HOLIDAY WARNING FOR PARENTS: TEENS EXPERIMENT MOST WITH LIQUOR, ALCOPOPS AND WINE
The research, conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU), found that while liquor and alcopops lead in the category of underage experimentation with alcohol, wine is a more popular choice than either beer or wine coolers.
Below is the breakdown of consumption figures according to the survey:
| Type of Alcohol Liquor Alcopops Wine Beer Wine Coolers |
Experimented(1) 75% 68% 64% 60% 55% |
More Frequently Consumed(2) 48% 29% 26% 34% 22% |
The same survey also found that teens are aware and willing to buy alcohol online: 2% of the 14- to 20-year-olds surveyed, which projects to more than half a million minors nationally, self-reported buying wine, beer or liquor online. Further, a projected three million(3) know underage friends who have used this unmonitored gateway.
"As awareness and exposure to online alcohol Web sites increases, even more minors can be expected to buy from them unless steps are taken today to address the problem," TRU President Peter Zollo said in the report, Underage Alcohol Access & Consumption: Internet, Phone, and Mail. This is consistent with a 2004 National Academy of Sciences report, which confirmed kids are buying alcohol online and that increasing the use of the Internet will make this problem worse in the future.
"I think every parent would be shocked to see the results of a Google search for 'online alcohol' and how easy and fast it is for anyone to order every imaginable type of alcohol and have it sent to their door, no questions asked," WSWA President and CEO Craig Wolf said. "We urge parents to be especially mindful of their children's Internet habits over the holiday break and monitor home deliveries of all packages."
Other research results:
* Nearly one in 10 (9%) of those ages 14-20 have visited a site that sells alcohol.
* One-third-nearly 8.9 million ages 14-20 nationwide-are open to the possibility of an online alcohol purchase before age 21.
* Seventy-five percent say their parents are not able to control what they do on the Internet.
(1) % who have ever had more than a sip of alcohol and who "rarely," "sometimes," "often," or "very often" consumed specified drink
(2) % who have ever had more than a sip of alcohol and who "sometimes," "often," or "very often" consumed specified drink
(3) calculated using 2004 U.S. Census population figures
WSWA is a national trade association representing the wholesale tier of the wine and spirits industry and supports government policies that ensure sales and deliveries of alcohol are conducted only by those licensed by the state and in compliance with state and federal law.
Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) fielded an online survey from April 3-11, 2006, and was completed by 1,001 people ages 14-20 (yielding a margin of error plus or minus three percentage points for this sample in total at the 95% confidence level).
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