Reach Out Now is a unique school-based underage drinking prevention initiative designed specifically for use by fifth- and sixth-grade students, their families, and their teachers. Each year, Reach Out Now materials are disseminated to public, private, and parochial schools nationwide to provide teachers, students, and their families with easy-to-use, informative alerts to the dangers of underage alcohol use. They reinforce and underscore the importance of preventing underage drinking. Reach Out Now is a collaboration between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Scholastic Inc., a children’s publishing and education company.

Reach Out Now Teach-Ins are opportunities for prominent national, state, and local youth leaders--using an evidence-based curriculum and other helpful SAMHSA materials--to teach fifth and sixth graders, parents, teachers, and the community about the dangers of underage alcohol use and encourage young people to make healthy decisions. Although teach-ins can be conducted throughout the year as an effective strategy to prevent underage drinking, SAMHSA releases the materials to coincide with the April observance of Alcohol Awareness Month.

The Reach Out Now materials were developed by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and Scholastic and are based on research supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and SAMHSA.

For information regarding conducting a Reach Out Now/Reach Out Now Teach-In in your school/agency, please contact The Georgia Underage Drinking Initiative at (404) 223-2484.

For additional information about Reach Out Now/Reach Out Now Teach-Ins, please visit www.teachin.samhsa.gov or contact reachoutnow(at)shs.net.