Educators

Welcome to Too Smart To Start, your Web site on helping young people avoid underage alcohol use and its consequences.

Most young people aged 12 to 20 do not drink. However, more than 10 million young people do use alcohol. Alcohol use can interfere with their health, academic and workplace performance, and relationships with friends and family.

Talk with young people early and often about the dangers of underage drinking. With your help, we can make sure that young people understand that they do not need to drink to fit in, have fun, or deal with the pressures of growing up. Use the resources on this site to help young people be too smart to start.

Educators

In the words of The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, “Underage alcohol use is everybody’s problem—and its solution is everybody’s responsibility.” Educators have a responsibility to reduce risk factors associated with underage alcohol use and an obligation to students to protect them from adverse consequences of their own or others’ alcohol use.

Educators can help change attitudes about teen drinking, create an environment that can protect youth from underage drinking, and decrease the risk of adolescent alcohol use and the associated negative consequences.

REEL LIFE FEATURE

Use our animated scenarios to spark a classroom conversation about alcohol use.

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More “Making Smart Choices” (en español)