Last fall, Winters High School’s Friday Night Live program (FNL) launched a campaign to tackle underage drinking in Yolo County.

FNL, a student-led program working to create partnerships for positivity and healthy habits, engages youth as active community leaders and generates resources to generate changes on issues impacting them.

Research from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has shown underage alcohol consumption can lead to a variety of risks and dangerous consequences, including impaired judgment, risky behaviors, interference with brain development, and increased risk of developing substance use disorders in adulthood.

Although underage drinking rates continue to decline in 2023, the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) found that young people in 7th, 9th, and 11th grades engaged in alcohol use in the past month at rates of 4%, 10%, and 14% respectively.

According to the NIAAA, the average age when an American has their first drink is just shy of 15 while 33.1% of people ages 12 to 20 reported having at least one drink in their lives. In addition, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, by age 18, white and Latino/youth are twice as likely to drink than Black youth.

In response to this, youth at Winters High School are launching a multi-media campaign designed to challenge the negative stereotypes about youth and alcohol. The initiative will promote positive social norms by sharing posters, digital graphics and public service announcements created by students about making healthy choices and living alcohol-free.

A common misconception is all young people engage in underage drinking, which is often perpetuated by movies, television, music and social media. These portrayals, in turn, have created a skewed image of youth behavior. As a result, many young people who choose to avoid drinking may feel isolated or out of place.

Winters FNL chapter members are collaborating with the Yolo County Tobacco Prevention Program by surveying Winters community members on their thoughts about smoking and secondhand smoke in outdoor public areas.

Some students have attended Winters City Council meetings to provide information to the Winters City Council members and ask them to revise their current smoke-free parks ordinance to include smoke-free outdoors and events.

“As an FNL Advisor, I can’t tell you how great it is to work with young people and watch as they lead out to educate their peers and communities about the dangers of things like tobacco use and alcohol consumption. We have had great success with our Tobacco Prevention efforts,” Winters High School FNL advisor Matt Baker said. “Now, as we turn our attention and efforts to the problem of underage alcohol consumption, we want our school and community to understand that it really isn’t the ‘everyone is doing it’ mentality portrayed in entertainment and social media … We want to promote the fact that although 14% of 9th graders chose to engage in alcohol use, the majority, 87%, chose not to.”

Throughout the year-long underage drinking prevention campaign, young people will receive training on data collection, public speaking, creating public service announcements, and leadership and advocacy skills.

Winters High School is part of a statewide initiative with forty-five other FNL chapters from across California, who receive support from the California Friday Night Live Partnership (CFNLP) through funding provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).

The young people in FNL will utilize environmental prevention strategies through youth-led initiatives to educate their peers, neighbors, and local leaders on ways to reduce underage drinking access and mitigate the damages caused to communities resulting from underage drinking.

For more information about FNL, visit www.FridayNightLive.org and follow on Instagram @winters_hs_fnl.