NEWS RELEASE

Minnesota prevention effort reduces teen drinking

Focusing on positive messages found to be effective in reducing underage alcohol use

Challenging misconceptions and talking about what teens are doing right can result in real reductions in teen alcohol use. This is one of the findings of a new report from the Minnesota Department of Human Services: “Youth Alcohol Prevention That Works: Reducing Youth Alcohol Use Through Positive Community Norms in Minnesota.”

Positive Community Norms, funded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is a ten-year-old initiative offering grants to school districts and communities to decrease teen alcohol consumption. The approach is based on national research that has found that teens over-estimate alcohol and drug use among their peers, making it seem normal or even attractive. So rather than focusing on what youth are doing wrong, Positive Community Norms emphasizes what the teens are doing right.

For example, at Deer River School District, rather than focusing on the 13 percent of youth who drink at least monthly, Positive Community Norms presents the positive side, that “87 percent of DRHS students don’t drink alcohol in a typical month.”

“We believe kids need to hear the positive reality of use instead of the negative misperceptions, and this conversation has made a real impact,” said Heather Schjenken, coordinator of program of the Deer River School District, about their positive community norms effort. “We are very proud of our students and our community on their response to ‘The Movement.’ We were able to cut underage alcohol use in half during our 5-year grant period.”

Over the past ten years, two rounds of 5-year grants were awarded to school districts and communities. In the first group of nine grantees, ninth grade alcohol use was well above the state’s average (28.6 percent) before the grants in 2006. By the end of the grant in 2010, these communities had reduced the gap by half (14.6 percent). They continued to see positive results after the funding ended, and by 2013, the communities were now below average (minus 4.8 percent).

The second group of grantees had similar results between 2011 and 2016, reducing ninth grade 30-day alcohol use by a third (33.4 percent).

“Positive Community Norms has been an effective, time-tested approach,” said Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper. “Communities who participated have shown real — and important — improvements in underage drinking.”

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, underage alcohol use is directly related to criminal behavior, serious social and health problems such as depression and suicide, traffic crashes, unprotected or unwanted sex, teen pregnancy, physical and sexual assaults, and dropping out of school. Alcohol remains the number one drug of choice for abuse.

In 2016, a new round of grants began for nine communities, with funding through July of 2021. “Our coalition is excited to introduce Positive Community Norms to our community and youth,” said Jill Ambuehl, grant coordinator for Hawley, Minn. “We are choosing to believe in our youth, so they can believe in themselves.”

While in the past efforts had focused on alcohol, now Positive Community Norms can be expanded to include drugs, if that is what community decides is needed. “We learned quickly that every community is different, and communities need to decide for themselves what problems they want to work on,” Piper said.

Positive Community Norms was developed with the assistance of the Montana Institute. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found the approach to be effective in creating meaningful change on a range of issues. Minnesota has taken this approach one step further by involving not just schools but the entire community. Therefore, the first job of the nine new grantees is to create a coalition of community members, from teachers to parents, from bankers to shopkeepers.

Grants average about $200,000 per year. Grantees for 2016 – 2021 are:

  • International Falls Independent School District (ISD) (Koochiching County)
  • Grand Rapids ISD (Itasca County)
  • Hinckley-Finlayson ISD & East Central ISD (Pine County Health & Human Services)
  • Milaca ISD (Mille Lacs County)
  • Alexandria ISD (Douglas County – Horizon Public Health)
  • Pipestone ISD (Pipestone County – Southwest Health & Human Services)
  • United South Central ISD (Faribault County – United Hospital District)
  • Austin ISD (Mower County – Parenting Resource Center)
  • Hawley ISD (Clay County – Reach-Rural Enrichment & Counseling Headquarters)

For more information and to see the report, visit mn.gov/dhs/preventionworks