Your Child and Alcohol

Alcohol, a product that is only legal for those

21 years of age and older in Oregon.

Alcohol affects every part of the body. It is carried through the bloodstream to the brain, stomach, internal organs, liver, kidneys, muscles – everywhere. It is absorbed very quickly and can stay in your body for several hours. Alcohol affects the central nervous system and brain, which can make users loosen up, relax and feel more comfortable, or cam make them more aggressive. Unfortunately, it also lowers their inhibitions, which can set them up for embarrassing or dangerous behavior. In fact, each year approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 dies as a result of underage drinking/binge drinking.

Health Hazards:

It’s no secret that society gives children mixed messages about alcohol. As a parent, you should know that underage drinking can have serious consequences. The teenage brain is still developing. Did you know that alcohol can impair the parts of the brain that control the following:

·         Motor coordination. This includes the ability to walk, drive and process information.

·         Impulse control. Drinking lowers inhibitions and increases the chances that a person will do something that they will regret when they are sober.

·         Memory. Impaired recollection and even blackouts can occur when too much alcohol has been consumed.

·         Judgment and decision making capacity. Drinking may lead young people to engage in risky behaviors that can result in illness, injury and even death.

Risky Behavior

Many kids start drinking in middle school. In fact, one out of every two 8^th graders has tried alcohol.  Additionally, more kids use alcohol than use tobacco or illicit drugs and more children are killed by alcohol than all illegal drugs combined. (*SAMSA – Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration).
Information on Binge drinking: Shared Future Coalition at: www.sharedfuturecoalition.org

But the risky behavior does not end there:

·         Dependence. People who reported starting to drink before the age of 15 were four times more likely to also report meeting the criteria for alcohol dependence at some point in their lives. In fact, new research shows that serious drinking problems typically associated with middle age actually begin to appear much earlier, during young adulthood and even adolescence.

·         Illicit drug use. More than 67 percent of young people who start drinking before the age of 15 will try an illicit drug. Children who drink are over 7 times more likely to use any illicit cocaine than children who never drink.

·         Sexual activity. Alcohol use by teens is a strong predictor of both sexual activity and unprotected sex. A survey of high school students found that 18 percent of females and 39 percent of males say it is acceptable for a boy to force sex if the girl is high or drunk.

·         Violence. Children who start drinking before age 15 are 12 times more likely to be injured while under the influence of alcohol and 10 times more likely to be in a fight after drinking, compared with those who wait until they are 21 to drink.

·         School. Student substance use precedes, and is a risk factor for, academic problems, such as lower grades, absenteeism and high dropout rates. Alcohol can interfere with a student’s ability to think, making learning and concentration more difficult and ultimately impeding academic performance.

·         Driving. When young people drink and get into a car, they tend to make poor decisions that impact their safety. Traffic crashes are the number one killer of teens and over one-third of teen traffic deaths are alcohol-related.

Protecting Children
Parents can take the following steps to encourage their children to abstain from alcohol:

·         Spend time together regularly.

·         Listen and talk with your children. Try to understand the pressures place on them and don’t criticize their beliefs.

·         Keep track of where your children are, what they are doing, and who their friends are.

·         Get involved in after-school activities so they won’t be able to just “hang out” with friend in the afternoon. This is when children are most likely to experiment.

·         Praise or reward children often. If they feel good about themselves, they will be more confident and better able to resist peer pressure.

·         Be a positive role model for your children. Don’t abuse alcohol or drugs. Always lock A&D up away from curious minds of youth.

This information is from The Anti-Drug Campaign and is brought to you by the TAPS (Think Again Parents of South County). We are a non-profit 501-3c organization. See more about us at: www.tapssouthcounty.org

Thinking Healthy: Regular alcohol use can damage young minds, but parent’s biggest influence in keeping kids from drinking

Your son or daughter has started high school.  They’re smart and want to make their own decisions.  And they know what you expect of them. So, it’s time to loosen the parental reins, right?  Not yet, according to new studies on the adolescent brain.

Thanks to magnetic resonance imaging, we know that tremendous brain development occurs during the teen years, and that the brain is not fully developed until about age 25.  We also know that part of the brain that controls planning, delayed gratification and judgment develops last.  That’s why kids take risks and often don’t think thing through before jumping in.

It’s also why regular alcohol use during adolescence is dangerous.  Drinking lowers inhibitions for risky behavior.  And unfortunately, too many Oregon youngsters drink.  In the past month about one in three 8^th graders consumed alcohol.  About one in four 11^th graders binged, consuming five or more drinks within a couple of hours.  Alcohol is the biggest drug problem among youth.  And it is not just about safety; there are serious health consequences as well.

Important work is being done on this issue at Oregon Health & Science University’s Portland Alcohol Research Center.  Here are some of the things they are finding out:

Q: Excessive drinking by youth has several dangerous short-term consequences including car crashes.  What is research telling us about the long-term health effects?

A:  Alcohol impacts nearly the entire body.  So it‘s no surprise that long-term alcohol use can lead to problems from head to toe.  Research shows that a few years of heavy drinking can hamper youth in school and in learning to interact and build relationships with others.  Regular alcohol use can lower overall brain function and learning ability.  It also can undermine kid’s decision-making ability and impede the development of social skills.  The younger a person is when they start to drink regularly, the more likely they are to become alcoholics.  Young people also tend to become addicted faster than adults.  Overall, alcohol compromises the body’s immune system and causes greater susceptibility to diseases.  It can fuel the destructiveness of mouth, throat, pancreatic and other cancers.  With prolonged alcohol use, the heart enlarges, its muscles weaken and its beat becomes irregular.  Alcohol can lead to high blood pressure, weight gain, weakened muscles, liver and kidney failure.

In addition, alcohol affects genders differently.  Women/girls tend to suffer alcohol’s adverse effects faster.  Pound for pound and drink for drink, a woman will develop a higher blood alcohol level than a man.  Women concentrate more alcohol in their internal organs such as the brain, heart and liver.  As a result, women’s organs tend to wear out faster, and female alcoholics tend to die sooner than male alcoholics.

Q:  What makes adolescent brains especially vulnerable to alcohol’s effects?

A:  It’s simple:  adolescent brains are still developing.  During this time, the brain is supercharged to take in, store, analyze, and act on information and experiences.  A great strength of the brain is at this stage is its receptiveness and malleability.  Adolescents are building up a vast reservoir of knowledge, emotional fortitude and skills.

However, this great strength can have a major downside. An adolescent brain exposed to alcohol is more easily damaged than an adult’s.  Overall brain size may be reduced.  Alcohol decreases communication among nerve cells, which is the brains stock in trade.  Hence, the brain and body do not work as well.  Some youngsters given all the challenges of growing up are anxious or suffer from depression.  We know through research that these adolescents can be at risk for alcohol addiction

CONCLUSION:  Parents don’t underestimate your impact.  Kids say their parents are the most powerful influence on whether they drink.  Daily involvement with your child’s life is huge.  Talk with your child, get to know their friends, make sure you know what activities they are getting involved in.

The fact is most kids don’t drink.  That message alone is important to convey to your child.  The key is to express clear opposition to underage drinking and establish rules and consequences about it. 

What is a Party Safe Home?

What is a Party Safe Home?
Party Safe Homes is a parent networking campaign based on the idea that the most effective way to stop a child/youth from using alcohol and other drugs is to stop his or her friends (peer groups) from using them tool. One of the main reasons kids take drugs is pressure from peers. When parents join together to take a united stand against alcohol and other drug use, they become more effective than if they acted separately. Parents can help each other resist pressure from parents who do not set the same limits on their children’s behavior.

Goals of Party Safe Homes

1.      Aiding parents in educating themselves about the use of alcohol and other drugs by adolescents.

2.      Encouraging parents to openly communicate with one another about parenting concerns by developing a network for openly communicating with one another.

3.      Assisting parents in establishing reasonable guidelines for their children’s behavior.

4.      Making parents aware of alternative activities available to youth.

5.      Providing a safe network of homes and businesses that will keep alcohol out of the hands of minors.

6.      Functioning as a continuing support network for both parents and children.

If I join Party Safe Homes, won’t my child think I don’t trust him/her

Trust does not have to be blind trust. Parents have every right to question where their children are going or what they are doing. Sometimes we need to love our children enough not to trust them. We need to realize that they are growing up in a world much different from the one in which we grew up.

Why Should I join the Campaign?

Parents are the best protection young people have against alcohol and drug abuse. Remember, friends don’t set boundaries; parents do!

TAPS supports the Party Safe Homes Network. Currently we have a number of parents/families which have joined the campaign and have received a directory of other parents who have joined the campaign so that they can communicate with each other. Please consider joining others who share your values of youth being drug and alcohol free. TAPS is also currently looking for one leader to help us to expand this campaign.