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Tag Archive | Underage Drinking
Teen Drinking: Alcohol Screening and Intervention for Youth
If you manage the health and well-being of 9- to 18-year-olds, this Guide is for you.
“Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner’s Guide” is designed to help health care professionals quickly identify youth at risk for alcohol-related problems. NIAAA developed the Guide and Pocket Guide in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics, a team of underage drinking researchers and clinical specialists, and practicing health care professionals.
Why use this tool?
- It can detect risk early: In contrast to other screens that focus on established alcohol problems, this early detection tool aims to help you prevent alcohol-related problems in your patients before they start or address them at an early stage.
- It’s empirically based: The screening questions and risk scale, developed through primary survey research, are powerful predictors of current and future negative consequences of alcohol use.
- It’s fast and versatile: The screen consists of just two questions, which can be incorporated easily into patient interviews or pre-visit screening tools across the care spectrum, from annual exams to urgent care.
- It’s the first tool to include friends’ drinking: The “friends” question will help you identify patients at earlier stages of alcohol involvement and target advice to include the important risk of friends’ drinking.
Download or order the Guide and pocket guide.
You may also be interested in related resources to support you, your patients, and their families
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PROM is a Four Letter Word
The event of prom is no small matter, endless movies have been crafted around this big dance– can we say “Footloose” without our toes tapping?
With nostalgia comes temptation, not only for teens, but parents. Local St. Johns County parents with seniors graduating this year may remember when the legal drinking age was 18. Coupled with memories of your own senior prom, well meaning, otherwise logical parents may be tempted to relax an otherwise firm “no alcohol” policy for this special event.
Let’s talk you off the ledge and back into your parent pants.
P is for planning. Seniors want to have a good time at prom. Regrettably, they’ve grown up in a media culture that has shown them images of good times being had with alcohol, and alcohol only. The best way to mediate this attitude is to literally plan for a goodtime. What happens before prom and after prom are often more important than the prom. Contrary to popular belief, teens are not wired to drink; they’re wired for fun and risky behavior. Pool parties, slip and slides with bubbles, scavenger hunts and other types of crazy and somewhat goofy activities make memorable events. If you’re not planning for fun, they’ll find it on their own.
R is for respect. Most teens don’t respect parents who provide alcohol to minors and the largest portion of alcohol to minors comes from a small percentage of parents. The adage “their going to do it anyway” is a slippery slope for parents trying to convince themselves they’re doing the right thing by providing alcohol. There are many things teens “might” do when given the opportunity – sex, drugs, speed, steal, lie – at the end of the day, we’re obligated to provide the framework for good decisions, not try to mediate potential bad ones.
O is for omnipresent. Defined as, “present everywhere”, our teens once believed we were omnipresent. No matter where they were, or what they were doing, we somehow knew or found out everything. As they get older, carry more responsibility, and prove themselves worthy, we loosen our omnipresent grip. Consider however, that a teen’s brain is rapidly developing until about 21 to 22 years of age. Their decision making still has very much to do with two things – 1) what is everyone else doing? and 2) will I get caught? A healthy dose of omnipresence before big events such as prom reminds your teen that you still care enough to check up on them and gives them a powerful out should they face an overdose of peer pressure.
M is for memories. Remind teens that the best way to remember prom is to add nothing but fun. Who wants to risk having their head end up in a toilet, have a date that pukes all over them, or be so hung over you can’t make it to the beach the next day? When they send their own teen off to prom, the memory of how you handled their prom, from pictures to rules to curfew will undoubtedly be fresh in their minds. Let’s keep the parent pants on and enjoy prom. Be the wall between teens and alcohol.
Provided by PACT Prevention Coalition of St. Johns County
Visit www.PACTPrevention.org for more information and remember, “Be The Wall!”
Be an educated parent, you will have safer teens!
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Prom is a four letter word – Jacksonville Parenting Teens | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/parenting-teens-in-jacksonville/prom-is-a-four-letter-word#ixzz1KLtlY2xc
Sue Scheff: Above the Influence – April is Alcohol Awareness Month
Underage drinking and/or teenage drinking is a serious concern for parents. Alcohol is usually more accessible than most drugs. We often hear about college students that binge drink. Could this be the beginning of a dark future called alcoholism?
During the month of April it is time to learn more about teen drinking and underage drinking. The younger you are when you start drinking, the greater your chance of becoming addicted to alcohol at some point in your life. More than 4 in 10 people who begin drinking before age 15 eventually become alcoholics. Children of addicts and alcoholics are four times more likely to become addicts and alcoholics themselves than children of non-addicts.
Why do teens drink?
Experimentation with alcohol during the teen years is common. Some reasons that teens use alcohol and other drugs are:
- curiosity
- to feel good, reduce stress, and relax
- to fit in
- to feel older
From a very young age, kids see advertising messages showing beautiful people enjoying life – and alcohol. And because many parents and other adults use alcohol socially – having beer or wine with dinner, for example – alcohol seems harmless to many teens. – Source: Kids Health for Teens
Talk to your kids about the dangers of alcohol. Talk to your kids about the dangers of drinking. Simply talk to your kids. Education is the key to prevention.
In Broward County there is a Task Force to Combat Underage Drinking. For more information, contact Pat Castillo, Director of Youth Programs at the Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse at 954-760-7007.
The Task Force to Combat Underage Drinking in Broward County was created in 2004 by The United Way of Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse (BCCSA) with guidance from the Florida Office of Drug Control and funding from the Florida Department of Transportation. The Task Force mission is to reduce underage drinking in Broward County.
Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier kids.