My sermon today on drinking alcohol (www.lakeforest.org media-sermons) touched lightly on teenaged drinking. I taught that since Romans 14 teaches us to submit to governmental authority, it is therefore God's will for all Americans under the age of 21 to abstain from alcohol. The sermon went on to discuss what the Bible teaches about adults and alcohol.
Back to teenagers. Almost everyone agrees that alcohol use by underaged teens constitutes a problem. "Don’t worry; we don’t need to invent some inflated “alarmist” stats. Sadly, here’s the documented truth. Some of the CDC’s latest studies have found that 42% of high school students drank “some” alcohol in the past 30 days. 24% of the same group admitted binge drinking (which is defined as consuming 4-5 drinks in one hour). Underage drinkers (age 12-20) routinely consume 11% of all the alcohol drank in the United States. And in 2008, there were 190,000 ER visits by people under the age of 21 because of accidents linked to alcohol." (from attached article)
So if LKN teens are average (they might argue they are above average), one quarter of them - our kids, you - binged on alcohol sometime between October 13 and today. Wow.
I have appreciated the basic message of our government's public ads about underage alcohol and drug use the past couple of years. Have you noticed? They state flatly that substance use and abuse goes down dramatcally in teens when a parent talks about the issue direclty with them (the temptations, possible situations, ways out, moral standards), AND when a parent takes time to always inquire where their teen is and when they will be home. Doesn't seem like rigorous standards for all-star parenting, so that's good news - the average parent can massively fore-arm their teen against these pitfalls simply by asking, talking, daring to bring it up in spite of attitude or silence on the teens part. Not preaching, just talking. They're listening.
In an article sent to me by one of our Student Ministry Leaders at LFC (Darrel Lipe), the author lays out the various influences impacting teens' drinking (or non-drinking behavior). He gives good information about media, friends, and online activity. I will link the entire article below, but here's the takeaway for parents from author David Smith:
Fixing the Problem
Admitting the problem of drinking is only the first step toward solution. The second step is just as crucial: make life changes. While youth workers have some influence here, the brunt of the responsibility lies with parents. We need to address the potential factors that lead to teen drinking in hopes of putting an end to it. Here are a couple ideas.
- Monitor media. This cannot be harped enough. Regardless of music or the Internet’s actual influence on teen drinking…monitoring these two outlets is important for tons of other reasons! Get acquainted with the music your teens listen to and the websites they visit. Further, sit down and watch their favorite TV shows with them to see what messages are being pumped into their heads. Don’t just drop them off at the theater; go in and see the film with them (after reading our reviews, first). Yes, these simple steps require some investment of time, but isn’t it worth it?
- Talk about temptations. Oftentimes, the difference between parents of kids who drink and parents of kids who do not drink is nothing more than regular conversations. The parents who have solid kids are usually those who spend time outlining expectations, consequences, help, and encouragement about the various pitfalls of life. Like everyone else, teens love stories. Carefully put your own experiences in the context of a good story and they’ll listen intently. Just make sure that you’re listening at least as much as you’re talking during these times!
There’s good news: plenty of parents have gotten this right! According to the research, roughly half of parents are successfully guiding their kids through the troubles of teen drinking. Look around your church or neighborhood to see who they are. Then take them out for lunch or coffee to glean as much help from them as possible. You’re not alone in this fight; take advantage of every tool at your disposal. Eventually, you’ll make a big difference.Download Teen Drinking
