Toys Encouraging Alcohol Use By Children

Statement by Mrs. Taft

Last December, my staff went to a local toy store over their lunch hour to buy gifts for their children. They came back to tell me what they had seen. I was so sure they were wrong that I asked them to buy me some of the toys they were talking about so I could see for myself.

Unfortunately they were not wrong. The toys they returned with were clearly normalizing alcohol use to children as young as three years old! I was so concerned by what I saw; I decided to enlist the help of MediaLiteracy.net to alert parents.

Research (see the Research on alcohol marketing and children page on this site) is clearly showing that children form their opinion about alcohol very early. It also has found that alcohol tends to give the results expected of it. The field of prevention has known for a long time that the greater the perception of social approval, the greater the use of alcohol among youth. With one in three children beginning to drink before the age of 13 and the average age of starting to drink declining in our country, I am concerned these toys are making parents jobs harder.

Research is also clearly showing that children who start to drink before the age of 14 have a 40% greater chance of abusing alcohol sometime in their life. It has found that drinking by youth leads to reductions in learning, delays in development, and increases in negative behavior, even in adulthood.

After reading MediaLiteracy.net's descriptions of these toys, I hope you, as parents, will be more aware of what you buy for your children. I hope you will send in pictures of other toys you find which promote the use of alcohol to minors. I hope you will speak up and ask toy manufacturers to please make toys that will have a positive effect on children.

It is time to take pen in hand and ask others to help you raise healthy alcohol and drug-free kids. Consider writing to the Consumer Product Safety Commission at https://www.cpsc.gov/incident.html and report such toys. And, share you knowledge with other parents.

Our children look to us, their parents and other responsible adults, to make the world safer for them to grow up in. Let us unite so our children will have a greater chance of reaching their full potential by being alcohol and drug free.

Sincerely,

Hope Taft,
First Lady The State of Ohio