Our Cause - Alcohol
Shaping a Healthy Future for Youth
Alcohol use is a serious problem facing Texas youth. The average age young Texans have their first drink of alcohol is 13 years old, and more than half of Texas middle and high school students have used alcohol at some point in their lives. Research clearly shows that people who start drinking under the age of 15 are 4 times more likely to have issues with alcohol dependence or misuse at some point in their lives. And that’s just scratching the surface of the dangerous consequences that underage drinking can have on our youth.
Texans for Safe and Drug-Free Youth believes community-wide approaches are the best way to create healthy and safe futures for our children. Using the latest data and evidence-based practices, we fight our cause on a number of fronts.
Issue Briefs and Tools
Effects of Alcohol on Youth
Alcohol and youth don’t mix. Period. In fact, the science shows that alcohol use under the legal age of 21 can lead to serious health, behavioral, and legal consequences.
- Youth are significantly more likely to be the victim of a sexual assault after drinking than those their age who do not drink
- Youth are more likely to carry out or be the victim of physical assault after drinking
- Alcohol use has been identified as a leading contributing factor to teenage suicide
- There is strong evidence that alcohol causes mouth, throat, liver, colon, stomach, and female breast cancer
- Every year, more than 180,000 people under the age of 21 visit an ER for alcohol-related injuries and more than 4,000 people under the age of 21 died due to accidental deaths related to alcohol
- Alcohol use impairs youth’s judgment and decision-making processes, which can lead to risky behaviors including driving while intoxicated and unprotected sexual activity
Join Our Cause.
Learn more about the ways your can get involved in our efforts.