Research shows authentic communication reduces risky teen drinking

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws have reduced alcohol traffic fatalities by 13 percent and have saved an estimated 28,765 lives since 1975. Still, about 1155 persons under 21 die every year in car crashes involving underage drinking. Kids face a huge amount of stress as they navigate the teenage years. Many turn to alcohol to relieve stress, cope with the pressures of school, to deal with major life changes, like a move or divorce, or to self-medicate a mental health issue such as anxiety or depression.

• Morin said missteps in the investigation into the party led to police dropping the charges down to town ordinance violations or a non-criminal violation.
• “Even sipping/tasting in early adolescence … is predictive of heavy drinking and alcohol-related harms in young adulthood,” the study says.
• The report finds that Smith did not receive advance notice that police were reporting to the underage drinking party.
• They may say that there’s no harm in drinking and that everyone drinks.
• These strategies can effectively lower alcohol-related harms for everyone, including people younger than 21.

Some young people also report drinking and driving

• Damage to this part of the brain before it’s fully developed can lead to learning difficulties, memory problems and impaired problem solving.
• Dr Dodds adds, “Importantly, this two-sided communication must be matched with authentic behaviour, particularly by parents.
• Encourage your child to take part in extracurricular activities and to surround themselves with good mentors and responsible peers.
• If you’re a parent, you might be wondering what the best way is to keep your child safe.
• Let the young person know that if they, or someone else, is drunk or high, they can’t give consent.

Driving or swimming while under the influence is dangerous – a young person may harm themselves and others. Taking alcohol with other drugs that also suppress the central nervous system (such as heroin and benzodiazepines) can be particularly risky. It can cause a person’s breathing and heart rate to decrease to dangerous levels and increase the risk of overdose.

Remember that as a parent, your child is much more likely to mimic your actions than listen to your words. No matter how much you preach about the dangers of underage drinking, if you reach for a drink to unwind at the end of a stressful day, your teen may be tempted to follow your example. If you have concerns about your child’s alcohol use, you may want to reevaluate and make changes to your own drinking habits as well. Kids and teens are more likely to binge drink and are more vulnerable to developing a problem with alcohol than adults.

Many young people start experimenting with alcohol during their teenage years, especially when they’re socialising. It can be difficult to strike a balance between keeping your teen healthy and safe and giving them the freedom to experience their teenage years to the fullest. By role modelling moderate drinking behaviours and setting clear expectations, you can teach your teen how to manage the effects of alcohol.

The teenage years can often be challenging and stressful, and it’s not unusual for people to turn to alcohol as a way of coping with their issues. But whatever difficulties you’re facing at the moment, there is help available and there are healthier, more effective ways of resolving them. Because the adolescent years are a time of development, teens’ bodies are less able to process alcohol. That means they have a tendency to get drunk quicker and stay drunk longer than older drinkers. Attempting to dive straight in to a discussion about drinking may be a quick way to trigger an unpleasant fight.

Parents—Talk With Your High School Grads About Celebrating Safely

Parents can help reduce the harmful effects of alcohol on their teenager by setting clear expectations about what is acceptable and unacceptable drinking behaviour during their child’s early teens and beyond. This conversation is one you’ll have to repeat throughout their teenage years. Set good standards that your teen can learn from by role modelling responsible drinking behaviours yourself.

Información sobre el consumo de alcohol entre menores de edad

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Risk factors are things that increase the likelihood that a teen may drink alcohol underage. Some of these are specific to individual families, while others affect whole social groups. To an extent, this is typical for this life stage, as teens begin to enter the world of adulthood and try new things. But in combination with alcohol, which also lowers inhibitions, it can result in impaired judgment. Teen alcohol use may also raise the risk of alcohol use disorder, anxiety, or depression in adulthood. However, because the brain at this age is still developing, it may also recover from some alcohol-induced changes.

Brain Development

• Keep an eye on things Ultimately, you are responsible for making sure the party is safe.
• If you have concerns about your child’s alcohol use, you may want to reevaluate and make changes to your own drinking habits as well.
• Either directly or indirectly, we all feel the effects of the aggressive behavior, property damage, injuries, violence, and deaths that can result from underage drinking.

“Warnings are fundamental in tackling adolescent drinking behaviour, however, those warnings are more credible when paired with the acknowledgment of some of the positive aspects. This mixed message approach is perceived as open, more authentic and trustworthy, and therefore more effective,” Dr Hess says. Alcohol plays a significant role in Australian culture, and teens are generally aware of that. Most teens will want to join in on the cultural activities that their peers or role models are doing, so they may drink to celebrate an achievement or to fit in at a party. Negative consequences can cause harm to others as well, such as injuring or even killing another person while driving drunk.

Young people are at greater risk of alcohol-related harm than adults. As the brain keeps developing into the mid-twenties, drinking alcohol as a teenager can increase the risk of harm to the developing brain. It’s important for parents to understand the reasons their child may experiment with alcohol. You should also know, how it can become an addiction and how to treat that addiction. Even more important is your role in talking with your child about the dangers of underage drinking. Research shows that the earlier a child starts drinking, the greater the likelihood they will abuse alcohol later in life.

Damage to this part of the brain before it’s fully developed can lead to learning difficulties, memory problems and impaired problem solving. The longer your teenager delays using alcohol, and the less alcoholism treatment they drink, the better their brain functioning will be, both now and in later life. It’s important to talk to your child (at every age) about the dangers of alcohol. Teens often take their first alcoholic drink because they get pressured by their friends or peers.

It’s natural for teenagers to want to experiment, and drinking alcohol is no exception. According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, almost one-third of people between the ages of 12 and 20 report having had at least one drink. Sampling alcohol in a safe, controlled family environment can be a part of growing up, and many states have laws permitting this. However, unsupervised drinking underage can have a long-term impact on a young person’s health and mental well-being. There is concerning evidence from small-scale human brain imaging studies that underage drinking can harm the developing brain.

Keeping safe

These strategies can effectively lower alcohol-related harms for everyone, including people younger than 21. As compared to nondrinkers, teens who drink are more likely to get into a car with a driver who has been drinking, smoke pot, use inhalants, or carry a weapon. Binge drinking substantially increases the likelihood of these activities.