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Welcome to NCCPUD!
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Monday, May 17, 2010 NCCPUD'S New Website!!!We have launched NCCPUD's new website. This is the first blog post. Keep up with this blog, as we will post updates, information, other items to the NCCPUD blog. |
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Underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than illegal drugs. Underage
drinking poses a high risk to both the individual and society at large. Alcohol-related traffic crashes
is greater for drivers 16 to 20 than for drivers 21 and older. Adolescents vulnerability to alcohol-induced
brain damage could contribute to poor performance at school or work. Research has also associated adolescent
alcohol use with high-risk sex particularly leading to unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
To respond to the challenges of underage drinking in the District of Columbia, since
1997, NCCPUD has been implementing a youth-oriented intervention that is aimed at reducing underage drinking.
NCCPUD’s approach is to first influence the youth educator’s attitude towards alcohol consumption through
self-discovery and self-empowerment. Secondly, by creating a group of peers who share the same attitudes
thus form the basis for the youth educator’s social norms. Once these youth adopt a positive self-perception
and healthy behaviors, they can then serve as role models to their peers, and thus, affecting their decision about underage
drinking and healthy behavior.
NCCPUD Youth Advocates