Teaching Responsible Drinking, It Appears To Have The Opposite Effect

A new study has shown that parents providing alcohol for the teenagers at home may be the wrong thing to do. The study which was published in Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs claims that although parents may have good intentions by teaching responsible drinking, it appears to have the opposite effect on teenagers. There are some experts who claim that parents that drink with their teenage children are teaching them how to drink responsibly and that it will also limit the amount of alcohol outside of the home. The recent study conducted flies in the face of that line of reasoning.

Researchers worked with 428 Dutch families in order to conduct the study. The 428 families had two children between the ages of 13 and 15; they answered questionnaires on their drinking habits at the outset of the study and again one and two years later. The results showed that the more teenagers were allowed to consume alcohol at home, the more alcohol they would drink outside the home; in turn the children had a greater propensity for problems. The study also showed that children who drank under their parents' supervision had a heightened risk of encountering alcohol involved problems.

The idea that children will model their parent behavior when it comes to drinking is absolutely unfounded and untrue. The leader of the study Dr. Haske van der Vorst of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands claims that the old belief was based off common sense and not scientific evidence. "For example, the thinking is that if parents show good behavior -- here, modest drinking -- then the child will copy it. Another assumption is that parents can control their child's drinking by drinking with the child, I would advise parents to prohibit their child from drinking, in any setting or on any occasion", said van der Vorst. The best way to promote responsible drinking is to limit the teenager's exposure, who children drink with or where children drink alcohol does not have the effect that doctors had once hoped.

Prescription Drugs are Killing American Teens

Prescription drugs are killing American teens at an alarming rate and no one seems to understand why this is happening. People are becoming addicted more to the prescribed medicine than llegal drugs for multiple reasons. First, most doctors do not fully understand the disease model of addiction; nor do they thoroughly check a patient's background before prescribing drugs that have addictive qualities. Unfortunately, the effects and side-effects of Adderall and Oxycontin are only slightly different than their "street" counterparts, Methamphetamine and Heroin. Sadly, obtaining Adderall and Oxycontin is much easier than their illegal "brothers". As long as doctors continue to prescribe these medicines without understanding that most of these prescription narcotics are going to be abused, then America's youth and young adults will continue to overdose.

Doctors are not the only problem with the prescription drug epidemic because one can acquire prescription narcotics from just about every household in America. Parents are not always fully informed about the contents of their medicine cabinet. In most communities the youth of America receives a crash course on prescription drugs upon entering middle-school with DARE and by the time they reach high-school the damage might be already done. DARE in many ways can draw a curious child closer to drugs, as opposed to discouraging interest. And a curious child in a sea of drugs (the home medicine cabinet) is bound to experiment.

In my eyes, in today's America, the biggest drug pushers may likely be medical doctors. Why hit the streets for drugs when you can go to your family doctor? I will reiterate what I have said in previous posts: Without serious reform in our health care system this problem will continue. I am not sure what the solution to this problem is and how we work towards it, but, my opinion is that we need to educate our youth more about the serious dangers that accompany prescription medication.

Here is a NBC Nightly News video that talks about this problem in one county in America. Watch and let me know what you think.

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P.S. Jury is still out on Jesse James Hollywood

P.S.S. Mark your calendar to watch A & E's Intervention on Monday evening, July 13. Hope by the Sea will be the featured treatment center. (Check your local listings)