Troubled Teens Resources

As parents ought to know by now, teens know more than they do. Teen crisis interventions are met with impatience and scorn. As we patiently exhort them to not drink and drive, many at-risk teens view such warnings as hysteria and prefer to put their faith in all types of misinformation.

MADD has compiled a list of myths surrounding alcohol consumption. Sit down with your teen and see which ones they have heard. Prom season fast approaches. Arm your teen with as many facts as possible.
Myth: Alcohol gives you energy.
Nope. It’s a depressant. It slows down your ability to think, speak, move and all that other stuff you like to do.

Myth: Switching between beer, wine and liquor will make you more drunk than sticking to one type of alcohol.
Whatever! Your blood alcohol content (BAC - the percent of alcohol in your blood) is what determines how drunk you are. Not the flavors you selected. Alcohol is alcohol.

Myth: You’ll get drunk a lot quicker with hard liquor than with a beer or wine cooler.
Did we mention that alcohol is alcohol?

Myth: Everybody reacts the same to alcohol.
Not hardly. There are dozens of factors that affect reactions to alcohol - body weight, time of day, how you feel mentally, body chemistry, your expectations, and the list goes on and on.

Myth: A cold shower or a cup of coffee will sober someone up.
Not on your life. Nothing sobers you up but time. With coffee, you’re simply a wide-awake drunk!

Myth: It’s just beer. It can’t permanently damage you.
Large amounts of alcohol can do major damage to your digestive system. You can hurt your heart, liver, stomach, and several other critical organs as well as losing years from your life.

Myth: It’s none of my business if a friend is drinking too much.
If you are a real friend, it is your business. You can’t make someone change but you can be honest. Maybe they’ll listen. You might even talk them into getting help.

Myth: The worst thing that can happen is a raging hangover.
Sorry. If you drink enough alcohol, fast enough, you can get an amount in your body that can kill you in only a few hours.

Myth: Drugs are a bigger problem than alcohol.
Alcohol kills more young people than cocaine, heroin, and every other illegal drug combined. Eighteen million Americans are addicted to alcohol or have alcohol abuse issues. Alcohol is the No. 1 drug problem of today’s youth.

Myth: Alcohol makes you more sexy.
The more you drink, the less you think. Alcohol may loosen you up and make someone more interested in sex, but it interferes with the body’s ability to perform. And then there’s pregnancy, AIDS, sexual assault, car crashes and worse, to worry about. Not sexy at all.

Myth: People who drink too much only hurt themselves.
Every person who drinks has a mother, grandfather, sister, aunt, best friend, boyfriend or girlfriend who worries about them. Each of the 18 million problem drinkers in this country affects four other people.

A retiree acquaintance moonlights as a limo driver during prom season. A hard and fast rule with limo drivers during prom season is to make sure that their teenage passengers do not sneak in any alcoholic beverages to drink before arriving at their prom. He was amazed at the ingenuity some teens are capable of in disguising alcohol and other contraband.

He speculated that the revealing prom gowns worn by today’s teenage girls mixed in with alcohol consumption created a dangerous combination that has transformed a night meant as celebration into a night of temptation and danger.

Statistics support his concerns.

• Nearly 25 percent of drivers ages 16-20 involved in fatal automobile accidents had been drinking (NHTSA, 2005).
• Half of all persons who die in traffic accidents involving underage drivers who drank are people other than the drinking driver (NHTSA, 2003).
• About one in three high school students say they have ridden in an automobile with a driver who had been drinking (NHTSA, 2003).
• Forty-seven percent of high school seniors drank during the past month (NIDA, 2006).
• More than a quarter of 12th graders drink heavily, while more than 20 percent of 10th graders do so (Johnson et al. 2005).
• Girls 16-19 are four times more likely to be the victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault than the general population (National Crime Victimization Study, 2000).
• Twenty-five percent of high school students said they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs when they last
• Twenty-five percent had used alcohol or drugs the last time they had sex (YRBS, 2004).
• Alcohol or drugs influenced 29 percent of 15-17 year-olds and 37 percent of 18-24 year-olds to engage in sexual activity (Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, 2003).

Prom season has become another arena in which teen crisis intervention tools and programs must be in place. The data above was provided by just such an intervention program known as BuzzFree Prom. It is a site that you and your at-risk teen may want to explore.

“We’re building a reputation that if you’re having a party, you’re probably going to see us,” Prevost said.”

Such is the determination of a group of Vermont law enforcement officers that take part in a teen crisis intervention program known as START, or the Stop Teen Alcohol Risk Team.

Developed to combat the scourge of underage drinking, SMART exists to prevent parties from ever starting, breaking up ones that they find and educating adults on the risks they incur if they facilitate a teen drinking party.

“The START team can be activated anytime, anywhere. Officers will even get called out from home.

Team members said each underage drinking party police find out about is investigated, and the adults responsible for providing the space — whether they are aware of the party or not — and the alcohol can be charged criminally or civilly.”

Instead of facing criminal charges, teenagers discovered drinking are put through a diversion program that includes counseling if an alcohol screening test indicates any signs of alcoholism.

“If they satisfactorily complete the requirements laid out by diversion (that are individual, based on screening) they have a clean slate,” said Montpelier Police Sergeant Facos.”

Though alcohol and drug abuse are a concern throughout the year, the approach of prom season and summer have communities gearing up to make underage drinking as difficult as possible, both for the teenagers and the misguided parents who allow the parties to go on.

“Although the underage drinking ethic hasn’t changed, as more parents become educated about the hazards of underage drinking, their attitudes seem to be changing.

“I don’t get yelled at or hung-up on anymore by parents I call in the middle of the night,”

(Source)