A 60 Minutes item from Al's Morning Multimedia highlights new questions about teens' alcohol use, particularly the role of parents.
The 60 Minutes
piece zeros in on real people, real faces and a real story before
branching out to more general information. How have you covered teenage
drinking at your school? What about other drug use?
The program follows the story of Bill and Pat Anderson, who hosted a prom drinking bash at their house to ensure that their son and other teenagers would not drink and drive. The rules were that once in the house, you stay in the house -- all night long.
The piece includes segments on teenage binge drinking and how parties contribute to the problem, as well as tidbits about underage drinking in America:
- Three-quarters of teenagers have tried alcohol by their senior year
- Thirty-five percent say they have been drunk by age 16; only 10 percent of parents think their kids have been intoxicated
- Teenagers consume between 10 percent and 20 percent of all alcohol in the U.S.
Consider how the Granite Bay High School Gazette exposed the underground world of ecstasy and the rave in 
Off the Radar, which won an honorable mention in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's 2007 Scholastic Circle Awards. Authors Dena Fehrenbacher and Nick Meuller interviewed anonymous subjects and even observed at the parties themselves. They included a resource officer, teachers, research on the drug's history, statistics and a graph comparing ecstasy use to other drugs.
-- Jacky Hicks
