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Back To School – Family Talk

family-talk-logo [1]Back To School Message From John Saputo, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing And Budweiser.

Click here to download pdf of the following article. [2]

Start the New School Year with Smart Choices:

Talk With Teens about the Consequences of Underage Drinking.
Anheuser-Busch Reminds Parents to Discuss Responsible Decision Making.

The new school year is fast approaching, and families and teens will soon face hectic schedules, unfamiliar surroundings and even new social pressures.  As teens work to overcome these many new challenges, keeping an open, honest dialogue at home is one of the best ways parents can provide support and positively influence important decisions teens will make, including resisting peer pressure to drink when underage.

To help parents navigate this important topic, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing is working with Sarasota and Manatee community groups to distribute Family Talk About Drinking. Family Talk helps prevent underage drinking by providing tips to parents on how to openly and honestly communicate with their teens.  At www.familytalkonline.com [3], parents can download the Family Talk Parent Guide to help with getting the conversation started and how to handle some tough questions.  It is available in five languages – English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.  Parents can also find links to youth issues, college life, drunk driving and the College Talk program for the college bound student.

“Many of us are parents, too.  We understand how it can be challenging to communicate with children about the issues and pressures they face, including the importance of not drinking when underage,” states John Saputo, President/Owner of Gold Coast Eagle Distributing.  “We want our children to be safe and to make smart decisions, and that’s why we provide tips to parents on the best way to begin and maintain this dialogue.”

Research shows that parents can have a significant influence on their children’s decisions on this subject.  According to the 2009 GfK Roper Youth Report, 68 percent of children ages 8 to 17 cite their parents as the No. 1 influence on whether they drink alcohol –a statistic that has held constant since the study began more than a decade ago.

These types of educational programs, along with enforcement of existing laws, do make a positive difference in the fight against underage drinking and teen drunk driving.  According to the U.S. Department of Health’s 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 85 percent of youth, ages 12-17, do not drink.

Family Talk was developed by authorities in child psychology, education, family counseling, and alcohol treatment to encourage open and honest communication about alcohol issues.  Since the program was introduced in 1990, Anheuser-Busch and its family of wholesalers have distributed more than 7.2 million Family Talk materials.  The Family Talk parent guide is available free at www.familytalkonline.com [3].

Anheuser Busch and its employees build on a legacy of corporate social responsibility by focusing on three keys areas: promoting alcohol responsibility, preserving and protecting the environment and supporting local communities.  In the past three decades, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesalers have committed more than $830 million in national advertising campaigns and community-based programs to encourage responsible drinking and prevent underage drinking and drunk driving.  Anheuser-Busch reduced total water use at its breweries by 38 percent since 2000 and the company has been a leading aluminum recycler for more than 30 years.  Since 1997, Anheuser-Busch and its Foundation have invested in local communities through donations of more than $450 million to charitable organizations.  The company also has provided more than 68 million cans of drinking water to people impacted by natural and other disasters since 1988.  Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch, the leading American brewer, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the leading global brewer, and continues to operate under the Anheuser-Busch name and logo.  For more information about Anheuser-Busch’s programs, visit www.anheuser-busch.com/citizenship.html [4].

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