Alcohol and Teenagers: A Lethal Mixture

As a father of two active teenagers, teenage alcohol abuse has always been a matter of concern to me. A matter of serious concern. There is a debate going on in the US about lowering the legal drinking age to 18, currently at 21. Presidents of over 100 universities have signed on a petition to lower the drinking age. They cite studies showing that binge drinking and use of fake IDs has increased many folds since 1988, the year when the legal drinking age was raised to 21. The opponents of such a law, most notably an organization called MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) oppose it vehemently arguing that lowering the drinking age will increase teenage drunk driving, hence, fatal road accidents. Both sides appear to make convincing arguments. MADD argues that the educators want the drinking age lowered to make their own lives easier for not needing to deal with alcoholism on campuses. The proponent of lower age contend that the strict laws don’t appear to be working, so why not change them.

My older son had his first serious experience on his High School Prom night – a rite of passage in every kid’s journey from high school to college. He, along with his 6 buddies, called me at 4.30 am “Daddy, I don’t know where I am, please come and get me�. He hands the phone over to his less drunk friend, and I find out approximate location of where these kids were. They were all roughly 17 years old. I drive to the place and load my car with 6 totally drunk guys (all gifted track athletes). My first priority was to get them home. We get home, I help them one by one get to our basement, take their tuxedos and ties off and put them on couches, blankets, etc. My wife and I make sure that none of them was ill to the point to require medical attention. They made most of their throwing up before getting into my car, a couple in the car, and some after we arrived home. The boys wake up 2 in the afternoon the next day, and I had a brief talk with my son. I told him that I understood what had happened, but he needs to show better judgment in the future. This is what I was told by my son, and I trust him one 100%. Tony had brought a bottle of Vodka (big one) and Samir had 6 bottles of Gatorade. We each mixed a lot of Vodka with Gatorade and kept sipping on it for 2 hours. That explained his blue vomit the next day. Every kid’s vomit was a different color of Gatorade. We had been in touch with the parents of other kids, and I am sure that other parents also had a word with their boys.

My younger son had his first real nasty experience when he was barely 15. Comes home one evening totally loaded, and his story changed from “I didn’t drink, to “I had a little� to “they forced me to drink� to “I had a lot�. He threw up 10 times and changed his story between the throw ups. Our concern was that he was not ill enough for immediate medical attention. We had a talk the next day, and he was grounded for 1 month, and his curfew was set to 8pm, down 2 hours. And yeah, Vodka appears to be the most favorite drink of teenagers. The myth is that Vodka doesn’t smell. They don’t realize is that their gestures, talk, give it away. A good trained parent can spot a drunk kid from 2 miles.

Just being a teenager in this country is hard enough, and the peer pressures are so enormous that it is no wonder that teenage drinking in the US is highest amongst the developed countries. Approximately 6% teenagers require medical intervention for drinking problems (yes, they are alcoholics). Roughly 30% are regular drinkers, and 20% are Binge drinker. These are scary statistics. The studies also show that the teenagers who speak with their parents have much lower rates of alcohol, drugs, and smoking, compared to kids who had no such talks.

There are numerous studies to show the effects of teenage drinking. Drunk driving being the most serious one. Have my boys stopped their experiments with alcohol? I am not sure, but I make sure that I give them a smell test every evening when they come home. It can be done skillfully without being invasive and creating mistrust. Trusting your child is the most important factor in having a loving relationship with him and her. No matter how strict a household is, kids will always find ways to experiment with drugs and alcohol, and there is little parents can do about it. As a parent I have learnt that it is never too early to talk with your children about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. We cannot leave it to educators alone to be responsible to teach them about dangers of drugs and alcohol. Monitoring your kids’ activities (their interests, their hang outs, websites, etc.) helps prevent risky behaviors by kids. Talking to them about responsibility and good judgment helps as well. In my opinion and experience, a parent should do everything it can to help his/her child deal with the difficult teenage years, but still be prepared for curveballs. Kids will always be kids, and sometimes they will make poor judgment.

As a parent of teenagers, I am sitting on the fence about lowering the drinking age. However, I am very convinced that the both sides want to help the kids. My teenage boys argue that if one can Vote and join the Army when 18, why not being able to buy a beer? They seem to make a good point as well.