Talking with Kids Deters Underage Drinking - parents' role in abuse prevention - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Dec, 2000

One of the most effective things parents can do to help their children avoid alcohol problems is to talk with them, not only about alcohol risks, but about the social pressures kids face, particularly the proliferation of advertising and other marketing practices. According to Richard Yoast, director of the American Medical Association Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, which manages Reducing Underage Drinking Through Coalitions: Youth and Adults United for Change, a national initiative supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it is also important that adults model responsible behavior.

"Adults have a lot more credibility with young people when they acknowledge the many ways in which our social environment supports underage drinking," he indicates. "For instance, it is helpful to talk about how alcohol use is portrayed in advertising as part of economic, social, and sexual success. Once you recognize that children face a barrage of alcohol advertising every day, then you can begin discussions of alcohol use from a different perspective." Yoast suggests the following basic steps to deter underage drinking:

* Talk to your offspring about your expectations and limits with regard to alcohol use. Know that the example you set speaks louder than your words.

* Check in with them. Know how and with whom they spend their free time and what kinds of pressures they experience in their peer groups.

* Speak frankly about the dangers of alcohol use, such as the loss of control and judgment, as well as health, social, and safety risks.

* Pledge not to provide alcohol to youth.

Youths whose parents talk with them about the risks of alcohol tend to have fewer alcohol-related problems than do those whose parents provide no guidance, Yoast notes. There are also many things that parents can do in their communities to help reduce underage drinking. "No matter where we live, we all know where children are able to purchase alcohol," he says. "Proactive parents can work with youth, police officers, and others in the community to help retailers be more responsible. Parents can also help eliminate alcohol advertising in their neighborhoods, and make sure that adult siblings don't provide alcohol for their younger brothers and sisters."