Think your teens are safe if the alcohol they consume is at home and under your watchful eye? Think again.
A study in the May issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs concluded adult-supervised alcohol use resulted in youth experiencing higher instances of alcohol-related consequences. In fact, it found
supervised drinking was not a harm-minimization policy at all.
Harm-minimization VS Zero Tolerance
Parents are worried about their kids binge drinking, driving under the influence or slipping into abuse so they most often take one of two approaches to teen drinking: "harm-minimization" or "zero tolerance." To test those methods, researchers from the Centre for Adolescent Health in Melbourne, Australia, and the Social Development Research group in Seattle surveyed over 1,900 middle school students, following them for three years.
By eighth grade, 67 percent of the students from Victoria had consumed alcohol with an adult present compared to 35 percent who had done the same from Washington. The researchers also learned 36 percent of Australian ninth graders (compared to 21 percent of American students the same age) had experienced alcohol-related consequences, such as not being able to stop drinking, getting into fights after drinking or having alcohol-induced blackouts.
"I think what the study did give was evidence that a very specific aspect of harm-minimization wasn't working as they thought, which was this idea that adults should supervise kids drinking," said Dr. Barbara J. McMorris, University of Minnesota senior research associate and co-author of the research report.
Pouring a glass of wine for your teen or pre-teen at the dinner table may seem responsible, but it turns out that modeling responsible alcohol use at home doesn't seem to have a carryover effect to teens’ drinking with friends or in other social situations.
An American Medical Association study reported in 2005 that 25 percent of teens acknowledged they had been at a party where underage drinking was occurring in the presence of a parent.
While it can be hard for parents to draw the line, it’s important to remember teen brains haven’t finished developing yet and alcohol affects them differently. So don't buy into to that age-old manipulation ploy that “everyone’s doing it.” Alcohol-free parties can become the norm if parents put their foot down and help direct their kids to other ways to make a night memorable.
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