The currency of alcohol also purchases other consequences, associated with risk factors for illness, injury and death. Also associated with alcohol are suicide attempts, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and academic failure. Family relationships can become strained as teens respond to punishments for drinking and parents become frustrated with their teen’s choices.

The study, expected to be published in the February 2011 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, shows that cultural and gender-based differences in the frequency of drunkenness among adolescents has declined. The results show that drunkenness has become more common in Eastern Europe and among female teens. It has become less common among Western teens and especially among boys.

Emmanuel Kuntsche, Ph.D., of Addiction Info Switzerland, Research Institute, Lausanne, and colleagues examine survey data from nearly 80,000 15-year-olds to investigate trends in teen drunkenness. The survey subjects were 51.5 percent female and 49.5 percent male, and represented seven Eastern European and 16 Western countries. The researchers examined drunkenness frequency, assessing levels by gender and country. The survey data was collected from the period between 1997 to 1998 and 2005-2006.

The survey data reveals that on average, 15-year-olds had been drunk two or three times. Eastern European countries showed an increase of 40 percent in the average frequency of drunkenness over the 10-year study period. While the increase crossed the genders, it was especially consistent among female teens.

In Western countries, the frequency of use declined, with 13 of 16 countries showing a significant decline averaging 25 percent. Especially in countries located in North America, Scandinavia, United Kingdom and Ireland, there was a significant decrease in frequency.

The increase in drunkenness among Eastern European teens may be explained by changes in socioeconomic conditions and an increase in alcohol advertising, according to the authors of the study. The researchers believe that young people in these countries may be the newest targets for marketing strategies that specifically cater to the interests of young people.

The authors also speculate that the decrease in drinking frequency among Western teens may reveal that drunkenness has lost its appeal to this group. The marketing for alcohol may have saturated the market, resulting in savvy teens who consider alcohol consumption as “conformist and traditional rather than innovative.”

The authors of the study suggest that prevention and education efforts be extended to teens in Eastern European countries and that those efforts target young females as well as males. In addition, using taxing policy to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by teens may be an effective strategy to reduce the frequency of drinking among teens.
 

Steven Dankos and Thomas Erdman, both football stars at Howard County’s River Hill High in Maryland, were best friends. Both 17, Dankos started every game at offensive right guard, and team captain Erdman was left guard. After losing an important playoff game Friday—ending the team’s 40-game winning streak—Dankos and Erdman went out partying Saturday night.

According to the Washington Post, around 3:00 am Sunday, Erdman climbed into the passenger side of his older brother David’s pickup, and Dankos jumped into the truck bed. Although David, 22, had been drinking, the two boys got into the car with him.

During the ride home, David veered the truck off the road, slamming into three stone pillars. Dankos was killed immediately. The Erdman brothers were injured and released from a nearby hospital, and David Erdman was charged with drunken driving, homicide by motor vehicle while intoxicated, and manslaughter by motor vehicle. Bond is set at $10,000, according to police.

Dankos was an outgoing teenager with a wide circle of friends, according to those who knew him. "We were all just trying to be there and help his mom and his family cope with the situation," coach Brian Van Deusen said. "You spend so much time with these kids, and they spend so much time together that they become their own family, and they’re all trying to pull together."

A cross made of debris from the accident was fashioned at the scene, and friends have been leaving notes and flowers at the makeshift memorial.

"I couldn’t believe it when I heard. Steve is a really good friend, and it’s just unreal that this happened," said senior running back and linebacker Kevin Moore said. "It’s real, real tough, because he was such a great friend to everyone. I don’t know what the situation was, but I wish someone could have been there to tell him, ‘No, don’t get in the car. Don’t do that.’"

A report from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), Parent Awareness of Youth Use of Cigarettes, Alcohol and Marijuana, gathers data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to present information on the prevalence, patterns and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse among youth aged 12 to 17 years old.

According to this data, 17 percent of youths used cigarettes in the past year, 32.0 percent used alcohol and 13.2 percent used marijuana. These findings indicate that more work needs to be done to prevent teenage consumption of these substances and parental involvement can go a long way towards success.

In combined data from 2002 to 2006, researchers found that rates of past year use of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana were similar in mother-child and father-child pairs. In mother-child pairs, 17.6 percent of youths used cigarettes, 32.5 percent used alcohol and 13.4 percent used marijuana. In father-child pairs, 15.3 percent used cigarettes, 31.5 percent used alcohol and 12.3 percent used marijuana.

Youth use of these substances was generally higher within one-parent households than within two-parent households. For instance, 20.2 percent of youths in mother-child pairs within one parent households used cigarettes in the past year, compared with 16.8 percent of youths in mother-child pairs within two-parent households. Rates overall were the highest for all three substances among youths in father-child pairs within one-parent households.

Mothers tended to be more aware of their youth’s substance use than fathers. For instance, 41.1 percent of mothers in the mother-child pairs who used marijuana in the past year were aware of their child’s marijuana use. This figure was in comparison to 32.5 percent of fathers in comparable father-child pairs.

Awareness among parents of adolescent use of cigarettes and alcohol in the past year increased with the youth’s age among both mother-child and father-child pairs. For example, 33.4 percent of mothers of youths aged 12 to 14 were aware of past year alcohol use. Another 60.5 percent of mothers with youths aged 15 to 17 were aware of alcohol use.

Among one-parent households, mothers tend to have the highest rates of awareness of their child’s past year substance use, followed by mothers in mother-child pairs within two-parent households. Fathers in father-child pairs within two-parent households were third in terms of awareness.

These findings indicate that parents need to be more aware of what their children are involved in, especially fathers. Children are often trying new things as a way of coping with situations or breaking out of stressful environments. Paying attention and asking the right questions will go a long way toward parents keeping their children away from these substances.
 

In a National Survey on Drug Use & Health report: Underage Alcohol Use: Where do Young People Drink?, researchers examined how young people, aged 12 to 20, obtained their last alcoholic drink and where they consumed it. This study is important as in 2006, one in four persons within the 12 to 20 age group drank alcohol in the past month.

To add to these statistics, one in five persons in the same age group drove under the influence of alcohol in the past month. Each year, roughly 1,900 people under the legal drinking age die as a result of alcohol-involved motor vehicle crashes. Research has also shown early initiation of alcohol use is closely associated with the increased likelihood of unprotected sexual intercourse and multiple sex partners.

During the study year–2006–53.4 percent of those aged 12 to 20 who used alcohol drank it at someone else’s home. Another 30 percent drank it in their own home, demonstrating an overall pattern of drinking in the home as the most common location. Drinking in someone else’s home was more common among those aged 16 or 17 and 10.0 percent of 13 year olds last consumed alcohol in a public place.

The peak for drinking in a car peaked at age 16 as 10.1 percent had their most recent drink in a vehicle. An estimated 15.0 percent of those aged 20 drank most recently in a restaurant, bar or club. Roughly 7 to 10 percent of underage drinkers aged 13 to 17 last drank in public places with the percentage decreasing as students got older.

There appeared to be variances in use locations between males and females. For male users, the percentage reporting the most recent drink in a car did not differ significantly by age between 15 and 20, but it did for females. For female drinkers aged 16, an estimated 12.8 percent had their last drink in a vehicle. This rate was 8 times greater than the rate for female drinkers at the age of 20. At age 16, 7.3 percent of male drinkers had their last drink in a vehicle.

Within the 15 year old sect, females were twice as likely as males to have last used alcohol in a public place. For males, alcohol consumption in public places peaked at age 16 before declining.

Among females, consumption in public places declined after 15 and at the age of 17, were more likely to have consumed alcohol in a bar than their male counterparts. Of 20 year old drinkers, 20 percent of females drank in a restaurant, bar or club the last time they used, compared to 10.2 percent of males.

This data provides valuable information to both parents and policymakers as they can draw from this data the locations and ages of higher risk. Interestingly, females tend to pose the greater risk as they are putting themselves in more dangerous situations more of the time.
 

For many children, curiosity about alcohol and drugs occurs much sooner. They may ask, “Why does Uncle Johnny drink so much?” If they see you falling asleep in front of the TV night after night with a half-dozen empty beer bottles, they will associate this action with normal behavior.

Talk With Your Children: The Earlier The Better

Experimentation with alcohol and drugs generally begins in grade school. Communication with your children should begin as young as age 5. No, you shouldn’t go into great detail about specific drugs and their effects on the body. Your young child won’t be able to comprehend all that information. But you can make a comment when you see someone smoking or drinking on TV or in a movie, or in a public place, or even at family gatherings. Something to the effect that drinking and smoking can hurt your body. Another appropriate message is that abusing medicines is just as dangerous as using street drugs.

As your child gets older, you can use more age-appropriate details. With a 12-year-old, for example, you can discuss common street names for marijuana and crack, how to identify them if other children at school have them and try to get them to take them, and what these drugs do to your body.

With teens, it’s important that they know all the risks about alcohol, street drugs and abuse of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Much of teen experimentation with drugs and alcohol is a result of peer pressure. This is a powerful influence that you have to overcome. Your constant presence and reassurance of parental love and responsibility is your best weapon against teen peer pressure.

Educate Yourself First, Then Your Child

Before you can give information to your child about the dangers and risks of alcohol and drugs, you first have to educate yourself. Find out what’s going on in the drug scene – before your children do. Highly publicized celebrity episodes of binge drinking, of alcohol or drug-related problems, relapses and recovery are great starting points for discussion. You can point out that these things can happen to anyone, to celebrities, rich people, and even the neighbor down the street. Talk about how there are consequences for actions. Explain to them that being famous – or not – is no excuse for this kind of bad behavior.

Attend discussions or lectures in your community on alcohol and drugs. Ask questions of the experts and become as knowledgeable as you can about the latest drug and alcohol trends in your community, especially new designer drugs which may be more potent and toxic.

Research alcohol and drug use on the Internet at such sites as www.drugabuse.org and www.abovetheinfluence.com and www.nida.nih.gov and follow the links for additional resources.

Tips to Help

• Listen to Your Children – If your young children feel that you really listen to them when they discuss how they feel or things that are bothering them, they will feel more comfortable talking with you about drugs and alcohol. The last thing you want is for your child to not tell you something because they feel that you don’t really hear them or don’t care.

• Promote Good Decision-Making – Children need to develop the skills to make good decisions on their own. This is a gradual and ongoing effort that you can encourage. An 8-year-old should be able to decide whether a couple of friends or more can be invited to a sleepover or a party. When the child is 12, encourage the decision to choose between playing a sport at school or joining the school band or other activity. As children become more confident making good decisions, you and your children will be more secure about them making responsible choices when it comes to the issues of drugs and alcohol.

• Discuss the Importance of Good Friends – Your children need to know what a good friend really is. It isn’t someone who tries to talk them into smoking a joint or doing a tab of ecstasy or drinking beer behind the bleachers. When so-called friends attempt to lure your children into doing things they know is wrong (as a result of family guidelines and education), instruct your children to steer clear of these non-friends.

• Build Self-Esteem – Whenever your children accomplish chores, give them praise. Praise helps to build self-esteem, especially in younger children. If there’s a mistake, talk about the action and not the person. If your child makes errors in math homework, don’t say, “That was a dumb mistake.” Instead, say something like, “Let’s look at this again. I think there might be another way to solve the problem.”

• Make Family Rules Clear – Your children need to know that there is no drug use allowed in the family and that children in this family are not allowed to drink alcohol. And no medicine is permitted unless Mom or Dad says you can take it. Let them know that there are consequences for breaking the rules. Depending on the infraction and the age of the child, this could be a suspension of privileges such as no driving, dating, and no phone use. Be sure that you listen to your child, however. If it was a mistake, a one-time occurrence, and your child expresses a sincere resolve never to do it again, you probably can let it go with a warning. But repeated breaking of the rules should have consequences that you as parents enforce.

• Do What You Say – Set a good example. Don’t drink after work. Don’t ever let your children see you intoxicated. Don’t pass around liquor to guests. Serve non-alcoholic beverages instead. Don’t pop pills for every minor ailment. Your children are watching and absorbing everything you do.

• Repeat Messages – One-time discussions won’t do the job. You need to repeat messages about the risks and dangers of drug and alcohol use to your children throughout their growing years. Recognize that your actions are also a repetition of your message – if they coincide. If not, the disconnection can undo any positive reinforcement. Also be sure not to preach. Be informative, be firm, and be a reassuring presence in their lives.

• Make Time In Your Life – You need to be around to take care of your responsibilities with your children. Many young children first gravitate toward experimentation with drugs and alcohol because a parent simply isn’t there. This may mean cutting back on some of your overtime at work, or it could mean including your children in activities you may have done by yourself. If you regularly go to the gym after work, take your child along on some occasions and/or do other things together – just you and your child.

• Love Your Children – One of the best and most enduring things you can do for your children is to demonstrate and let them know that you love them. You will always love them, no matter what. You are their parent and that is why you are always looking out for them.