Youth share letters to their communities about their experiences and the harm alcohol has caused. These are the opinions of the youth and their reaction to working on this project. Names have been removed to protect anonymity.

Dear Community,

Alcohol makes up a big part of our community, but not in a good way. Have you ever looked around your neighborhood? Almost every on every street corne, alcohol is being advertised. According to statistics, malt liquor brewers and advertisers target young African Americans. Sex, power, rap music, pleasure and enjoyment are all associated with malt liquor. It contains 100% more alcohol than regular beer.

I have some family members who drink. I do respect that I cannot change that  but this is your health and it lead to many dangerous health factors.

I am a teen myself, no one is going to listen to me but I’m going to speak up. Don’t follow the crowd, especially if you have friends that drink. I say be a leader not a follower. If our communities are drinking and ending up in the hospital, what will become of us? You may think that the advertisement doesn’t affect anyone, but it does.  The businesses that create the ads know what the consumers want to hear. Obviously they don’t care about your health. All they want is your money and your life is worth more than that. Before you try drinking again, think before you act.

Sincerely,

 

A Caring Community Member

 

Dear Whoever this May Concern:

My name is ___________. I currently attend World Academy for Total Community Health High School. I am in the 12th grade. I am 17 years old. Do you ever wonder what influences a person to drink alcohol? If someone was to ask me that question I answer by saying I am not allowed to drink alcohol but when it’s around the house I want to try it and I do.

On the other hand many would say that it is not just because it’s laying around the house, but the advertisement. With sexy images, rappers and glamour has a huge impact on alcohol advertisements and the African American communities.

In conclusion, statistics can also provide the facts that drinking links to sex and sex links to transmitted diseases. The businesses advertise in African American neighborhoods because they feel it’s mostly blacks drinking. In my opinion when a person drinks it is not only the advertisement but yet it is up to that person not to drink.

Sincerely,

__________

Age 17

 

Alcohol has impacted my life negatively. My dad drank alcohol every week and this was something that was not good for my life. This affected me from the day he started to date. Everytime my dad would consume alcohol he would physically and emotionally abuse my mom and myself. I was five when my dad started to drink. Everyday of my life I watched my mom get beaten until he felt like stopping. I felt so helpless watching the blood pour out from different parts of my mom’s body. The next morning her eye was black and bruised.

My grades were dropping and I was not focusing on school. There was no one I could talk to since I was the first child of my parents. I kept everything tp myself and I knew that someday I was going to explode. I started cutting my wrist because this was the only way I could resolve my problem. Now that I have grown, my mom told me to forgive my dad but I refuse to do so.

Age 18

 

In my community I don’t necessarily see alcohol ads, however it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. These ads show various kinds of alcohol at very cheap prices giving youth the opportunity to experiment with alcohol. The young people of today are more open this day and age to influences with negative or positive and under age drinking puts a person at risk. The average adult has a”stop sign” that there body knows better when to stop, teens don’t have this “stop sign”. An average teen will drink more than an adult because their brain doesn’t allow them to stop.

Age 16

 

Everyone should care about access to alcohol because it affects everyone. You don’t have to be 21 to get alcohol, your children can receive it from anyone,anytime,anywhere, and anyplace which puts them at risk. Teens who drink and are sexually active are less likely to use condoms which puts them in danger of catching HIV/AIDS and other STD’s.

I’ve had a very bad experience where my friend died in a car accident after he had been driving with a drunk driver. He was only 19 and the only one sober. The driver himself was underage, which makes me wonder, how and why was he drinking?

Age 17