Transcript Alcohol Awareness – Ralph Cantor

SFUSD
Alcohol Awareness
December 9, 2009
Ralph Cantor
What’s the big deal about kids
drinking anyways???
Demeaning behaviors
 Sexual behaviors
 Risk taking behaviors
 Accidents
 Learned behavior for partying and stress
 Damage to the developing brain- pre 18

Recent AMA Report on Brain
Damage Risks Under 18
“The brain goes through dynamic
changes during adolescence, and
alcohol can seriously damage long and
short term growth processes…Shortterm or moderate drinking impairs
learning and memory far more in youth
than adults.”
Alcohol and Teenagers:
Date Rape – one to two-thirds of teen
sexual assaults involve alcohol
 18% of Females/ 39% Males say it is
acceptable for a boy to force sex if the girl
is stoned or drunk
 40% of children who start drinking before
age 15 will become alcoholics
 In television 9 out of 10 drinkers are
portrayed as having no effects or only
positive outcomes from their alcohol

Are adolescents more susceptible
to alcohol than adults?
Most certainly YES
1.
Reduced sensitivity to intoxication
2.
Increased sensitivity to social
disinhibitions
3.
Greater adverse effects to cognitive
functioning
Teenage developmental tasks
 Boredom/
Developing Interests
 Good times
 Stress
 Social Skills
 Academic Skills
 Self Identity
Reasons for delaying message
Safety
 Development of the prefrontal cortex
 Pruning and myelination
 Neuroadaptivity: dull pleasure center
 Short circuiting developmental tasks
 Greater need for dopamine
 Pharmacological solutions resulting in
pharmacological insults
 The research

Percentage of U.S. Adults Aged 18 and Older
Dependent on Alcohol, By Age of Drinking Onset
Dependent in Lifetime
100%
80%
60%
47% 45%
38%
40%
32%
28%
15% 17%
20%
11%
9%
0%
≤ 13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Age Began Drinking
≥ 21
Prevention Factors
Supportive family (tuned in, time together,
supervision, fair rules/boundaries)
 Interests and exercise
 Youth are connected (school, activities)
 Social Skills
 Resiliency (coping with stress, celebration)
 A clear message – NOT NOW

Our Own Self Assessment

Andrew Weil – Unhealthy relationship
Ignorance that the substance is a drug
and what it does to the body
Loss of desired effect w/increasing
frequency
Difficulty separating from the drug
Impairment of health or social function
OPEN DISCUSSION
Contact Information
Ralph Cantor
(510) 653-9410
[email protected]