TEENAGERS & ALCOHOL
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T OFFER ADOLESCENTS A DRINK
Drinking regularly as a teenager leads to alcohol problems in adulthood, according to new research. Adolescents who drink weekly before the age of 17 are two to three times more likely to binge drink, drink-drive and be dependent on alcohol in adulthood compared with those who don’t drink, concluded the study of 9000 teenagers across Australia and New Zealand. The study by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) comes as parents struggle to know whether to serve alcohol to their teens to teach them to drink ‘responsibly’.
While many feel that providing alcohol to their children in a controlled environment is a rite of passage, experts implore parents to hold off.
Research from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) found teens whose parents supply alcohol in early adolescence are three times more likely to be drinking full serves of alcohol at age 16. While delaying drinking is important, researchers also believe there should be a focus on frequency.
Dr Edmund Silins, who led the study, said: ‘Current public health messages tend to focus on the amount consumed, and there are fewer messages recommending less frequent drinking.’
Paul Dillon, of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA), says a lot of parents agree it’s not wise to allow teens to drink, but many had exceptions such as special occasions, traditions, and believing they could teach their teen. Other reasons were that parents wanted their kids to be ‘popular’, they didn’t want to harm the relationship with their teen, and they believed underage drinking was inevitable.
But Paul says: ‘Why I try to challenge parental beliefs in this area is that I meet an extraordinary number of schoolbased young people who have the most terrible things happen to them when they have gone out on a Saturday night and messed around with a product they don’t have the maturity or brain development to deal with. Senseless violence, sexual assaults, horrific accidents, and children as young as 13 being placed on life support because they’ve stopped breathing after drinking so much.’
Paul says underage drinking is not inevitable. ‘Delay, delay, delay is important. If teens are going to drink alcohol, try to limit how often it occurs.’
‘I REALLY COMPLETELY FORGOT HOW AMAZING NEWBORN BABY CUDDLES WERE – OR MAYBE I DIDN’T EVEN REALISE THE FIRST TIME AROUND BECAUSE YOU’RE SO NERVOUS AND STRESSED ABOUT KEEPING THESE LITTLE BEINGS ALIVE AND LEARNING EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH.’