Alcoholism recognizes no barriers, age included. The first Young People’s Groups (YPGs) in Alcoholics Anonymous appeared in 1945 in Los Angeles, California and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1957, a meeting of young AAs from across the U.S. and Canada started what is now the International Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous (ICYPAA).
At the 1960 Convention Bill W. noted that the age of new members was much lower than when he and Dr. Bob founded AA 25 years earlier. A 1975 ICYPAA pamphlet described the people in YPGs as in their twenties and thirties with some teenagers. The trend has continued.
A 1989 AA survey reported that 30% of the respondents were under 40 years of age and that 3% were under 21 years of age. The number of young people suffering from alcoholism who turned to AA for help is growing and the purpose of YPGs, just as it has been for many years, is to carry AA’s message of recovery to alcoholics no matter what their age. YPGs provide young newcomers with a meeting where they can see and share the experience of sobriety with other young people.
YPGs try to make the newcomer understand that 20 plus years of drinking alcohol coupled with loss of family, friends, and finances are not necessary for one to ready for sobriety. YPGs bring the newcomer into the mainstream of AA Recovery, Unity, and Service through the 12 Steps, the 12 Traditions, and the 12 Concepts for World Service, by carrying AA’s message the suffering alcoholic.
YPGs are in no way separate from Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole. Members of YPGs are involved in and committed to Twelfth Step Work, Hospital and Instituion Work, Public Information, General Service, and every other facet of AA service. Newcomers are shown, by people their own age, that using AA principles in their daily lives and getting involved in AA service can lead to a lasting and comfortable sobriety.
The General Service Board and General Service Office recognize young people’s groups and OYPAA as part of Alcoholics Anonymous. The only age requirement is that you must be young at heart and have room to grow.
