behaviors such as smoking, drug misuse, and risky sexual behaviors are some of the reasons to abstain.

Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/minimum-legal-drinking-age

Keep Showing Up, They’re Still Growing Up.