Teens, Drinking and You
How to Prevent Your Child or Teen from Binge Drinking
Underage binge drinking – which is typically defined as having four or five drinks or more in under two hours – has gotten a lot of attention recently. Unfortunately, it is far more prevalent and dangerous than the passing fad or phase many adults consider it to be.
In fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) more than half of the 10 million children and adolescents who drink regularly are binge drinkers.
To make matters worse, most teen alcohol addictions start with “innocent” binge drinking at weekend parties at friends’ houses and other similar occasions in which teens have the opportunity to drink without adult supervision.
Of course, the possibility of addiction is only one reason to make sure your child doesn’t start binge drinking. Even if addiction wasn’t a concern, binge drinking can still cause black outs and alcohol poisoning, as well as lead to driving under the influence, drug use, violence, and sexual promiscuity.
Unfortunately, trying to convince a teenager who’s already started drinking to stop is much easier said than done. Therefore, the best thing to do is prevent binge drinking from a young age before it even begins.
Preventing Underage Drinking
If you love your child and are concerned about their safety, it’s never too early (or too late) to start creating an environment that helps them make the best choices possible. And the earlier you start, the better the chances your child will avoid risky behaviors like binge drinking altogether.
The following are some of the important things we can all do as parents to help our children avoid binge drinking and grow into healthy, responsible adults:
1. Be Supportive and Available – When your child brings home a less than stellar report card, loses a baseball game, or makes any mistake, be supportive. This isn’t to say you should support your child’s drinking or other risky or inappropriate behaviors. But don’t belittle or demeaning. You can oppose your child’s actions yet still be understanding of why they did what they did as you support them to improve and do better next time. Your child needs to know that you love them and are there for them whenever they need you. Even if you’re preoccupied with something serious (job loss, separation, divorce, death in the family, etc.) make sure you’re still there for your child when he or she needs you.
2. Teach Your Child to Take Responsibility – While you need to be supportive of your child, this doesn’t mean you should allow him or her to make excuses, or blame others for his or her mistakes. They need to learn to accept responsibility for, and the consequences of, their actions, and do what’s right. If this includes making apologies or a loss of allowance money in order to make amends, then that is what needs to happen.
3. Remember You’re a Parent, Not a Friend – Your child needs you to be their parent, not their friend. They have plenty of friends at school. When you see negative behavior, address it accordingly. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this means you need to be authoritarian or that having a yelling match with your child is going to help. Yelling and being dictatorial is not the way to reach common ground. By providing the safe, supportive, and structured environment all children inherently crave, you’ll earn your child’s respect and actually form a stronger and closer relationship with them than you ever could by just being their friend.
Underage binge drinking – which is typically defined as having four or five drinks or more in under two hours – has gotten a lot of attention recently. Unfortunately, it is far more prevalent and dangerous than the passing fad or phase many adults consider it to be.
In fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) more than half of the 10 million children and adolescents who drink regularly are binge drinkers.
To make matters worse, most teen alcohol addictions start with “innocent” binge drinking at weekend parties at friends’ houses and other similar occasions in which teens have the opportunity to drink without adult supervision.
Of course, the possibility of addiction is only one reason to make sure your child doesn’t start binge drinking. Even if addiction wasn’t a concern, binge drinking can still cause black outs and alcohol poisoning, as well as lead to driving under the influence, drug use, violence, and sexual promiscuity.
Unfortunately, trying to convince a teenager who’s already started drinking to stop is much easier said than done. Therefore, the best thing to do is prevent binge drinking from a young age before it even begins.
Preventing Underage Drinking
If you love your child and are concerned about their safety, it’s never too early (or too late) to start creating an environment that helps them make the best choices possible. And the earlier you start, the better the chances your child will avoid risky behaviors like binge drinking altogether.
The following are some of the important things we can all do as parents to help our children avoid binge drinking and grow into healthy, responsible adults:
1. Be Supportive and Available – When your child brings home a less than stellar report card, loses a baseball game, or makes any mistake, be supportive. This isn’t to say you should support your child’s drinking or other risky or inappropriate behaviors. But don’t belittle or demeaning. You can oppose your child’s actions yet still be understanding of why they did what they did as you support them to improve and do better next time. Your child needs to know that you love them and are there for them whenever they need you. Even if you’re preoccupied with something serious (job loss, separation, divorce, death in the family, etc.) make sure you’re still there for your child when he or she needs you.
2. Teach Your Child to Take Responsibility – While you need to be supportive of your child, this doesn’t mean you should allow him or her to make excuses, or blame others for his or her mistakes. They need to learn to accept responsibility for, and the consequences of, their actions, and do what’s right. If this includes making apologies or a loss of allowance money in order to make amends, then that is what needs to happen.
3. Remember You’re a Parent, Not a Friend – Your child needs you to be their parent, not their friend. They have plenty of friends at school. When you see negative behavior, address it accordingly. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this means you need to be authoritarian or that having a yelling match with your child is going to help. Yelling and being dictatorial is not the way to reach common ground. By providing the safe, supportive, and structured environment all children inherently crave, you’ll earn your child’s respect and actually form a stronger and closer relationship with them than you ever could by just being their friend.
