PPP - Parent to Parent in Pittsford - Let's talkSee No Beer, Smell No Pot…
Your teen is heading out the door to a party. You’re assured that parents will be home and activities will be supervised. And you hear “No, Mom, nobody’s going to be drinking!” You assume your teen is telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
According to recent surveys conducted by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, and the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland, parents dramatically underestimate their teens’ alcohol and other drug use. “[Parents] have no idea how drug- and alcohol-infested their teens’ world is,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s chairman and president and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. “[Their] denial, self-delusion and lack of awareness…put their children at enormous risk of drinking and using illegal and prescription drugs.”
Consider these national findings:
• More than two-thirds of 12th graders reported past year alcohol use, while only 41 percent of parents thought their seniors drank. Similar results were reported for illegal drug use.
• 21 percent of students in the 6th grade reported that they had drunk alcohol at least once in the past year, yet only 5 percent of parents had a similar perception.
• More than two-thirds of 12th graders reported past year alcohol use, while only 41 percent of parents thought their seniors drank. Similar results were reported for illegal drug use.
• By age 17, seven out of 10 teens will have been offered an illegal drug.
• Ten million 12- to 17-year olds (38 percent) say they can buy marijuana within a day, and 5 million (19 percent) can buy marijuana in an hour or less.
• Most high school students (51 percent) and one in five middle school students (20 percent) attend a school where drugs are used, kept or sold.
• There is almost no difference in drug exposure or abuse between boys and girls, or among teens living in urban, suburban and rural areas.
According to Califano, “Substance abuse increases with drug availability, and parents, many of whom take the attitude of “not my child”, are often unaware of the problem, sometimes thus enabling it. Poverty is a factor [in teen drug use], but so is affluence. [Some teens] have too much money.”
On September 24, 2006, Rochester’s WHAM Channel 13 reported on a 2006 survey conducted by the Fairport School District that supports the national study results. According to the survey,
• 45 percent of Fairport students report drinking in the last month
• 93 percent of parents said their kids don’t drink
• 32 percent of kids said they use marijuana
• 92 percent of their parents said “not my kid”
“I think parents think that great kids aren’t doing some of these things. Our goal is to get parents to realize that all kids are susceptible to these temptations,” says Fairport High School Principal Dave Paddock.
Parent underestimation and denial can have devastating effects. Teens can be heavily into alcohol and other drug use before their parents detect it. And early alcohol and/or other drug use increases the likelihood of developing chemical dependence at a later age, according to the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Nearly 50 percent of persons who began drinking before age 14 will be alcohol dependent at some point in their lives compared to 9 percent who began drinking after age 20.
Party Perceptions versus Party Reality
Parents’ and teens’ perceptions differ greatly on the subject of teen parties. Though 80 percent of parents believe that neither alcohol nor marijuana is usually available at parties their teens attend, almost half (46 percent) of teens have attended a party at which teens were drinking alcohol, smoking pot, or using cocaine, Ecstasy or prescription drugs while a parent was present. 98 percent of parents say they are normally present during parties they allow their teens to have at home, but 33 percent of teen partygoers report that parents are rarely or never present at the parties they attend. 99 percent of parents say they would not be willing to serve alcohol at their teen’s party, however 28 percent of teen partygoers have been at parties at a home where parents were present and teens were drinking alcohol.
Califano says, “If your teen is having a party at your home, you should not only be there, but be aware of what is going on. And if your teen attends a party at someone else’s home, confirm that the parents will be present and that alcohol and drugs will not. The reality is that even when parents are present at a party, some kids will try to sneak in substances.”
For more information about the CASA, CESAR and NESARC surveys, visit:
http://www.casacolumbia.org/ http://www.cesar.umd.edu/
http://niaaa.census.gov/
For more information about the WHAM Channel 13 report, visit:
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=E9C96185-7AEB-487C-AC
F7-C882692B722B
For more information about hosting safe teen parties, visit:
www.pittsfordprevention.com