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Teen Parenting Tips:
Prevention of Alcoholism
Strategies for the Prevention of Alcoholism Among Teens
While data shows that many teenagers experiment with alcohol and some regularly consume it, underage alcohol use is not inevitable. Families are not helpless in the prevention of alcoholism.
Focus your efforts on factors that protect teens from alcohol use. At the same time, you can work to reduce the factors that increase the chance that they will drink.
Support your teens and give them space to grow.
- Be involved in your teens’ lives. Be loving and caring.
- Encourage your teens’ growing independence, but set appropriate limits.
- Make it easy for your teens to share information about their lives.
- Know where your teens are, what they’re doing, who they’re with, and who their
friends are.
- Find ways for your teens to be involved in family life, such as doing chores or caring
for a younger brother or sister.
- Set clear rules, including rules about alcohol use. Enforce the rules you set.
Talk with your teens about alcohol use and prevention of alcoholism.
- When you talk with your teens about drinking, listen to them and respect what they say.
- Make clear your expectation that your teens will not drink.
- Teach your children about the dangers of underage drinking.
- Discuss laws about underage drinking, including the age 21 law.
Help your teens make good decisions about alcohol.
- Help your teens know how to resist alcohol.
- Help them find ways to have fun without alcohol.
- Do not give alcohol to your teens. Tell them that any alcohol in your home is off
limits to them and to their friends.
- Don’t let your teens attend parties where alcohol is served. Make sure alcohol isn’t available at teen parties in your own home.
- Set clear rules about not drinking and enforce them consistently.
- Help your teens avoid dangerous situations such as riding in a car driven by someone
who has been drinking.
- Help your teens get professional help if you’re worried about their involvement
with alcohol.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking: A Guide to Action for Families. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 2007
Related Information
Teenage Alcoholism Research
Alcoholism Test for Teens
Adolescent Drinking
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