Parents with kids in high school and college will likely be happy to hear about a recently-released study that found that many teens are not indulging in alcohol consumption. Many teens have said that they’re more focused on school and eventually a good career. They say that drinking could reroute them from their goals. As one 14-year-old put it, “If I focus on alcohol, I’m not going to focus on my career.”
Their parents, who grew up some thirty years ago when the dangers of alcohol weren’t as widely-known or discussed, may find it hard to believe that their kids aren’t surrounded by friends and classmates who are drinking. However, it’s important to understand that they may have greater access to other mind-altering substances, like marijuana.
Some of the teens surveyed said that they preferred marijuana to alcohol because it made them calm rather than aggressive. As one teen said, with marijuana, “you still have your morals.”
Of course, when teens go away to college, they will be around a whole new group of peers, and alcohol is more easily accessible, even though it’s not legal for them to possess or consume. That’s why talking to your children throughout their adolescence and young adulthood about the consequences of underage drinking is essential.
If your child has been arrested for underage drinking or for a DUI, it’s essential to get experienced legal guidance from a Georgia criminal defense attorney with experience handling underage drinking and driving cases. A conviction can get kids expelled from college, cost them their scholarships and deter their ability to get a job in their chosen profession.
Source: The Chicago Tribune, “For many teenagers, getting drunk is not on the bucket list,” Tara Bahrampour, The Washington Post, Sep. 25, 2017