Leadership Reads Initiative to minimize teen alcohol consumption and drug use

The incidence of alcohol poisoning, alcohol-related violence, and alcohol-impaired driving is increasing at an alarming rate among teens. If teens start to drink early, they are six times more likely to develop alcohol dependence. Half will experience both immediate and long-term health and social consequences. In short, the choices that teens make now can change the path of their life in devastating ways.

Preventing underage drinking is the key to improving the health of both adolescents and adults. It is therefore a focus of several national efforts. In response to the ongoing need to help parents and teens, the Leadership To Keep Children Alcohol Free Foundation (Leadership) will be launching the Leadership Reads Initiative on June 9, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the annual meeting of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Director, Inc. (NASADAD), the National Prevention Network (NPN) and the National Treatment Network (NTN). NPN President Craig PoVey will moderate a panel presentation of key initiatives (including the Leadership Reads Initiative) before approximately 300 members of NASADAD, NPN, NTN, public interest organizations, and other federal partners. The panel will feature Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Director Fran Harding, Vermont Department of Health's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Deputy Commissioner Barbara Cimaglio, and Hope Taft, Leadership President and First Lady Emeritus of Ohio.

The Leadership Reads Initiative is a nationwide effort to teach parents techniques to minimize teen alcohol consumption and drug use. Leadership Reads will be implemented state-by-state by First Spouses through their statewide networks. Within each state, persons who have the opportunity to engage parents will be provided with the tools they need to conduct parent-to-parent conversations about adolescent alcohol abuse and its impact on teen health. Using selected books to guide discussions, parents will improve parenting skills, strengthen their families, and protect their children from substance abuse.

The Leadership To Keep Children Alcohol Free Foundation is pleased to announce its selection of Messengers In Denim: The Amazing Things Parents Can Learn From Teens by Parnell Donahue, M.D. (Mapletree Publishing, 2010 (MapletreePublishing.com) as its first selection for the Leadership Reads Initiative. Dr. Donahue (MessengersInDenim.com), a pediatrician from Nashville, Tennessee, invites parents to, "Listen to your teens." In his book, he reminds parents that their teenager is still the little angel they brought home from the hospital—only now that little angel is wearing denim. He encourages each parent to be the adult they want their child to become: guiding children toward that goal by their example. He urges parents to "listen with patience, respect, and love" to hear the encoded (yet often insightful) messages that teenagers send.

The Leadership Reads Initiative will release a discussion guide with each book selection to help adult and youth leaders as they discuss teen alcohol consumption and family relationships.