Group creates website aimed toward underage drinking prevention

Positive parent involvement may help children throughout their lives, especially during adolescence. The experience and knowledge they can bestow on young people can keep adolescents away from alcohol and drugs.

A non-profit organization recently created a website to help parents in Portland, Maine learn the tools they need to help combat underage drinking, news station WCSH reports. Law enforcement officials are also on board with the project, which will have radio and television spots in the local area.

"We have made great progress in reducing teen drinking and raising awareness that underage drinking is not an acceptable rite of passage, however we still have a ways to go," Jo Morrissey, project manager for 21 Reasons, told the news source.

Prom and graduation season is rapidly approaching and parents may wish to enroll their child into a troubled teen program to help establish good decision-making abilities. Professional can assist those who drink by offering individual therapy.

According to the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 42 percent of high school students used alcohol at least once during their lifetime.