Alcoholic Talk

Dealing with underage drinking can be a huge and scary task if you are not ready to deal with it.

First tip I can say is, do not be afraid to talk to your kid about it. Your child will freak out if he/she knows that you know about the drinking, they will calm down if you handle it correctly.

Second, Grounding, yelling, or otherwise trying to discipline your child about drinking solves nothing. In most cases, this causes the minor to drink more in an act of rebelling against you.

Third, inform your kid what can happen to him/her if they drink. Show photos of car crashes, medical pictures, etc. This curbs drinking a lot if they know truly what will happen if they continue. Talk to them and ask why they do it, fitting in with the other kids is high on the list, thou depression can be a reason. If it is depression or issues in the home, take the child to see a professional so he/she can better deal with the issues that are causing the drinking. It might take time but most kids will stop.

Just keep on loving your child and show them that you care.

The consequences of excessive and underage drinking affect virtually all college campuses, college communities, and college students, whether they choose to drink or not.

Death: 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes

Injury: 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol

Assault: More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking

Sexual Abuse: More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape

Unsafe Sex: 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex

Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall

Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use

Drunk Driving: 2.1 million students between the ages of 18 and 24 drove under the influence of alcohol last year

Vandalism: About 11 percent of college student drinkers report that they have damaged property while under the influence of alcohol

Property Damage: More than 25 percent of administrators from schools with relatively low drinking levels and over 50 percent from schools with high drinking levels say their campuses have a “moderate” or “major” problem with alcohol-related property damage

Police Involvement: About 5 percent of 4-year college students are involved with the police or campus security as a result of their drinking and an estimated 110,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are arrested for an alcohol-related violation such as public drunkenness or driving under the influence

Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: 31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire-based self-reports about their drinking

Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)