The Utah Legislature is considering removing separate alcohol-preparation areas in restaurants in response to concerns that alcohol barriers are hurting business and tourism. In reality, Utah business and tourism are the envy of the nation.
For six of the last seven years, the state of Utah has been named by Forbes as the No. 1 best state for business. Fodor’s Travel, a leading travel authority for 80 years, recently named Utah as the No. 1 travel destination in the world. Utah’s underage drinking rate is the lowest in the nation and has dropped dramatically over the last decade. As David Jernigan, director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, Utah should not “mess with success.”
Utah has more children per capita than any other state. Our children are our most valuable resource and investment. In a culture where alcohol is consumed by adults, separate alcohol-preparation areas in restaurants are one way Utah puts children first. Alcohol-preparation barriers shield children from the glamour of bartending and help shape their perceptions of alcohol.
The alcohol barrier is the compromise for allowing bars in restaurants. It is a visual cue that teaches children that alcohol is different from soft drinks or coffee and must be treated with more care and caution. Children’s brains think concretely and 80 percent of their learning happens visually. A visual barrier creates context in real time, teaching children in precisely the way their brains are hard-wired to learn. The “Zion curtain” is not “quirky.” It is effective. Children learn how to treat alcohol by observing how adults treat alcohol.
Correct alcohol messaging is critical because the consequences of underage drinking are pervasive and devastating. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth.” Nationwide, more teens die from alcohol abuse than from all other illegal drugs combined. Over one-third of teen traffic deaths are alcohol-related. Study after study links underage drinking to brain damage, alcohol dependenceand illicit drug use.
Unlike adults, teens don’t drink socially; they binge drink. They drink to get drunk. Although Utah has fewer teen drinkers than in other states, those who do drink start drinking earlier and binge drink more than kids in other states. With about 38,000 underage users each year, alcohol is still the most abused substance by Utah teens.
In addition, alcohol is the most common date rape drug, putting youths at risk for sexual assault. When either the perpetrator or victim (or both) are intoxicated, sexual assault can be brutal and life-shattering. In a recent Utah legislative committee hearing, many young people told heart-wrenching stories of being sexually assaulted. The hearing was focused on sex education in schools, but many of the stories involved alcohol. One college freshman who had consumed alcohol at a fraternity party woke up the next day in pain, “beaten up badly” and raped.
Tragically, this student is not alone. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports, “perhaps greater than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape each year.” Clearly, if we want to address sexual assault we must address underage drinking. All the sex education in the world won’t protect young people from sexual assault when they are drunk.
The state of Utah is legally bound to “promote the reduction of the harmful effects of ... consumption of alcoholic products by minors.” We do that by either putting a fence at the top of the cliff or more ambulances at the bottom. Alcohol barriers in restaurants are part of our fence at the top of the cliff to prevent underage drinking and should not be removed without a compelling reason.
Utah, the state with the most children per capita, should maintain separate alcohol- preparation areas in restaurants as part of a culture that allows business and tourism to flourish while putting children first — making Utah the envy of the nation.
Laura Bunker lives in Lehi and is a co-director of Family Policy Resource.
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