Posts Tagged teen alcohol abuse

Local Community Efforts Keep Teen Alcohol Use Down

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse on April 26th, 2012

At the recently held Marshfield Area Parent Network dinner, the results of the 2012 Youth Risk Behavior Survey were presented and one encouraging development emerged — that alcohol use among Marshfield-area teens has declined, and is steadily declining since 2008.

teen drinkingThe survey had both local public and Catholic middle and high school students as participants. The Marshfield Area Coalition for Youth (MACY) claimed that the decline in alcohol use among teens could be attributed to their continued efforts in working with other partner agencies to curb underage drinking.

MACY member and Marshfield Clinic substance abuse program manager Dorothy Chaney confirmed that since 2005, their organization has been driven to control teen drinking. “The survey shows alcohol use among youths is steadily declining, and this is amazing,” Chaney stated.

The survey showed that 64.6% of students admitted to consuming alcohol, down from 2008’s figure of about 68.9%. On the other hand, students’ perception of risks and dangers upon use of alcohol increased, with 73% of them saying they could get in trouble with just one or two drinks a day. In the same survey done four years ago, the same condition only yielded 59%.

Marshfield School Board president Tim Deets was positive that underage drinking rates will continue to drop as far as their area is concerned. “This increase in the perception of risk is a good thing. Ultimately, these are decisions that youths make, and if their perception of risk is increasing, then when the time comes to make a decision, they will understand the risk enough to not do it,” Deets added.

Chaney also proudly shared to the 840 parents gathered at the dinner event that Marshfield local teens’ risk behavior levels were below the national and state averages. She attributes this situation to the initiatives of local agencies, police department, schools, and even businesses in their area all helping to keep kids safe. “All the key community leaders are involved in these issues. The community is coming together to make a change.”

No Comments

Teens Get their Alcohol from Parents or Other Family Members

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse on April 23rd, 2012

The Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has released a report that suggests most teens get their alcohol from parents or from other family members.

MADD gathered data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) which shows that 26% of teen drinkers aged 12 to 17 years old have access to alcohol through their parents or other family members. It was also noted in SAMHSA’s survey that parents have the biggest influence when it comes to underage drinking as 3 in every 4 kids say their decision to drink depended heavily on their parent’s behavior towards alcohol.

drinking with parentsHere are the results of the survey conducted by SAMHSA with regards to alcohol sources of teen drinkers:

1) 26% say they get their alcohol from their own parents, guardians, or from other family members aged 21 years old and above.
2) 25% claimed they get the said substance from people of legal age with whom they aren’t related to.
3) Another 22% say people not related to them and below the legal age become their sources of alcohol.
4) 10% of teens say alcohol is available in their home.
5) 5% of the survey population get their alcohol from other people’s homes.

According to Bill Windsor, Associate Vice President for National Insurance Consumer Safety working with MADD, underage drinking is also a problem that involves adults. “This data shows that underage drinking prevention is not only a problem for our youth. It’s an adult problem too. More than half of teens who drink are getting their alcohol from adults.”

MADD was formed by a mother who lost her daughter due to drunk driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is one of the largest non-profit organization operating nationwide focusing on the safety of teens and their families as far as alcohol issues are concerned. MADD can be reached through hotlines 1-877-MADD-HELP or 1-877-ASK-MADD.

No Comments

Parent-Supervised Teen Drinking Results to More Alcohol Problems

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse on April 16th, 2012

While most parents would think that allowing their kids to have a bottle of beer or a glass of wine at home after dinner is an effective way of controlling adolescent alcohol-related problems, a new report suggests that parents are actually doing more harm than good.

underage drinkingA study conducted by American and Australian researchers say that middle-class kids that are given the freedom to drink, even in moderation, at home by their parents could face more alcohol troubles as they continue their teenage years.

The study was done with more than 1,900 students from 12 to 13 years old participating in a survey. Data gathered showed that kids who were allowed by their parents to drink at home as a means of “harm minimization” suffered more as they developed conditions such as not being able to stop drinking, passing out due to intoxication, and figuring in physical fights.

Kids whose parents did not tolerate any amount of alcohol at home experienced similar problems with their teens but at later years compared to their counterparts.

The Social Development Research Group in Seattle, USA and the Centre for Adolescent Health in Melbourne, Australia worked together for the new study. The complete results can be read in last Thursday’s edition of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Dr. Barbara McMorris from the Minnesota University stressed that parents do play a major role when it comes to alcohol abuse among teenagers. “Despite the fact that peers and friends become important influences as adolescents get older, parents still have a big impact.”

Dr. McMorris added that parents should not use alcohol to develop a good relationship with their kids. “Kids need parents to be parents and not drinking buddies. Adults need to be clear about what messages they are sending.”

No Comments

Students Win Top Prize for Alcohol Awareness Project

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse on April 13th, 2012

Students from the Pascack Valley High School won the top prize in a recently concluded contest sponsored by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

teen drinkingThree seniors from Pascack High became the recipients of the public service announcement award when a script that focused on the social impact of underage drinking authored by the students themselves became the inspiration for a 30-second commercial entitled “Proms and Alcohol Don’t Mix.”

It all started as an assignment for students Carlie Cattelona, Emily Considine, and Melissa Chayt who will all be graduating from middle school in a few weeks.  According to Considine, 17, they were just aiming to fulfill their requirements in class and that they never expected to win.

A crew from the Alcoholic Beverage Control visited the school and shot the whole commercial. It can be viewed on YouTube, on cable television stations, as well as in the division’s own website.

It was just last year that Pascack Valley won the same event. Today, their entry focused more on the social impact rather than on the aftermaths of teen drinking. It showed how social media and gossip around the campus can affect the lives of students.

“We wanted [to make the script] more realistic concerning the gossip, the rumors, the talking behind people’s backs,” Chayt added. “That happens every day [through talk and social networking], and those are the more common consequences.”

Director for the sponsoring agency Michael Halfacre explained that their mission in holding the competition is to put a stop on adolescent drinking. “Drinking underage can have dire consequences and this contest is the perfect way to start a dialogue among teenagers about the danger involved with alcohol.”

Possession of alcohol by a minor is considered a disorderly person’s offense which has a corresponding penalty and fine of at least $500 and a driver’s license suspension.

No Comments

Increase in Teen Alcohol Abuse as School Year Ends

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse on April 8th, 2012

The East Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse is preparing as the school year is about to end. This means more opportunities for teen drinking as parties will be unstoppable in celebrating graduations, award ceremonies, and proms.

alcohol abuseIn Texas, previous studies have shown that alcohol is the top drug of choice among adolescents. Sonny Stephenson, coordinator for the substance abuse treatment for adolescents at the Texas Special Health Resources said that it is important to prevent teen drinking as it could pave the way for alcohol abuse in adult years. “Teenage drinking can lead to alcoholism in adulthood because you start building a tolerance.”

In the recently published survey results of the Archives of General Psychiatry, about 78% of the 10,000 teen study participants had already consumed alcohol and alarmingly, 15% of them satisfy the criteria for alcohol abuse. The average age that teens start to experiment with alcohol is at 14.

Stephenson adds that the said study only shows how rampant alcohol use among teens has become. It does not include the implications of early alcohol abuse, such as teen pregnancy, increase in teen high risks behaviors, spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and even birth defects.

“Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and people, especially teens, will begin to do things they wouldn’t without the presence of alcohol,” Stephenson said.

Yet teen drinking has proven to affect not only the teen drinker, but it also has an impact on the community. The 2011 Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation report claimed that in 2010, Texas residents lost $6 billion to teen drinking costs like medical care for pain and suffering linked to teenage alcohol abuse.

To address this problem, the East Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse has scheduled a town hall meeting on the 26th of April in Longview to educate the whole community on teen drinking and minimize incidents especially in the nearing end of the school year.

No Comments

Emphatic Teachers Help Prevent Substance Abuse among Students

Posted by Drug Free in Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse Prevention on March 25th, 2012

Research has proven that stress, anxiety, depression and lack of social support can drive kids to turn to illicit drugs.

This is why a new study, published in the online issue of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, is emphasizing the role of teachers, especially in the middle school, in helping students cope and keeping them away from substance abuse.

teacher helping studentIt was found out that those middle school students from sixth to eighth grades who got emotional support from their mentors reported a later period of drug experimentation as well as a delay in alcohol use despite of the anxiety they got from family separations.

Psychologist Dr. Carolyn McCarty of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute said that she did not expect the latest findings. “We have known that middle school teachers are important in the lives of young people, but this is the first data-driven study which shows that teacher support is associated with lower levels of early alcohol use.”

Middle school students say that talking to a teacher who empathized with them helped them a lot in dealing with their problems. The students were able to handle peer pressure better and thus were less likely to succumb to drug and alcohol episodes especially those affected with separation anxieties.

Kids who were under higher levels of depression readily jumped into using alcohol and illicit drugs. Depression, therefore, can be considered as a significant factor in increasing risks of alcohol and drug abuse of students.

Dr. McCarty suggests that substance abuse prevention initiatives should be started at the earliest time possible and at different levels. The doctor adds that parents, teachers, and adults should be sensitive to children’s emotions and mental state to avoid substance abuse problems from developing.

“We know that youth who initiate substance abuse before age 14 are at a high risk of long-term substance abuse problems and myriad health complications.”

No Comments