I'm not at all surprised that 31% of teens were drunk this past year. That their parents didn't even know they drink, well, that speaks to the depth and breadth of denial in Utah. Whether its' petty crime (My kid wouldn't do that, so you're a liar!), smoking, drinking, you name it.
I'm not sure what's worse, preaching abstinence or believing its' working. Indeed, it often has the opposite effect. If you harp on to a kid enough about not sticking their tongue on the frozen flag pole, they're probably going to do it. Where else would they get the idea to try it?
We refuse to teach kids about important life decisions they will have the opportunity to make. We can't wonder why they don't make the correct decision.

I'm not at all surprised that 31% of teens were drunk last year either, its Utah. If this were Texas I would be surprised at that number because when I was growing up I'd say it was more like 85%, at least in San Antonio. If you asked I'd have a hard time counting on one hand friends I had who hadnt had a drink or were on some illegal substance. So knock teaching abstinence all you want, if you stop teaching it maybe you can be like San Antonio some day.