Teen Drinking Down In State, Nation

A survey of Wisconsin high school students shows underage drinking is down, reflecting a national trend.

Every two years, students in 9th through 12th grade are asked questions related to a range of topics, including sexual activity, school safety, drug use and alcohol use.

In the most recent Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 30 percent of students admitted to drinking. Twenty years ago nearly 50 percent of Wisconsin’s public school students said they used alcohol. That’s when underage drinking in the U.S. went “sky high” according to Julia Sherman, coordinator of the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project, which is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School and funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

“The age of first drink dropped below age 13; we were talking about childhood drinking, not teenage drinking. And that was a real call to action,” Sherman said.

In the late 1990s, Sherman said the federal government spent money on alcohol age compliance checks while encouraging states to take action. Their efforts worked.

“I think what we’re seeing is the pay-off of all that action because Wisconsin at that point had one of the highest (youth drinking) rates in the nation. People here were frightened. Parents were terrified. And we knew something had to be done,” she said.

Many Wisconsin communities sought to crack down on underage drinking by passing ordinances that fined parents for hosting parties where underage drinking took place. A challenge to those county ordinances by a father in Fond du Lac was upheld on appeal in 2016, putting the effectiveness of the ordinances into question. In order to close any loopholes county ordinances left open, state lawmakers proposed and signed a “social host” bill into law in 2017.

“If you’re an adult and you’ve allowed underage drinking on property that you own or control you can get a $500 citation now. That gets most people’s attention,” said Sherman.

Research shows a young person’s first drink is most likely to come from the home. To protect against pilfering, Sherman says community coalitions are providing refrigerator locks in some areas of the state.

“Kids can’t drink what they can’t get their hands on,” she said.

According to the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 30 percent of high school students report they drink, and almost 65 percent said they’ve tried alcohol. Sixteen percent report binge drinking, down from a high of 34 percent.