The high school graduation ceremonies crowding the calendar in June represent a rite of passage in our society. One important question for many parents is whether another less formal rite, alcohol consumption, has already commenced.
“We hear from kids in our programs that 40 to 60 percent of their high school classmates are regular users of alcohol, which means they are at least drinking on weekends,” said Rhonda Sweedler, clinical coordinator of Hazelden Chicago’s youth services center in Lombard. “That covers many schools in the western suburbs.”
The Hazelden Foundation opened the Lombard facility in January. It provides treatment for teenagers with alcohol and drug addiction problems — “about 10 percent of teenage drinkers are candidates for detox,” said Sweedler — but also plans to be active in prevention campaigns. There are proposals to start informational presentations at the grade-school level and to conduct workshops for athletic coaches, who have a unique relationship with students.
Another Hazelden program targets teenagers who drink but don’t exhibit the classic problems associated with overuse, such as changes in friends and social circles, increasing isolation from family members, hostility, poor grades and what might be best described as a major attitude problem. The four-week Insight program talks to the kids as young adults.
“We work on internal motivation,” said Sweedler. “We discuss the negative impact of drinking at their age. For example, the liver is not fully developed yet, so it can affect them even more physically. There is the issue of potential sexual assault. We get them realizing they don’t think clearly when they get drunk, and they find they do things they later regret. The program appears to be resulting in a high rate of abstinence.”
Not surprisingly, Sweedler and other experts contend that parents have the most significant ability to influence internal motivation. Peer pressure is another factor, along with Hollywood movies and television (research shows the typical American child will be exposed to 160,000 to 180,000 beer ads before reaching legal drinking age). But parental rules and role modeling makes the greatest difference.
“We know for a fact that not talking to your kids about drinking is not effective,” said Sweedler.
“Setting ground rules and reasonable expectations are good ideas,” said Michael P. Notorangelo, an osteopathic physician and medical director of the Rush Behavioral Health center in Palos Heights. “Kids do well with structure. There is also the issue of setting a good example. If you come home half-lit from a night out, that sends mixed messages to the child.”
Notorangelo, who specializes in psychiatry and addiction counseling, said too many parents hesitate to establish firm polices — and consequences — for alcohol use by teenagers. One reason is that the parents are worried about alienating their children, not an unusual thought during teenage years.
Hazelden conducted a national survey that showed only 23 percent of parents strictly prohibit their children from consuming alcohol before legal age (21 in most states, including Illinois). Another 60 percent address the issue by telling kids not to drink but, if they do, the parents will make arrangements for transportation to avoid any fallout from drunk driving. The margin of error in the survey is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Sweedler said parents who agree to provide transportation send another mixed message. “It addresses the potential injury from auto accidents,” she said, “but there are still other potentials that tend to be overlooked or ignored.”
A better strategy is to be open about alcohol use, she said. The Hazelden study indicated 65 percent of parents tell their kids not to use alcohol or drugs and are honest about their own use as teenagers. That is a good first step.
“My professional instinct is for parents to provide as much information as possible,” said Sweedler. “Parents don’t have to be perfect; they can use their own mistakes to teach children.
“Tell your kids you are afraid for them. Give them statistics on drunk driving and sexual assault or explain how alcohol harms the developing liver. Get the subject in the open.”
Notorangelo said some teens use alcohol as an escape. Addressing potential alcohol and drug use might identify deeper problems that can greatly alter a child’s life.
One argument made by some experts is that the legal drinking age of 21 actually backfires in alcohol prevention. Most other countries allow young adults to drink at 16 to 19 years old, if there is a law at all. The Ukraine, South Korea and Malaysia are the only other countries that enforce 21.
“Drinking sensibly is not a skill that drops into your lap the day you turn 21,” said Marcus Grant, president of the Washington, D.C.-based International Center for Alcohol Policies, an organization funded by 10 corporations that sell alcoholic beverages. “It can be compared to driving a car. You wouldn’t just put the kids behind the wheel at the legal age.”
Grant comes to his current job with strong credentials — he was director of alcohol use for the World Health Organization for 10 years. He said early results from an international research project shows that kids in other countries, such as Mexico, China or Western Europe, generally learn about alcohol from either their families or “a sort of apprenticeship” at a pub or other public gathering place.
“In this country, people are learning covertly about alcohol,” he said. “That likely explains why college campus drunkenness is so much higher than any other country in the world.”
