When Young People Drink Alcohol, Is It News?  This was the question raised today in the Concord Monitor editorial section where Editor Felice Belman explained the Monitor’s recent coverage.

New Futures commends the Monitor’s recent coverage of underage drinking parties and arrests!  Is it news?  Yes!  It is also evidence that important policies to reduce the harmful effects of underage drinking are being implemented.  Police departments in the greater Concord area which have been enforcing these policies have done what society asked them to do.  They have enforced the laws that protect our children and young adults from harmful contact with alcohol.    THANK YOU.  The Concord Monitor has reported these events as they do other police contacts.  THANK YOU.

Perception of risk is one of the primary ways we stop ourselves from making potentially harmful decisions.  Seeing arrests and names printed in the paper raises the perception of risk – among parents and young people.  We tell them drinking under age 21 is illegal.  This coverage helps to show them that it truly is.  THANK YOU.