Connecting With Their Culture Helps Native Youth Avoid Alcohol

“Our Native culture is prevention,” says a teenager in Critical Dialogue with Native Youth about Underage Drinking: Our Culture is Prevention (Our Culture is Prevention), a new video available from the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking.

The video features comments from several American Indian young people and two tribal elders about the consequences of underage drinking, reasons why teens interviewed choose to not drink today, and how Native culture promotes resilience and helps prevent substance use.

The video is the result of a collaboration between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Underage Drinking Prevention Education Initiatives, which is producing videos on underage drinking prevention for states and territories, and SAMHSA’s Native American Center for Excellence.