A former NCAA All-American, International-level distance runner and World Masters Champion, Underwood has coached and advised Olympic athletes and is an expert in the field of athletics and social drug use.

“They start out so young. They don’t realize the damage they’re doing to themselves and neither do a lot of their parents. So many adults think it’s just fine. They rationalize it,” Underwood said. “Can you imagine if you started (drinking) at 11 or 12. Your brain is developing up to age 21. You’ve got 10 years of damage before your brain is even ‘cooked.’ It’s cooked all right, but not quite the same way.”

While his sense of humor and easy-going nature came across during our conversation, Underwood is concerned about the issues today’s kids face at a time when funding for drug and alcohol prevention programs is dwindling. Underwood told me he’s brought his Pure Performance/ Life of an Athlete programs to Michigan at least 35 times in the last year and a half, addressing teen athletes, as well as coaches and parents. He pointed out the latest annual survey of teens and parents by the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) that placed adults into three categories — hands-on, hands-off, and half-hearted parenting.

“Seventeen percent of parents were hands-off, meaning their kids are just winging it for themselves,” he said. “Fifty-five percent are half-hearted parents which means they basically are going through the motions. When you read the data of what the kids of those parents are involved in it’s absolutely frightening.”