How to Prevent Underage Drinking and Drunk Driving

For the last two years I have been a proud parent advocate for Responsibility.Org and have spent countless hours supporting their mission to help educate and encourage parents to have conversations with their children about alcohol and help prevent underage drinking and drunk driving.

 

 

October is Substance Abuse Prevention Month and this week, specifically, is Red Ribbon Week, which is the largest drug-abuse prevention campaign in the United States. Within the next week are also multiple Trunk-or-Treat’s, Homecoming events, and Halloween. So it’s time to talk about alcohol responsibility and raising drug free children, whether you have a toddler or a teenager.

 

 

It’s no surprise that kids are curious about alcohol. They see ads for it on television during sports games, they see adults (and their own parents) drinking at various events including while the kids trick-or-treat, and if they are old enough, they may even see their peers drinking at a party, even if they are underage. When I first became a parent, I didn’t realize how early I’d have to talk to my own children about things like puberty, bullying, and even alcohol. Both of my kids (3rd grade and Kindergarten) are fully aware of what alcohol is and ask questions about it when they hear something about it or see it firsthand. As a parent of very young children, who are a decade or more away from the legal drinking age, it is my responsibility to teach them, talk to them, and role model what alcohol is, what it can do, and even how I handle it myself.

 

 

Going back to it being Red Ribbon Week at school…the kids asked on the way to drop off this morning what it is and why they were asked to wear red today. What are drugs? Why are they bad? Why are they teaching us about it in elementary school? The answers were simple. Prevention and early education. If we ignore these conversations because it make us uncomfortable as parents, than we are doing our children a disservice. We can talk to them in age appropriate language based on their developmental and cognitive level, but the conversation must still happen. We need to start early, and yes, for those of you who think about starting conversations in adolescence, that is sadly too late. They are curious now, and are ready to learn now. Kids are exposed younger and younger these days and we, as parents, need to be prepared. So where do you start? What do you say?

 

 

First, ask your kids what they already know. What have they heard from peers at school? What are their initial thoughts, misconceptions, questions, etc?

 

 

Second, educate yourself. Before feeling pressure to answer them, first go to places like Responsibility.org’s website and use their plethora of free and helpful resources like conversation starters, videos, etc.

 

Third, walk the walk. If you want your kids to be responsible drinkers, than make sure you are a responsible drinker.

 

 

This is the hard truth. Even if you are convinced in your mind that your child won’t take a drink at a party in middle school or high school, you still need to have the conversation. Please don’t assume they won’t, even if they are a straight A student and are generally well behaved. Mental health is at an all time high for tweens and teens and alcohol is self soothing for many kids in this age group, even if they usually make good decisions. I am not making any wrong assumptions about your child, so I don’t mean for this to come across as harsh or judgmental. All I am trying to say is, talk to your child no matter who they are. Mental health and peer pressure (especially now with social media pressures) affects all kids whether they are valedictorian, the star athlete, or anyone else at the school.

 

 

Another assumption I hear parents say is “my child is too young. I’ll have the conversation with them in a couple of years when they are older.” In my mind, this is a myth I’d like to quickly dispel. I encourage you to go to Responsibility.org to receive valuable information for parents with children as young as 6-9 years old. If your children are in the 9-13 age range, you may also want to check out Responsibility.org’s underage drinking prevention program called Ask, Listen, Learn. As a parent, giving your child a voice is such a powerful and beneficial gift you can give them. And the earlier you talk to them, the better, but remember, it’s never to late to open the lines of communication. And Responsibility.org has a tremendous amount of resources and conversation starters to help you! Responsibility.org has conversation starters on their site here. In fact, their Ask, Listen, Learn program is a completely FREE digital underage drinking prevention program for kids ages 9-13 (grades 4-7) and their parents and educators with the goal to reduce underage drinking. 

 

 

You can follow Responsibility.Org on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more information! #TeamResponsibility

 

 

 

This post is sponsored by Responsibility.org and I am a very proud #TeamResponsibilty ambassador, but all opinions are my own.