My daughter told me the other day that the reason I can't remember specific details any more is because I'm loosing brain cells.  My unspoken response was that I'd done a good job killing off quite a few during college at are weekly parties.  Apparently, I didn't know the half of it.

NPR did a story this morning on how binge drinking negatively impacts white matter in the adolescent brain.  The hippocampus - the memory nodule -  is also damaged.  Binge drinking tends to make it more difficult for girls to do well in math- and engineering- related activities and tests whereas alcohol hurts boys' ability to concentrate. 

Back in May of 2009, NPR had another story stating that while overall binge drinking might be declining, the number of kids seen in the ER for alcohol-related problems was on the rise.  And the Century Council suggests that nearly 40% of eighth graders have tried alcohol.  The site has a lot of great information, which I highly recommend reading if you have a child in middle school or older because 10 million kids between 12 to 20 say they've drunk alcohol in the past month. Not surprisingly, a Center for Health Communication and Marketing at the University of Connecticut study of 2,000 15- to 26-year-olds found  that youth who saw more ads drank more. (There's a reason why advertisers pay for the TV, Internet and magazine ads, folks.)

Because the adolescent brain is still developing, abuse of alcohol can have long and detrimental impacts - perhaps permanent ones - on the mind. One of the keys to preventing drinking is being a parent.  By supervising a gathering of kids, you cut way down on their ability to access alcohol. And many kids who do drink say being grounded, having their social networking access curtailed or losing driving privileges impacts their decision to drink again. Parents also have the greatest impact on whether their kids will drink or not: That's why it's so important to talk to kids about alcohol (and drug) abuse.  Not sure where to turn or how to start the conversation?  Check out Stop Underage Drinking or Century Council.