Talking to Your Kids About Alcohol: Adolescence and Teenage Years

Let’s continue on how to handle the conversation with kids of different age levels. For middle childhood (age 8-10), see here.

Adolescence (11-12)
As you child enters the adolescent stage, peer pressure gets even stronger, and having friends becomes emotionally important to them. By 11, your child must be aware of the immediate effects of alcohol on different parts of their body. Studies show that on average, it can take 2 to 3 hours for a single drink to leave a person’s system and no amount of coffee or cold shower can speed up the process. This will somehow make them think twice before downing a can of beer without your supervision.

Consistently talk with your kids while making them feel your support when they needed you. Teach them how alcohol is promoted and why it pays to know the different between moderate drinking and alcohol abuse.

Teenage Years (13-20)
Here, parents should be more straightforward when talking about sensitive subjects such as drinking, drugs, smoking, and sex. This is the point when they begin to have stronger sense of right and wrong, and the time spent with friends are longer than the time spent with their parents. Friends’ influence can be complex to extreme, which all the more parents need to be able to establish clear, but reasonable rules.

Outside partying is very prominent at this stage, and locking up our kids at home will only make them even more rebellious. If your kid tells you about the party s/he’s attending, take the cue by asking where and with whom your teen is going. And because parties around this stage are likely to include drinking, remind your teen to call you for a ride home as opposed to accepting a friend’s offer when the party has wrapped up. This will protect your kid from any potential dangers on the road and likewise gives a subtle reminder to your teen about the proper way to do when faced with similar situation.

Essentially, the whole idea of talking with children about alcohol is a parent’s greatest way to prepare their kids from understanding the basic facts that alcohol can bring to their lives, and help them do the right choice in the future. This will build their self-esteem and develop their sense of responsibility and decision-making as they grow older.