Did you know that we are currently in Alcohol Awareness Month? How aware are you about alcohol? I posed this question to a group of teenagers during a speech at a local high school and came to learn that most teens do not see alcohol as something dangerous.
Of course, as a counselor for both in-class and online alcohol classes I am well-aware of the prevailing teen attitude toward alcohol. I see it, hear it and am aware of it's painful repercussions every single week.
Do you have a teen? Do you think your teen drinks alcohol? If so, does this worry you?
While teens’ lackadaisical attitude toward alcohol comes as no surprise -- since they see themselves as somewhat immortal – it shocks me that more parents are not concerned about their children’s attitudes towards alcohol nor their consumption of it.
How many teens do you know who have gotten into trouble where alcohol was a factor? My friend's son fell off a high balcony at a New Years Eve party where he'd been drinking. No one saw him fall nor called the paramedics. He suffered serious injuries and head trauma that has changed his life. To this day, he doesn't know what happened. The odds are virtually every teen and parent knows of an adolescent whose life has been altered by booze in some way. So why the relaxed attitude?
I encourage all parents to sign up for an alcohol class and take it with their teenager. It might be easier to sign up for an online alcohol class so that you can discuss and absorb the material together. I would recommend an 8-hour class from onlinealcoholclass.com