April is Alcohol Awareness Month
Beginning in 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) has sponsored programs related to alcohol awareness in the month of April. The purpose of the focus in April is to raise awareness about alcoholism and reduce the shame surrounding the disease.
The theme for 2016 is “Talk Early, Talk Often: Parents Can Make a Difference in Teen Alcohol Use.” The NCADD emphasizes that having conversations with kids about alcohol use can be complicated, but doing so is always beneficial. Further, statistics show that people between the ages of 12 and 20 drink over ten percent of all the alcohol consumed in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). But, when parents talk to their children about drinking alcohol, kids are more likely to understand the dangers of alcohol experimentation and participate less or not at all in risky drinking behaviors such as binge drinking.
Strengthening your relationships with your kids so that they feel like they can be open and honest about their questions and concerns is key to following through with this year’s theme. Talking to kids while they are young and as often as you feel you can is apt to make a huge difference in teen alcohol use. Setting boundaries and establishing rules early while kids are young can lead to more confidence in resisting risky behaviors relating to alcohol as kids grow up.
Source: NCADD.com