Parents know by now that they should talk to their kids about alcohol. But they might not realize that elementary school isn't too soon, if the goal is to stop drinking before it starts.

One survey found that 10 percent of 9- and 10-year-olds had already tried alcohol, which interferes with the rapid brain development that goes on during the preteen and teenage years.

"If you begin to talk to them about their drinking once they hit high school, it's probably too late," says Charles Curie, head of the federal government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which has launched a campaign to get the conversations started before that first taste.

Curie notes that while tobacco use and illicit drug use by teenagers have declined in recent years, alcohol remains as much a problem as ever; binge drinking is on the upswing. Statistics show that kids who start drinking before age 15 are far more likely to wind up dependent on alcohol than people who wait until after they're 21 (although there's no guarantee that waiting will prevent alcoholism).

As part of the federal push to reduce underage drinking, communities across the country are holding town meetings on and around March 28 to educate parents, kids, and others about the risks and to encourage families to talk about the problem early. Information about the meetings can be found at www.stopalcoholabuse.com, along with guidance on talking to children about alcohol.

Critics say an educational program doesn't go far enough. George Hacker, director of the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, thinks the federal government should be aggressively trying to reduce demand among teens by regulating beer advertising and raising taxes on alcohol.