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Teaching Your Children About Alcohol

Alcohol can be a challenging topic for parents to discuss with their kids, but Teresa Herzog Mourad and Bethany Lemm, health educators for the University of Michigan's MHealthy Alcohol Management Program, encourage parents to have those conversations. "You influence your child's values and decisions about alcohol long before he or she begins to think about using alcohol," says Lemm.

Mourad reminds adults that they can start educating their kids about alcohol long before they reach drinking age. She says, "Parents are their children's first teachers. They can be their best teachers by modeling responsible decision making regarding alcohol if they choose to drink and serve alcohol."

The Centers for Disease Control and the U-M MHealthy Alcohol Management Program indicate that there is no such thing as entirely risk-free alcohol use and define safer, lower risk alcohol consumption as a maximum of one drink for women or two drinks for men at a rate of one per hour and never daily. Adults can set a good example by discussing before drinking occasions who will be the designated non-drinking driver. When parents and other role models openly discuss this important issue, it can show young people that impaired driving is not an option.

Lemm says that parents don't have to be experts on the subject or have the perfect phrase in order to start helpful conversations. She says, "Kids care deeply about what their parents think. Just talk to them." It is important for parents to specifically tell their children that it isn't okay to use alcohol or other drugs.

Parents can also help their teens practice refusal skills for when they are in situations where alcohol is offered. Suggesting to young people that they can say things to their peers like "I can't. I would be in huge trouble with my parents." or "No way, I'll be grounded forever!" can be helpful ways 'out' of pressured social situations.

Both Lemm and Mourad feel strongly that it is never too late for parents to share their values and concerns about alcohol. You might be surprised by what your kids already know by asking them to describe what they have seen and heard among their peers. Research supports that parent's attitudes and behaviors regarding alcohol are influential.

It is critical that parents who struggle with drinking too much themselves seek help. When a parent gets the support and education they deserve they are more confident in starting these conversations These important conversations can begin simply with comments like, "I wish we'd started talking about this sooner" or "What it's like when you're with your friends? Are any of them drinking alcohol?"

If parents suspect that their son or daughter is using alcohol, Mourad suggests seeking advice and assistance from community resources and the internet. Their most important advice is, "Communicate, communicate, communicate." Start a conversation.

 

Contact: MHealthy Alcohol Management with your questions

Phone: 734-998-2017 or 800-222-5145

Email: mhealthyalcoholmgmt@med.umich.edu

The program fee is waived for U-M faculty and staff.

 

Additional Resources

MHealthy Alcohol Management is a brief, confidential educational program that helps you eliminate drinking problems by reducing your drinking or stopping altogether.

Web Sites With Information About Adults and Alcohol:

Visit the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's web site and view these helpful publications:

Helpful Web Sites for Parents and/or Kids

 

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