PARENTS

As a parent or caregiver, you play a vital role in influencing your child's attitudes and behaviors. You serve as a role model on the use of alcohol, control the availability of alcohol in your home, and help set your child’s expectations concerning drinking behaviors. A recent study shows that children whose parents are involved in their lives — hold regular conversations, attend after-school events, and listen to their problems — are less likely to drink or smoke.

In this section you will find warning signs of a drinking problem, questions to ask yourself about your child and community, prevention strategies parents can take, and resources for effective parenting, which include both useful publications and helpful organizations. For additional information, see also Statistics, The Family and What You Can Do, The Home.

As a parent or caregiver, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you know how to discuss alcohol use with your child and where to get helpful information?

• Do you know your child’s friends, and do you feel that they provide positive influences on your child’s activities?

• Do you know the legal consequences of underage drinking?

• Do you know your State’s laws about providing alcohol to anyone under 21?

Prevention Strategies

Publications

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's (NIAAA) Initiative on Underage Drinking page lists free materials for use in local community efforts to prevent underage alcohol use. These include fact sheets and public service announcements for parents and youth.

 

Alcoholism: Getting the Facts is designed to help individuals and families answer questions about alcohol problems. It contains information on both alcoholism and alcohol use, the symptoms of each, when and where to seek help, treatment choices, and additional resources. It can be ordered from NIAAA: English version: NIH Publication Number 96-4153 (Revised 2001); Spanish version: NIH Publication Number 97-4153-S (Revised 2001).

Adolescent Directory Online, Center for Adolescent Studies, Indiana University is an electronic guide to information on adolescent issues, providing resources for parents, educators, researchers, health practitioners, and teens. The Health Risk for Adolescents Web page contains links to organizations and government agencies that provide guidance on the prevention and treatment of substance use.

All Stars: Stories from Parents: 7 Strategies for Successful Parenting is a CD produced by Tanglewood Research. Parents recount the challenges they faced when raising adolescents and tell how they applied these strategies.

College Drinking: Changing the Culture is an online resource center developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in response to the increasingly complex issue of alcohol use among college students. The site's content is based on a series of reports published by the Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In addition to the Task Force reports, the site includes frequently asked questions on alcohol abuse, college and university alcohol policies, and a special section for students.

A Family Guide To Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy and Drug Free offers adults who influence the lives of children ages 7 to 18 — including parents, foster parents, grandparents, extended family members, guardians, and mentors — suggestions for better communication with children, as well as other tips that aid in prevention.

Frequently Asked Questions on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (FAQs) includes information on how alcohol affects the body and suggestions on what to do if an individual or family member has an alcohol-related problem. It can be ordered from NIAAA: English version: NIH Publication Number 01-4735; Spanish version: NIH Publication Number 02-4735-S.

Girl Power! Tips for Parents About Alcohol, Tobacco, and Illicit Drugs focuses on communicating with girls ages 9-14, about the risks of alcohol use. The Girl Power! site also contains information on activities and programs for parents and their children. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA)

Hablemos en Confianza: Your Fountain of Resources  is a bilingual public health Web site which offers advice for Hispanic/Latino parents on listening to and talking with children to improve communication, to discover parenting style, and to learn about alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs. (SAMHSA, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention)

Helping Your Children Navigate Their Teenage Years: A Guide for Parents provides parents with useful communication tips for talking to their teenagers on difficult issues such as alcohol use and helps parents identify warning signs of harmful behaviors. (White House Council on Youth Violence)

The Making the Link fact sheets contain current statistics on a variety of topics relating to underage drinking, including health issues, access to alcohol, and public opinion. They were prepared by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to support the Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free initiative (PDF files):

Underage Drinking and Academic Performance
Underage Drinking and Access to Alcohol
Underage Drinking and the Future of Children
Underage Drinking and Girls' Health
Underage Drinking and Mental Health
Underage Drinking and Public Opinion
Underage Drinking and Risky Behavior
Underage Drinking and Violence

The Maternal and Child Health Library is a virtual guide to maternal and child health information including databases, publications, resource lists, Web links, the MCH Alert (an electronic newsletter), and other resources developed for health professionals, families, and consumers.  (National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health at Georgetown University)

Parenting Skills: 21 Tips & Ideas to Help You Make a Difference is designed to help parents make a difference in the prevention of underage alcohol or drug use. (Office of National Drug Control Policy)

Parents' Role in Prevention and Early Intervention
to Reduce the Incidence of Substance Abuse Among Their Children, is an online briefing by Dr. Karol L. Kumpfer, Associate Professor and Director of the Strengthening Our Families Program, University of Utah, Department of Health Promotion and Education. (Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Divison of Workplace Programs)

The SAMHSA Family Guide  is a public education Web site developed by SAMHSA to communicate to parents and other caring adults about how they can help promote their child's mental health and reduce his or her risk for becoming involved with alcohol, tobacco, and illegal  drugs.  It contains links to programs including Start Talking Before They Start Drinking, and the Reach Out National Teach-Ins.

Talk to Your Kids About Alcohol is an education initiative that encourages parents to open the dialogue about alcohol with their preteens.  It is sponsored by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, and MADD Canada, and includes an interactive Web site that provides parents with tips for communicating, and common myths about alcohol and  links to related Web sites.

Tips for Parents on Keeping Children Drug Free helps parents work with preschool- to high-school-age children as they form attitudes about drug use by providing answers to children’s questions and sources for help. The information in this booklet was taken from the U.S. Department of Education's publication, Growing Up Drug-Free: A Parent's Guide to Prevention (1998) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's Juveniles and Drugs—Overview (2002).

What Parents Can Do discusses laws related to parental behavior and underage alcohol consumption, and offers strategies to prevent youth access to alcohol. (Alcohol Epidemiology Program, University of Minnesota)

What Should I Tell My Child About Drinking was developed by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence to offer advice both about good parenting and how to discuss alcohol. It includes a video and brochure.

Organizations

The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth. The Center is supported by grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

KidsHealth provides doctor-approved health information about children from before birth through adolescence, with separate areas for kids, teens, and parents.  The Web site contains the results of a poll of children ages 9-to-13 on alcohol, and guidance for talking to children about alcohol. 

Lowe Family Foundation is a not-for-profit public charity, whose mission is to educate the general public about the disease of alcoholism and its effects on families, children, and individuals. The Foundation provides resources including interviews, question and answer sessions with prevention specialists, publications, and information from its Families and Communities Together (FACT)  program.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is an organization of moms, dads, young people, and others who want to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime, and prevent underage drinking. MADD's site has a section on underage drinking and links to State chapters. You can also see your State information on MADD by returning to the Leadership's home page and clicking on the State map.

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) helps children and families affected by alcoholism and other drug dependencies. The Web site contains facts about the problem, and links to NACoA affiliates in several States and other national organizations.

National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY) assists groups and individuals seeking to support young people and their families by sharing information through its Web site, providing materials for distribution at conferences and training events, conducting research on topics of interest, and partnering with others who are working on similar issues. See the NCFY section for Parents and Community Members. (Family and Youth Services Bureau)

National Family Partnership offers several tools — a parent’s kit, tips for parents, quick tips to prevent drug abuse, and fact sheets on alcohol — to help parents get involved in prevention efforts.

Parent Resources and Information on Drug Education, Inc. (PRIDE Omaha, Inc.) is a drug prevention resource center that provides links to prevention and parenting organizations, prevention funding sources, and sites to contact policymakers. The Web site's Alcohol page contains State and national resources to provide guidance to parents and other adults who are concerned about preventing minors from accessing and consuming alcohol.

PRIDE Youth Programs (PYP) is sponsored by PRIDE (Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education), a provider of prevention services in the area of alcohol and other drugs.  PYP's mission is to educate, promote, and support drug-free youth who care for the safety and health of self, peers, family and community. PRIDE began as a program for parent's, but has changed the focus to youth.

Protecting You/Protecting Me is a 5-year, science based alcohol use prevention curriculum for grades 1 through 5.  (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

Safe Homes/Safe Parties is a statewide initiative developed by Informed Families (Florida) and implemented by parents of teens and pre-teens to ensure that alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes will not be permitted at parties in their homes, and will also be discouraged at parties in the community.

Save the Night Program, sponsored by the Amica Mutual Insurance Company offers guidelines for planning safe, alcohol-free, post prom and post graduation parties..

Smart and Sober, an initiative sponsored by former Ohio First Lady Hope Taft, focuses upon giving children in grades 5-9 positive tools to help them stay alcohol free. The Web site includes general, community, and State prevention resources, and links for parents and students.

Talking With Kids About Tough Issues encourages parents to talk with their children earlier and more often about tough issues like sex, HIV/AIDS, violence, alcohol, and drug use.

Too Smart to Start, sponsored by SAMHSA is an underage alcohol use prevention initiative for parents and caregivers of 9-to-13 year-olds as they teach their children about the harms of alcohol, and participate in their activities.