Back-To-School Is An Ideal Time For Parents To Talk With Teens About Drinking

Recent survey reveals two-thirds of parents have taken advantage of back-to-school timeframe

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Aug 21, 2012, 03:14 ET

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A new school year brings new surroundings and new social situations for many students, making it an ideal time for parents to talk with their teens about not drinking. Fortunately, many parents have taken advantage of the back-to-school timeframe, with two-thirds of parents (67 percent) in a recent survey saying they've talked with their teens about drinking during the back-to-school season*. The online survey, conducted by Impulse Research for Anheuser-Busch, also revealed 88 percent of those parents felt their teens were receptive to the conversation. Separately, 67 percent of parents surveyed feel they have influence on their teens' decisions about underage drinking and their teens listen to them.

For those parents who haven't yet talked with their kids about drinking, Anheuser-Busch offers a program – called Family Talk About Drinking – to help parents start the conversation and maintain an ongoing dialogue. Available at www.facebook.com/ABFamilyTalk, the page features a downloadable parent guide and forum for visitors to ask questions and share stories, as well as periodic live chats with certified parent coach MJ Corcoran, who helped Anheuser-Busch refresh the Family Talk program in 2011.

"As parents, we understand it's not always easy to talk with our kids about underage drinking, but we also know from longstanding research that, as parents, we have the biggest influence on their decisions about drinking**," said Kathy Casso, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at Anheuser-Busch. "Family Talk is a great resource for parents that provides practical tips on how to have honest, realistic conversations with their children about underage drinking. It's a program many of us at Anheuser-Busch use with our kids."

First launched more than 20 years ago, Family Talk was revamped in 2011 and now focuses on parenting stages – teacher, facilitator and coach – which help parents use and adapt their influence to help prevent underage drinking as their children grow and mature.

Anheuser-Busch is committed to working with parents, educators, law enforcement officials, local businesses and many others to prevent underage drinking. In the past three decades, the company and its wholesalers have invested more than $930 million in advertising and community-based programs to promote responsible drinking and prevent underage drinking and drunk driving.

Sources:

*The online poll was conducted in July 2012 with a sample of 1,022 U.S. parents (men and women) with teenagers enrolled in high school or college. Poll participants were selected to closely match U.S. population demographics. The overall sampling error rate for this poll is +/‐ 3 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence.

** 2012 GfK Roper Youth Report developed from an Omniweb study of 1,007 Americans age 13-17, conducted February 2012 for Anheuser-Busch

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch