Is Your Teen at Risk for Alcohol Abuse?

It can be a very frightening thought, but parents should consider that influences on their teens may prove too much to overcome, leading to a substantial risk for experimenting with and abuse of alcohol. The question is how do you know if your teen is at risk for alcohol abuse? Here we look at some answers.

First, let’s examine a few facts.

One in three children begins drinking by the end of the eighth grade. That’s according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Even more disturbing, at least to concerned parents, is that of that number, half of the children report having been drunk.

Identifying the risks of alcohol abuse for adolescents, those children aged nine through 18, becomes a primary importance for parents and other caregivers.

Why Worry About Teen Use of Alcohol?

Maybe you believe that your teenager will not succumb to the influence of his or her peers and begin sampling alcohol at parties and get-togethers, let alone fall prey to repeated use and then abuse of alcohol.

Maybe you’re not living in the real world. Consider some of the following things we know about teens and alcohol use.

Why Do Teens Drink?

While you might think the answer to the question of why teens drink is obvious, the truth is that there are multiple reasons. All of them are worth considering as you begin to assess whether your teen is at risk for alcohol abuse.

If you have only one child, and that child is now a teenager or will soon be one, some of this may be new to you. If you have other children who are either teenagers now or who have progressed into adulthood already, you may have some experience with teens and alcohol experimentation, use and abuse. Even so, every child is different and has to be looked upon as a unique individual.

Here are some of the common reasons why teens drink:

Learn more about the Symptoms of Teen Alcohol Abuse and Treatment >>