Family Talk About Drinking: Conversations Every Parent Should Have With Their Child

Anheuser-Busch Provides a Fresh Approach to Underage Drinking Prevention with the Family Talk About Drinking Parent Guide and Facebook Page

Anheuser-Busch is launching a completely updated Family Talk About Drinking program, just in time for the back-to-school season. The resource offers parents realistic, ongoing strategies for having deeper and more meaningful conversations with their children about avoiding underage drinking.

The program’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ABFamilyTalk has materials available for download and offers a forum for visitors to ask questions and share ideas with other parents.

“At Anheuser-Busch, we’re parents, too, so our aim was to redevelop this valued resource to help parents address the topic of underage drinking prevention in new ways,” said Kathy Casso, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility for Anheuser-Busch. “Family Talk offers parents an expert’s perspective on how to begin the conversation and maintain an ongoing dialogue, whether your child is in preschool, heading to college, or anywhere in between.”

Anheuser-Busch is hosting a virtual roundtable on the Family Talk Facebook page at 3 p.m. CT on August 25. The roundtable will feature Kathy Casso and MJ Corcoran, educator and certified parent coach. Danielle Smith, from the popular parenting blog Extraordinary Mommy, will serve as moderator and host. Viewers of the roundtable can participate in the conversation by submitting questions in real-time.

“Our kids are always watching and listening to us, but they listen and absorb information in different ways as they grow up,” explains Corcoran, who collaborated with Anheuser-Busch to develop the new Family Talk program. “Family Talk is unique because it approaches the discussion about alcohol and underage drinking from the parent’s perspective and helps parents use the power of their influence as their children transition from youngsters to teens to adults.”

According to the 2009 GfK Roper Youth Report, 67 percent of youth, ages 13 to 17, cite their parents as the No. 1 influence on their decisions about whether they drink alcohol or not. Additionally, progress is being made to prevent underage drinking. The 2010 Monitoring the Future Study reports record-low levels for past-month drinking among 10th and 12th graders. The 10th grade past-month drinking rate has declined 32 percent since tracking began in 1991. Past-month drinking among high school seniors has declined 40 percent since tracking began in 1975.

Family Talk has been successfully used for more than 20 years and was originally developed by authorities on education, family counseling, child psychology, and alcohol treatment. The newly renovated program introduces the idea of parenting stages relative to the issue of alcohol and underage drinking.

Anheuser-Busch is opposed to underage drinking and supports prevention by providing resources to parents, retailers and educators. In the past three decades, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesalers have committed more than $875 million in national advertising campaigns and community-based programs to encourage responsible drinking and prevent underage drinking and drunk driving.