The number of teens who report they have consumed alcohol has decreased 55% proportionally from 1991 to 2023 (Source: Monitoring the Future, January 2024).
The more we normalize that kids are NOT drinking, the easier it will be for them to say “NO.”
As kids grow and mature, their curiosity grows and matures along with them. Therefore, the conversations at home and the lessons in school should meet them where they are. This is a time of change for all adolescents. They are transitioning from kids into young adults. Their bodies are in a season of growth, their friendships may change and their exposure to risk will also increase. Conversations are key to keeping kids informed, empowered, and engaged. Parents, caregivers and educators who encourage conversations with youth establish themselves as trusted adults. These conversations—in addition to the modeling of responsible behaviors—make a difference. It is natural for kids to take risks and face peer pressure. It is up to the trusted adults in their lives to guide them in making smart decisions, including staying alcohol-free.
Not all adults feel prepared to have these conversations. That is where Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix comes in handy.
Responsibility.org, alongside a team of educators and organizations specializing in elementary- and middle-schoolers, developed Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix. Ask, Listen, Learn is a completely FREE digital underage drinking prevention program for kids ages 9-13 (grades 4-8) and their parents and educators with the goal to reduce underage drinking. The program focuses on the developing brain and empowers kids to say “YES” to a healthy lifestyle and “NO” to underage drinking.
The information provided throughout the program guides adults with ways to start communicating with kids about the dangers of underage drinking– and how to continue talking to them as part of a lifetime of conversations. Both science and evidence-based, Ask, Listen, Learn is the most widely distributed underage drinking program of its kind.
FOR EDUCATORS
Ask, Listen, Learn features a series of seven videos and lesson plans focused on the effects of alcohol on the developing brain for educators teaching grades 4-8. These lessons are proven to increase kids’ knowledge of the developing brain and to empower them to make good decisions about saying “NO” to underage drinking now and make informed decisions about alcohol in the future.
The Ask, Listen, Learn curriculum is fully digital and consists of animated videos and corresponding downloadable lesson plans that teach kids what the brain does, what alcohol does to it, and what that does to them. The program is easily implemented into any classroom—and the accompanying activities and games keep kids engaged as they learn. The program helps teachers, school counselors, and school nurses teach kids the value in saying “YES” to a healthy lifestyle and “NO” to underage drinking through basic neuroscience and skills-based learning.
Prevention education is also dependent on the social development of students. Ask, Listen, Learn also includes supplementary lessons and activities that focus on the skills and foundations that kids need in order to find balance and to support their mental health including:
- healthy decision-making
- self-advocacy
- refusal strategies, and
- goal setting.
Responsibility.org partners with Discovery Education to assist in the creation of these skills-based resources.
FOR PARENTS & CAREGIVERS
Ask, Listen, Learn has resources to support communication between kids and their parents about saying “NO” to underage drinking as well. Through online resources like vibrant infographics, conversation starters, blog posts, an active email community, and active social media channels, Ask, Listen, Learn helps to guide adults on ways to start conversations about alcohol and the developing brain now, and continue them as their kids grow and change.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the Ask, Listen, Learn program, we conducted a study among parents and their kids. The survey is part of Responsibility.org’s ongoing efforts to empower parents and kids with the resources they need to have meaningful and effective conversations around underage drinking, substance use, and mental health issues so that they make healthy and responsible choices. The results are encouraging, and they indicate that prevention and wellness conversations have increased over the last two decades and continue to be critical in keeping kids substance-free. Some of the findings include:
- Kids report their parents as the number one (33%) influence on their decision to drink or not drink alcohol, followed by best friends (25%), and social media (17%).
- 93% of parents have talked to their kids at least once in the past year about alcohol consumption.
- 91% of kids have talked with their parents or another caregiver about the dangers of drinking alcohol.
- One in 3 youth say they are worried about illegal drugs and overdoses (38%), underage drinking (38%), and underage cannabis use (34%), with 55% of kids reporting that they think they will be faced with the decision to drink alcohol underage within the next year.
RESPONDING TO OUR COMMUNITY
As a leader in prevention education, Responsibility.org has always worked closely with educators and parents to learn more about the resources they need to help kids make healthy decisions. In a survey of nearly 500 teachers and parents, 92% of respondents asked for resources focused on cannabis. Therefore, in 2020, Ask, Listen, Learn launched a new unit to its underage drinking prevention curriculum, focused on the effects of cannabis on the developing brain.
The module—similar to the seven existing lesson plans about alcohol and the developing brain—includes a brief, two-minute video with information on the endocannabinoid system, how the brain and body process and breakdown cannabis, and how the developing brains and bodies of underage users react and are affected by it. This new module includes information for educators and parents to educate themselves about the effects of cannabis on the developing brain so that conversations with their students and kids can be fact-based and effective in helping kids refuse underage cannabis use.
Kids don’t learn in a vacuum – they’re faced with decisions about more than one challenge at a time, and they need to have resources to make the best choices they can. From discussions about drinking alcohol, to the impacts of cannabis on a developing brain, to getting enough sleep, adults must help guide their kids and students by having conversations and providing factual information. Ask, Listen, Learn provides tools and resources for parents and educators to do just that.
Our research indicates that when conversations about alcohol take place, families also discuss the following:
What else are parents talking about?
Cannabis (55%)
Tobacco (54%)
Healthy friendships/Relationships (53%)
Sex (52%)
Mental Health and Well-being (52%)
What else are kids talking about?
Cannabis (59%)
Peer pressure (56%)
Tobacco (51%)
Sex (50%)
Mental Health and Well-being (49%)
From discussions about underage drinking, to the impacts of cannabis on a developing brain, to instilling mental and well-being values and foundations, adults must help guide their kids and students by having conversations and providing factual information. Ask, Listen, Learn provides tools and resources for parents and educators to do just that.
This cannabis module’s content is based on scientific information and resources from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). For more information on NIDA and the science of cannabis, please visit www.drugabuse.gov.
Program content regarding the effects of alcohol on the developing brain has been reviewed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and is consistent with currently available science.
“As a member of Responsibility.org’s National Advisory Board and former Administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), I believe these materials will be a tremendous support to parents and teachers. They will help them have hard conversations with middle school youth at their level of understanding and with materials they find most engaging.”
Charles Curie, Principal, The Curie Group, LLC
