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Publication #FAR1201

 

Teen Binge Drinking1

Suzanna Smith2

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Raising teenagers is a tough job. I know I’m not the only mom who worries about the challenges our children face, including the issue of teenage drinking. There are many reasons to be concerned: Youth who use alcohol are at greater risk for unprotected sexual intercourse, coerced sexual activity, use of marijuana, and poor academic performance (Child Trends, http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/?q=node/140 [12 September 2012]). Alarmingly, in 2002 nearly one-third of all traffic deaths among youth ages 15 to 20 were alcohol-related. And then there are the long-term health problems of binge drinking--"including cancer, liver, pancreatic and cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal problems, neurological disorders and reproductive system disorders” (Child Trends, http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/?q=node/140 [12 September 2012]).

The good news is that recent studies show that binge drinking has been declining among eighth and tenth graders “from 15 percent of eighth graders in 1999 to 11 percent in 2005 and [from] 26 percent of tenth graders in 2000 to 21 percent in 2005.” However, “the rate for twelfth graders has remained at 28 percent” (Child Trends, http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/?q=node/140 [12 September 2012]).

Parents who are concerned about their teenager’s drinking can monitor a teen’s drinking behavior and be aware of their friends drinking behavior as well. They can communicate with their teens about the risks of drinking and make their views clear. Parents may also need to look at their own drinking behavior and see what it communicates to their teens, as “parents' drinking behavior and favorable attitudes about drinking have been positively associated with adolescents' initiating and continuing drinking” (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1997: http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa37.htm).

Listening, learning and living together, it’s the science of life. “Family Album” is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and of WUFT-FM. If you’d like to learn more, please visit our website at http://familyalbumradio.org.

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Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR362, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Broadcast as program 396 in January 2007. Published on EDIS August 2012. In the interest of time and/or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Suzanna Smith, associate professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.