The Role of Parents in Preventing Underage Drinking

 

 

During adolescence, young people begin to take risks and test limits. They do so because they are moving from a family-centered world to the larger community, within which they will begin to define their own identity. It is also during this time that parents have an especially important role in preventing and addressing underage drinking.

Parents who communicated and were involved with their children at ages 10 and 11, set clear expectations for their children's behavior, practiced good supervision and consistent discipline, and minimized conflict in the family had children who, at ages 11 and 12, were more likely to see alcohol use as harmful and less likely to initiate alcohol use early. They were also less likely to misuse alcohol at ages 17 to 18.

Lack of parental support, monitoring, and communication and lack of feeling close to their parents have been significantly related to frequency of drinking, heavy drinking, and drunkenness among adolescents.

Harsh, inconsistent discipline and hostility or rejection toward children have also been found to significantly predict adolescent drinking and alcohol-related problems.

Some research suggests that poor parenting practices are associated with early childhood deficits in social skills and self-regulation, particularly with regard to aggressive behavior, which result in early minor delinquency and rejection from mainstream peer groups. Children who feel rejected then affiliate with deviant peers; in turn, participation in deviant peer networks increases the risk for drinking and other forms of substance use.

 

 

Family Structures  

 

Parental Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Drinking  

 

 

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Public Health Services, Tobacco Prevention & Control Program (TPCP) recently released the findings from the 2007-2009 Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS). The Survey provides comprehensive data from both middle school and high school students.

 

The report is conducted every two years by the TPCP. There are 74 tobacco questions in the YTS that cover tobacco use (i.e., bidis, cigarettes, cigars, kreteks, tobacco pipes, and smokeless tobacco); exposure to secondhand smoke; smoking cessation; school curriculum; minors' ability to purchase or obtain tobacco products; and knowledge and attitudes about tobacco and familiarity with pro-tobacco and anti-tobacco media messages.

 

Some of the major findings from the YTS conducted during the years 2001 through 2009 include:

For more information about the Youth Tobacco Survey please call the NH TPCP at 1-800-852-3345 x6891 or view it on the NH Department of Health and Human Services website at www.dhhs.nh.gov.

For more information about quitting tobacco, go to www.TryToStopNH.orgor call the NH Smokers' Helpline at 1-800-Try-To-STOP (1-800-879-8678).

 

 

On Friday April 30, 2010, Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Studios are taking a stand against distracted driving, launching a new public service announcement campaign and joining forces with some of the country's preeminent transportation safety organizations to declare Friday, April 30 the the first national "No Phone Zone Day." A large-scale effort to honor victims of distracted driving, "No Phone Zone Day" will also educate and activate Americans to end the deadly driving habits that kill nearly 6,000 Americans a year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The announcement was made today on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

 "A call or text isn't worth taking a life," said Winfrey. "We must not allow more mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers to die before we take action against distracted driving. Let's put a stop to it now, by joining together on April 30th for national 'No Phone Zone Day', and by making our cars a 'No Phone Zone.'"

"I've made it my mission at the DOT to end distracted driving. We know that if we can get people to put away cell phones and other electronic devices when they are behind the wheel, we can save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of injuries every year" said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "That's why I'm proud to support and participate in Oprah's 'No Phone Zone Day.'"

A working coalition of transportation safety organizations will come together as part of "No Phone Zone Day" activities and viewing rallies across the country, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and the Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), FocusDriven, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), RADD, the Entertainment Industry's Voice for Road Safety, and more. 

In addition, "No Phone Zone" corporate partners Sprint, General Motors/Chevrolet and Liberty Mutual will lend their support, both for national "No Phone Zone Day" and in the coming months to spread the "No Phone Zone" message.

As a national call to action, all viewers and town hall participants will be asked to take the "No Phone Zone" pledge. By pledging, drivers agree to make their car a "No Phone Zone" and refrain from using their phone while driving, eliminating distractions from incoming calls, texts or emails. More than 160,000 people to date have signed Oprah's "No Phone Zone" pledge at Oprah.com. Many celebrities have already joined the cause, including Oscar® winners Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges and Mo'Nique, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, actress and icon Raquel Welch, Olympic superstar Shaun White, country music's Lady Antebellum, entertainer and entrepreneur Tyler Perry, the cast of TV's "Glee" and many more.

A 2008 NHTSA study indicated that at any given moment during the daylight hours, more than 800,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. According to a 2005 study for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers are four times less likely to get into accidents serious enough to cause injury when they turn off their cell phones while behind the wheel. For more information on "No Phone Zone Day," and to take the No Phone Zone pledge, please visit www.oprah.com/nophonezone. For additional information on distracted driving, visit www.distraction.gov.