Hi Friend,

Among other things, 2020 is the year of conversations. We have embarked on countless discussions this year about COVID-19, social distancing, social justice, antiracism, politics, family values, and more, more, more. With families in closer quarters, boundaries are blurred, balance is jostled, and flexibility and resilience are must-haves. The value of a conversation with your child is priceless, because we know that when conversations between parents and kids go up, underage drinking goes down. And we want to supply you with resources you need as you talk to your kids about alcohol—teaching them to say NO to underage drinking—and model responsible decision-making about drinking too.

But kids aren’t raised in a vacuum, and not every conversation is about alcohol. Conversations evolve as your kids get older, are exposed to new people and experiences, and ask more questions. Conversations are key to building trust and keeping lines of communication open. Our "On Responsibility" series helps guide you in having these conversations with your kids as they mature into young adults. The featured experts offer thoughtful and practical advice as you navigate the tween and teenage years with you kids, sharing skills and tips they’ve learned in their professions to help kids grow up making good decisions.

With the legalization of cannabis in many states, you may consider having conversations with your kids and teens about cannabis—but where to start? We recently spoke to School Counselor Brian Coleman and Pediatric Emergency Room Physician Katie Friedman about how and when to start these conversations and why they are so important. The bottom line it that conversations are the key to prevention—and that applies to discussions about alcohol consumption and underage cannabis use.

These new resources are a complement to a new module in our award-winning science-based underage drinking prevention program, Ask, Listen, Learn that launches today.

Created in response to the many requests that we have had from the educators and parents who have trusted Ask, Listen, Learn as a prevention resource over the years, this new unit focuses on how cannabis affects the developing brain. Ask, Listen, Learn has always been—and will always be—an underage drinking prevention program, but as we said above, “kids aren’t raised in a vacuum.” They may be introduced to alcohol and cannabis at the same time—or completely separately, so it’s important to give them the knowledge and skills they need to say “YES” to a healthy lifestyle and “NO” to underage drinking and underage cannabis use.

Parents, you are doing a tremendous job while under tremendous stress, and with these continued conversations, we can empower kids to make healthy decisions, keep the declining rates of underage drinking moving in the right direction, and keep them cannabis-free, too.

- The Responsibility.org Team