According to a recent study from CASA Columbia, 14 year-olds are three times more likely than 13 year-olds to attend parties where parents are “supervising” and kids are drinking alcohol behind their backs. Science can help you broach the subject without seeming preachy.
In the spring of 2009, I attended the 51st International Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous (ICYPAA), sat in on more than a dozen sessions, interviewed attendees, and listened to the stories of many others.
Almost all of these young alcoholics began drinking in middle school or freshman year of high school.
Why?
High school can be terrifying. No matter what your children hear from friends and older siblings, they cannot imagine what high school will be like. They desperately want to fit in. If that means chugging Red Bull, the may well do it. If their friends have upgraded to beer, they will consider and possibly do that.
No comments:
Post a Comment