Parents may justifiably worry when their teens attend parties. In fact, partying among young people has been on the rise. These young people think that nothing can match hanging out with friends at parties and having a great time. But unfortunately, they do not realize that their parents are concerned about this because parents worry that their children may indulge in drinking alcohol.
Findings of a study
A study on parenting and also on the effects of alcohol on young children has found out that more 70 percent of teens of America have tried alcohol before they have finished their high school. Even more alarming than this is that about 37 percent of these young children have tried and consumed alcohol even when they are in their eight grades. But the study’s results and several surveys do not categorically say that just by trying alcohol, these young people do not make drinking a habit.
Another inference parenting experts have drawn from the findings of the study is that even if the social groups of these young people regularly drink more than this quantity, it cannot be construed that they consider drinking as a primary activity in their process of relaxing or having fun.
Points parents should know
Parenting involves realizing that their children may drink alcohol during parties. So, a question arises as to why these teens drink alcohol. The main reason for this phenomenon may be that these children are curious and so, they try their first drinks. Some children may do so because they may like the way a drink tastes or may like the way drinks make them feel.
There is another angle to this also because we have parents who believe in giving drinks to their children from an early age. But parenting also involves knowing why children move from drinking to the state of drunkenness. The main reason for this may be that the other members of the group or party in which children are drinking may think that getting drunk is a necessary part for having a great time. Those children who are not able to withstand the pressure of the other group members succumb and those who have self-confidence limit the quota of drinks they consume.
What children should be taught
The foremost point teens should be made to understand is that drinking alcohol by underage kids is illegal. Secondly, they should be made to realize that their brains are in the developing stage and so, the negative effects of alcohol may harm their brain development. There may be other consequences like damage to brain cells that may result in decrease in their memory power and their learning abilities. When they reach adulthood, this may prove to be a problem.
Parenting experts ask parents to talk to their teens and make them choose their friends wisely because if they choose wrong friends and do not like to go against their pressure, they may become victims to the drinking habit.