Conversations About Drinking – Starter Tips for Parents of Soon-to-be College Freshman
Somewhere between shopping for X-long twin sheets and selecting classes, squeeze in a few conversations about drinking – tips for parents on what to say.
Conversations about drinking with your soon-to-be college freshman or high school senior? Isn’t it way too late?
Consider these conversation starters. These aren’t your typical conversation starters. These are rooted in a bit of the science behind drinking and its impacts on the brain — the kinds of conversations that allow you and your teen to keep the conversation third person — which is sometimes an easier way to talk with them about drinking. I like to think of it as more along the lines of a comprehensive sex-education discussion rather than the “abstinence only” version.
For answers and additional conversations starters, please read my guest post for Blogging Authors, Somewhere Between Buying X-Long Twin Sheets & Picking Classes – Squeeze in a Conversation About Drinking.
1. Did you know alcohol is not processed like other foods and liquids, which is why a person acts the way they do when drunk?
2. Did you know there’s actually a “number of drinks” definition for binge drinking, which is often how people get into trouble…
3. Did you know there’s such a thing as a “standard drink?”
BOTTOM LINE, sharing this kind of information with your teen empowers them. If a teen fully understands the concepts of a standard drink and a ‘standard drinks count’ for binge drinking, as examples, they can be prepared to better protect themselves from secondhand drinking, meaning the drinking behaviors a person exhibits as a result of drinking more than their brain and body can process. With this information, your teen can:
- count their friend’s drinks and better understand why their friend is behaving the way they are (because of alcohol’s impact on the brain while waiting to be metabolized by the liver)
- know not to take to heart anything their friend says while under the influence (because alcohol’s impact on the brain changes a person’s behaviors)
- know never to accept a ride, even if their friend has only had “a couple.”
I would add one more to this list for parents reading today’s post, “Did you know alcohol works differently in the teen brain than it does in the adult brain?” Check out this link, the science in a nutshell, at The Partnership at DrugFree.org for all kinds of information as to what this means for underage drinking.
The most important thing is to keep talking!
For additional conversation starters, check out my new eBook, Crossing The Line From Alcohol Use to Abuse to Dependence – just $3.99. [Link to free apps to read Kindle on Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad…]
Lisa Frederiksen
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