The Holiday season is a time for joy. It also is a time for drinking. When it comes to teens drinking, there usually are a bunch of really poor decisions made.
Once teens are out of school it’s time to party with guests like Jack Daniels or a new kind of “spice” girl.
While alcohol abuse among teens is dropping in the nation, Arizona still reports that almost 32 percent of adolescents use alcohol.
In one Arizona County, there were 17 alcohol-related car crashes and 894 alcohol-related emergency room visits in 2010. Additionally, the number of underage drinkers increased in the county with 33 percent for 2010.
Even though it’s legal for many parents to drink, they still need to think about the example they are setting. Kids pick up on the fact that their parents are drinking and having fun. The kids may take advantage.
With the start of the holidays, young people face added danger in this special season otherwise known for celebration and holiday cheer. The hooligan is booze.
While many dangers abound at an unsupervised party with alcohol and drugs, far too many deaths and injuries are reported on roads and highways after the celebration.
From late December to early January, for example, two to three times more people die in alcohol-related crashes on highways and roads during Christmas and New Year’s than over comparable periods of time during the rest of the year, according to the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The agency also noted that 40 percent of traffic deaths during these holidays involve an impaired driver, compared to 28 percent for the rest of December.
Parents, watch your kids carefully over the holidays. Be a good role model and look after your most valuable possession. If you or your teens may have a drinking problem, I urge you to take an alcohol class. If you prefer to maintain totally anonymity there are online alcohol classes too.
Source: www.eacourier.com