A SURVEY OF PARENT ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES REGARDING UNDERAGE DRINKING

A random telephone survey of attitudes toward underage drinking was co nducted in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The results revealed that alcohol use, especially alcohol-impaired driving, among youth we re seen as serious problems by a majority (>80%) of the respondents. S trong support (>80%) was detected for imposing stiffer penalties on ba rs and restaurants that sell alcohol to miners, older peers who purcha se alcohol for miners, and driver's license restrictions for miners wh o possess and use alcohol. Over 50% favored stiffer penalties for pare nts who provide alcohol to miners. Respondents who were parents of tee nage children were more likely to believe their teen's friends drink a nd drive (37%) than they were to believe their own teen drives drunk ( 10%). These parents were also unlikely to believe their teen had ever come home intoxicated (19%) despite the fact that almost 60% believed their teen has been to parties where there is drinking. These findings , and others from this survey, indicate that parents (especially white s) are unaware of the nature of teen drinking and are reluctant to acc ept the fact that their teens are involved with alcohol and high-risk alcohol-related behaviors. The implications of these findings for prev ention programs are discussed.