Alcohol Abuse - Prevention Basics
The most common reason people start to use alcohol is that they think that alcohol is not a drug and they do not think it will harm them. Some of its forms are even touted for their medicinal qualities, like the recent promotion of a glass of red wine being healthy. The medical profession even places alcohol in its own addiction category as in the term ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs) which separates it out from other "drugs." The truth is, alcohol is a drug and has the same stimulant or sedative effects as any other toxic substance depending on the amount that is consumed. Family members are often relieved to find that their loved one is "merely drinking," since alcohol's public image is much more acceptable than drug addiction and Alcoholism seems to be readily handled with programs for alcoholics in case it ever gets out of hand. Sadly, out-of-hand is just what alcohol consumption is when one considers the 75,000 annual alcohol-related fatalities that could have been prevented if people knew the truth about alcohol.
In its annual survey titled the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, the Center for Disease Control paints a picture of where the use of alcohol starts and how quickly and acceptably it escalates. The survey found that 32% of the high schools students surveyed had their first drink before age 13, with 81% of the students admitting to having had more than one drink in their lifetime. The staggering facts on heavy episodes of high school age drinking are represented by the 31.5% of the students surveyed having more than 5 drinks on 1 occasion in the last 30 days.
Alcohol is by far the most popular drug of choice of adolescents. Its social acceptability and accessibility in most homes makes it an easy teen target. While it may be easier to buy illegal drugs than buy alcohol, teens report that the overall social acceptability and pervasive advertising creates the image that it's ok to drink and that drinking alcohol is actually an accepted part of teen life. This had become such a strongly promoted message in the U.S. culture that in the last 10 years, lawmakers had to step in to help states restrict parents' lax behaviors around giving teens alcohol. Cases of parents being prosecuted for serving alcohol to minors have doubled in the last 5 years, yet the number of teen alcoholics continues to rise. Some studies suggest that there may be more that 4 million teens under the age of 18 addicted to alcohol.
Another commonly promoted myth about alcohol use in adolescence is that it won't hurt them. What we know now is that the effects of alcohol are actually greater on the cognitive development of younger children. Students who use alcohol are likely to have slower learning rates and remember less than non-users. With 40% of 9th graders surveyed by the Center for Disease Control admitting to having a drink in the last month. We now have more children at risk than ever. Plus statistics have shown that the lower the age a child starts drinking, the greater the chance of them becoming addicted to alcohol as adults. The Journal of Substance Abuse reports that more than 40% of individuals who start drinking before the age of 13 will develop alcohol abuse problems later in life (1.)
There are many factors that influence a child's decision to start to drink alcohol. These include: how many of their friends and peers drink, how many adults they come into contact with who drink regularly or abuse alcohol, the accessibility of alcohol for the child and how much time the child is left without parental supervision.
The role of media and technology in their lives is also found to be a major influencing factor. In a recent study published in Addiction Research Theory, entitled "Alcohol Advertising Exposure and Adolescent Alcohol Use"(2.) the researchers found that advertising exposure greatly increased the positive perceptions of alcohol use and clearly influenced their decisions to use alcohol. While Parental input was critical to thwarting their use, the advertising was found to change their perception of alcohol from harmful to safe. And the more positive images they received of alcohol use, the more likely they were to try that product with no fear of harmful effects.
As children are exposed to more and more positive images through TV, video, music, the first time use drinking age has dropped. Another interesting fact that was discovered on a Weekly Reader National Survey was that while students were often educated on the harmful effects of illegal drugs at an early age, they reported that they received very few messages about the dangers of drinking alcohol. This would indicate some serious gaps in alcohol awareness campaigns in contrast to prevention programs.
The research points to several prevention factors that keep adolescents from drinking. The primary prevention factor is understanding what alcohol really does to their body, their minds and their lives. The key is a conceptual understanding of the facts about how alcohol negatively impacts their life was found to be the key preventative factor. While advertising and the media seem to make alcohol safe and fun, the full understanding of alcohol's harmful effects, have them make abstinence decisions from the beginning. The next most important protective factor is strong, concise communciations from their parents about the dangers of alcohol consumption. Children and teens needed to be told that their parents do not approve of their drinking, that this is an adult choice and it is an illegal activity that their parents would not condone. These strong parental messages along with good role modeling by parents around alcohol use, are surveyed as the next most important factor in keeping kids from drinking at any age.
The popular parental and family resource guides, "Talking to Kids About Drugs" and "How to Talk to Kids About Drugs - a Parents Handbook" are available from Narconon East U.S. Call Narconon today to get a copy of these booklets and help a loved one get the data they need to never get started down the road of alcoholism and alcohol abuse.
Call the Narconon drug rehab program Today 877-237-3307
References:
1. Grant, BF, & Dawson, DA. 9:103-110, 1997
2. Unger B. et al. Addiction Research Theory, 2003 June 11 (3) pp.177-193
3. Weekly Reader National Survey on Drugs and Alcohol. Middleton, CT: Field Publications, 1995