For all of these reasons, drugs and alcohol pose a significant threat to your teen’s health.
How Common Are These Negative Outcomes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States. As far as risky behavior goes:
Excessive drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths among underage youth each year.In 2010, there were approximately 189,000 emergency rooms visits by persons under age 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol.
In addition, the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that, among high school students, during a span of 30 days:
35 percent drank some amount of alcohol21 percent binge drank10 percent drove after drinking alcohol22 percent rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol
Youth who drink alcohol are also more likely to experience:
school problems, such as higher absence and poor or failing gradessocial problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activitieslegal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunkunwanted, unplanned, and unprotected sexual activityphysical and sexual assaulthigher risk for suicide and homicidealcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls and drowningabuse of other drugsdeath from alcohol poisoningetc.
Youth who start drinking before the age of 15 are also six times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after the age of 21.
What Can Parents Do About Underage Drinking and Illegal Drug Use?
Many teens choose not to drink. They’re able to make healthy choices for themselves and they can resist any peer pressure they may experience around drinking or drug use. Either way, however, parental involvement is one of the keys to preventing teens from drinking. Take steps to educate your teen about the dangers of drinking and conduct ongoing conversations about alcohol.
