Teach Your Children Well — About Substance Abuse

“Teach your children well,” a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young classic encourages. Children are impressionable, like sponges that soak up whatever liquid they are immersed in. Some parents say they’d rather have their teens drink at home than elsewhere, where they’re in danger of driving impaired. Many parents minimize or dismiss the dangers, rationalizing that because they survived their youth, particularly if they grew up in the more freewheeling 1960s and ’70s, their children will survive as well. But this attitude has the opposite effect of the intended one. “Parental attitudes favoring alcohol and other drug use tend to be linked with a greater likelihood of substance use by adolescents,” said a study published in May 2011 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. A baby boomer kid, I did grow up in the ’60s and ’70s when it was not uncommon for children to have easier access to substances. Although my parents were “lightweights” when it came to alcohol consumption, I knew where the unlocked liquor cabinet was. It was there for parties since it was an expected aspect of hospitality to make “adult beverages” available. The joke in our family was that if there was a six pack of beer left over on July 4th, it would still be there the next year. Wine (Manichewitz) was a standard on the Seder table at Passover, although the thrill of being allowed to sip it, was more than doused by the fact that it reminded me of...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Addictions Alcoholism Parenting Substance Abuse Source Type: news