Summertime is here, and with it comes Fourth of July fireworks, celebrations, festivals and, of course, vacations. As you and your family prepare to enjoy the warm weather, take some time to consider the role alcohol plays in your family activities and in your kids’ lives. Is alcohol present at every barbecue? Do you pack beer along with your camping supplies? Your actions and attitudes shape those of your children and impact their future use of alcohol.

Your kids look up to you. They learn how to act and behave from the way you act and behave. The conscious and unconscious messages you send about alcohol affect the way your kids think about underage and high-risk drinking. This includes the belief that alcohol use is a rite of passage for teens.

Alcohol affects a youth differently than an adult because the adolescent brain is still developing. When adolescents consume alcohol, brain development is damaged, resulting in both short-term and long-term effects. Because the adolescent brain is still developing, it is also vulnerable to addiction. Young people who begin drinking before age 17 are twice as likely to develop alcohol dependence as those who begin drinking at age 21. Those who begin by age 15 are more than four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence.

Alcohol kills 6.5 times more youth in this country than all illegal drugs combined. Having designated drivers or taking away the car keys doesn’t make underage drinking safe. Only a third of underage drinking deaths involve auto crashes.

The damage of underage alcohol use extends far beyond death or injury. It affects us all – not just the user. In 2005, underage drinking cost Maine more than $107 million in direct damage.

The good news is that underage drinking is not an inevitable rite of passage. Contrary to popular belief, a large percentage of kids don’t drink. In Penobscot County, anonymous student surveys show that many teens – including 61 percent of 10th-graders and 50 percent of 12th-graders – have not consumed alcohol during the past 30 days.

As a community, we can have a positive impact in reducing underage drinking by:

Limiting your teen’s access to alcohol. If you have alcohol in your home, keep track of it. Know where it is and how much you have. Keep it where it is not accessible, such as in a locked cabinet. According to a nationwide report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than 40 percent of the nation’s estimated 10.8 million underage drinkers were provided free alcohol by adults 21 or older.

Setting clear rules and expectations. The great majority of kids respond best to clear rules – both from their parents and society at large. Studies show that underage youth are significantly less likely to drink alcohol when they believe they will be caught by police. They’re even less likely to drink alcohol when they believe their parents think it would be very wrong for them to do so. It’s OK to say “Underage drinking is illegal, and I don’t approve of it.”

Examining our own use patterns. Do you ask your kids to grab you a drink from the refrigerator? Do you consider use of alcohol to be a rite of passage that can’t be avoided? Do you assume that alcohol is a necessary part of any celebration or social gathering? Does your child observe you drinking more than two or three drinks on any one occasion?

By increasing your awareness of your own relationship with alcohol and making sure your children know you don’t approve of underage drinking, you can help make this summer a safe one for your kids and take a small but powerful step in truly affecting and impacting addiction in Maine.

Visit www.21reasons.org and www.maineparents.net or contact the Health Promotion Program for the Bangor region at 992-4530 for information on how to engage in reducing underage drinking in your community.

Jamie Comstock is health promotion program manager for Bangor Region Public Health and Wellness, a division of Bangor Health and Community Services. Shawn Yardley is director of Bangor Health and Community Services.