Parents Lead

Parents Play a Vital Role To Help Reduce Teen Texting and Driving

drquery — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:29:28 +0000

Cell phones are everywhere these days. We may be hard pressed to find a teenager without one and texting is a popular communication method. Much media attention of late is being devoted to the dangers of texting and driving. But are teens really getting the message? A 2012 State Farm survey suggests they may not.

In the survey 57% of 14 to 17 year old teens agreed that regularly drinking and driving can have deadly affects, but only 35% thought they would get the same results by regularly texting and driving. These results are troubling when research shows that texting or drinking while driving are equally as dangerous. Results of this survey also showed 57 % of these teens admitted they text while driving.

While this information is very troubling, the survey found some helpful information. The teens that said they do not text while driving reported having frequent conversations with their parents about safe driving. But the survey also showed that these conversations were mostly with drivers who had a learners permit. Once teens received their license, discussions about safety decreased. Since it is these conversations that help curb the texting problem, Chris Mullen, Director of Technology Research at State Farm, stressed the importance of parents continuing to talk about safe and responsible driving habits long after a teen earns his or her license.

At Parents LEAD we have and will continue to support parent involvement as a way to keep young drivers safe at home and on the road. So if it has been a while, have a conversation about texting and driving with your teen today. But please make sure to not text the message!

What examples are you setting for your teens and young children regarding texting and driving? Post your thoughts and ideas here for keeping your teens safe on the road.

Prom and Drinking and Driving – What You Really Need To Be Concerned About

drquery — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:18:14 +0000

We know that teens are the victims of tragic driving accidents on prom night, but new information shows this could actually be happening less. A 2011 survey conducted by Liberty Mutual and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) showed that only about 6% of teens actually have driven under the influence on prom night. This is in sharp contrast to 79% of teen’s that believe that their peers are more likely to drink and drive on prom night. This means that most teens do what they feel is right and not what they think “everyone else” is doing. While these numbers are somewhat promising any amount of underage drinking is not acceptable and it is our duty to make it clear to our teens that we do not tolerate underage drinking.

Liberty mutual suggests that teens are less likely to engage in underage drinking during events like prom, because schools have put in place some no tolerance policies that have greatly influenced these behaviors and decisions. Policies and procedures that have been working to reduce teen drinking include: visible law enforcement, organized transportation, breathalyzer tests for admission, and other after prom programs that keep teens occupied late into the night. While this news may make parents breathe a little easier, the survey also points to some other dangers. Teens revealed they are more likely to drink and drive when not involved with school functions. Up to 12% of teens in the survey admitted to driving under the influence during the summer, on the 4^th of July and on New Year’s Eve.

These statistics put much responsibility on parents to make sure teens are developing safe driving habits not only during special events, but every day of the year. If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to begin the conversations and set boundaries and guidelines for safe, responsible driving. The North Dakota Department of Transportation and Liberty Mutual both have customizable parent- teen agreements that list specific requirements and consequences for breaking the rules or driving laws.

So sit down with your teen tonight and set guidelines for prom and for all the other nights your teen is on the road that include your no tolerance policy.

Spring Brings Prom and Graduation

drquery — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:29:11 +0000

Spring is here and with that comes special events for teens like prom and graduation. These emotion filled events can be fun and exciting but can also create anxiety in parents knowing that there may be many opportunities for teens to engage in risky behavior and high risk decision making. Teens might be confronted with decisions to drink, operate a vehicle under the influence or to engaging in sexual activity. It is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or possess alcohol, yet 31% of teens killed in car crashes had been drinking.

How are you going to help keep your teen safe during this exciting time in their life? Just as teens need guidance from us, sometimes as parents we need guidance and support too. At Parents LEAD, we want to be that help for you. We have compiled information from many resources and created a special event guide. Keeping your teen safe is important to us and we have tips for you. You will find safety tips, references to the laws on underage drinking and adults who host parties, ideas about curfews, of course information on getting these conversations started and more.

Help your teen avoid Prama (Prom + Drama) and have a memorable time during this season of celebrations. Get started with our helpful guide and use your memories and insight to begin conversations with your teen about responsible and acceptable behaviors. Share your ideas here with us about how you will create a fun and safe prom and graduation experience for your son or daughter.

Why Do They Do That?

drquery — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:26:36 +0000

Ever wonder why teens do some of the crazy things that they do. You might be thinking, “I have a good kid, but why did my 14 year old daughter color her hair with permanent marker?” or “My son is a straight A student and never in trouble, so why did he pull down his pants to ‘moon’ his friend in gym class?” Current technology has made it possible to look at brains and help us have a better understanding of what is really going on. The following video gives some amazing insight into how teens look at risky behavior. Take a look and tell us what you think. How do you prepare your teen for times when faced with risky behavior?

http://www.learner.org/courses/neuroscience/common_includes/si_flowplayer.html?pid=2383

Teen’s Drinking Related to Movie Content

drquery — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:15:21 +0000

A recent study shows a connection between watching movies with alcohol related content with teen’s early onset and binge drinking. Wearing alcohol branded merchandise was also a positive factor connected to drinking in teens. Movies that show drinking can make the activity look normal and acceptable and tend to show only positive effects of drinking. When the negative effects are rarely shown it makes drinking look less risky. Half of movies produced in Hollywood show at least one alcohol related content regardless of the rating. Alcohol related merchandise further promotes these activities especially if the brands are viewed in a movie and then seen on hats, t-shirts or other items owned by peers.

As a parent you may feel powerless to these forces. But there is hope. If you are a current follower of Parents LEAD the following ideas will not be new to you. This same research shows that restricting teens watching of R rated movies will help since more alcohol related content is shown here. Don’t allow your teen to purchase alcohol branded merchandise. Using this merchandise involves the teen in the actual marketing process by giving the impression that the teen is endorsing that products use. And once again the study shows that setting limits, having a warm loving relationship, making alcohol unavailable at home, and watching the messages parental drinking models all are sending strong positive protective factors that help teens not engage in early onset drinking.

What tips do you have for other parents on regulating media in your home. Post your ideas here, we’d love to hear from you!

Click here if you would like to read this study.

Are You “Hip” To Teen Pop Culture?

drquery — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:39:07 +0000

If you have pre-teens or teens in your house, you may find yourself wondering what they are saying. Remember back to when you were a teen and you might have thought something was pretty great and used the terms “the bomb” or “stylin’”? Today your teen might use the term “sick”, “ill” or “fly,” to mean much of the same.

In their attempt to be different from their parents and become independent, teens have always come up with new slang terms or recycled old ones. You might catch on to some of the terms and your teen may even want you to know some, but would you know if your teen was talking about a cute guy or gal or the newest way to party with alcohol or drugs? At the website Parents: The Antidrug you can take a quiz to help you recognize some of these new phrases. Terms like “ROTFL” and “poke” can be harmless, but others like “space cakes” and “crunk” are talking about drugs and ways to party. Do you know what these terms mean? Go to http://www.theantidrug.com/resources/pdfs/teens-technology-quiz.pdf to take the quiz. Have your teen take the quiz too and have a discussion about the terms they know and what other terms teens are using today. Keep the conversation open and listen to what your teen is saying. Staying on top of the latest alcohol research and information will help you to know what to watch for and how to help your teen avoid the pressure to use alcohol. Of course http://www.parentslead.org/ is a great resource for this information.

We would love to hear your ideas. Share how you did on the quiz and the results of your conversation with your son or daughter.

“Big Bowl Vote 2012” Asks For Teens Opinions

drquery — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:30:31 +0000

Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner. Do you know that if your youth will be watching the game they will help make up about 18% of the audience that is under 21? It is a fact that many of the advertisements during this game will be for alcohol.

To help learn how teens perceive the commercials during the game The Drug-Free Action Alliance will once again be conducting its Big Bowl Vote on Monday after the Super Bowl. This survey asks students which ad was their favorite and which brands advertised where the most memorable. Last year 35,000 middle and high school students surveyed in the Drug-Free Action Alliance Big Bowl Vote named alcohol ads as the second most remembered ads aired during the game.

If your children are watching the game this year, find out what your they liked best and what stands out in their memory. Then help them develop media literacy, or skills that help students learn to analyze and evaluate media. The Drug-Free Action Alliance suggests these questions to get the conversation going:

What is this ad trying to sell you?
Is this product healthy for you?
How is this ad trying to get you to purchase their product?
How do you feel about the product now?

So on Sunday get out some chips and dip and sit down with your family to watch the game (or just the commercials!) Then survey your family to see what ads made the greatest impression. On Wednesday, February 8, 2012, go to www.DrugFreeActionAlliance.org and read the press release with the results from the survey and compare to your families thoughts.

What are you doing to help your children develop media literacy skills and stay alcohol free? Post your ideas here to share with other parents.

Alcopops Dangerous to Teens

drquery — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:47:57 +0000

Beverage manufactures of hard liquor have found a way to enter the beer market with drinks called alcopops. These drinks are a combination of distilled spirits and beer. Marketing that targets young audiences, its sweet lemonade or soda like flavor, and youthful fun packaging are attracting our teens. The sweet flavor of these drinks works to mask the bitter alcohol flavor, which makes them easier to drink and more attractive to underage drinkers.
Manufactures of these drinks have convinced regulators to consider these beverages in the “beer” category resulting in the ability to market this product more easily to our youth. This beer like status enables manufactures to promote alcopop type drinks during many prime time television shows that teens watch. Advertisements that promote these drinks as youthful and hip appeal to teens, especially girls. Teen girls report drinking alcopops more often than boys.
Another concern is that alcopops are generally regarded as having less alcohol content than most beers which is not true. Containing just as much alcohol as a beer or a mixed drink, alcopops are dangerous for our youth. The sweet flavor and the fact that they do not taste like alcohol is a reason most teens say they drink them. This easy to consume beverage can lead to teens drinking too much and be a gateway to other forms of alcohol.
As a parent, you need to know that alcopops are just as dangerous as any another alcoholic beverage. Teens attraction to these drinks, make them maybe even more dangerous. Talk to your teen about the dangers of alcopops and help them look more critically at advertisements. If you are concerned that your teen may have already been exposed to these drinks, go to http://www.parentslead.org/is-my-son-or-daughter-using.php for help on how to address the problem.

Don’t Stop Talking!

drquery — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:06:29 +0000

As teens and young adults gain more independence our conversations about alcohol use and its consequences need to continue. Of course we need to continue to stress that we have a no tolerance policy but that should only be where the conversation starts. Here are some topics that you may want to discuss with your adolescent or college age student.
Technology is powerful. An innocent post or text inviting a couple friends over when you are gone can easily become an open invitation to many other “friends” in a very short time. Having many conversations about technology and the fact that once you put something out there it cannot be taken back and you have lost the power to control where it goes.
Someone else’s decisions may affect you. If your teen is with a friend that is drinking, your teen could still get in trouble for minor in possession, be talked into something he or she really had no intention of doing, or could quickly lose control of a situation. Your son or daughter could probably easily tell one friend who comes to your home with alcohol that it is not allowed, but how would your son or daughter handle a group of friends showing up with alcohol? A group could be much more intimidating and having a plan that you and your adolescent agree on could be crucial.
More information on how to talk to your teen can be found at http://www.parentslead.org/grade1012_communicating.php

Podcast Provides Support to Parents

drquery — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:38:10 +0000

Cigna and The Partnership at Drugfree.org, presented a podcast that provides support and help to parents who want to keep their children alcohol and drug free. Ameila Arria, PhD, Senior Scientist and adolescent and young-adult specialist at the Treatment Research Institute, and Director of the Center on Young Adult Health and Development at the University of Maryland has a conversation with a parent, Sandra Carcamo, about strategies that can help keep young kids from trying and developing problems with alcohol. Arria’s information is based on research and ties in nicely with practical advice from Carcamo. Research suggests that there is no guarantee that by using the methods suggested youth will not participate in risky behaviors but there is a definite relationship with fewer problems. Environmental and genetic factors are discussed as a large contributor to whether or not youth use. The program stresses a warm parental relationship that is built through respect and trust beginning when children are young, clear-cut boundaries, unmistakable disapproval of alcohol use by youth, teamed with supervision and monitoring are some of the best defenses.

Listen to this recorded podcast in its entirety at http://www.drugfree.org/newsroom/podcast-helping-your-kids-avoid-drugs-and-alcohol-2?utm_source=Join+Together+Daily&utm_campaign=3f049a0135-JT_Daily_News_Prescription_Drug&utm_medium=email.

Share your ideas here on how you keep the conversation going with your youth and parenting techniques that work for you. And remember you can always check out the Parents LEAD http://www.parentslead.org/ page to find more ideas on how to talk to your children.