Teen Alcohol Abuse: A Complex Problem

Recent alcohol abuse statistics reveal that alcohol abuse among teenagers is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Quite a few alcohol addiction experts claim that beer, wine, and liquor ads created by the media are a primary reason for the spread of teen alcohol abuse.

Other substance abuse consultants believe that the increase in teenage alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and accessibility of wine,liquor, and beer in our society.

Still other alcohol addiction experts emphasize the point that quite a few of our teenagers get involved in abusive drinking due to the increased apprehension that they undergo.

From a somewhat different perspective, because both parents in a number of families work full or part-time, the lack of parental supervision evidently has to play a fundamental part in the proliferation of teenage alcohol abuse. And last of all, a variety of substance abuse professionals emphasize the point that the rise in teenage alcohol abuse is due, to some extent, to our “anything goes” society.

Excessive Drinking and Coping Skills

One component of teenage alcohol abuse that looks like it is under reported in the substance abuse research literature, however, is the absence of educational courses that teach students how to enhance their coping skills so that their excessive drinking behavior is substantially diminished or eradicated.

More to the point, science has disclosed the fact that there is an indirect association between poor coping skills and abusive drinking. Essentially, this means that the worse the coping skills, the higher the incidence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is a truthful affirmation, why isn’t coping skills education a significant part of the academic prospectus in all of our high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools?

A Society That Accentuates Teenage Coping Skills

Let us manufacture a scenario for the purpose of explanation. Let us imagine a society in which all people are taught how to develop excellent coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their final year in high school.

In such a society, when life gets difficult, individuals who are ”coping skills experts” will be able to respond in a more healthy and more creative way, as opposed to others who are unsuccessful in their attempts to execute their coping skills.

Stated differently, students who demonstrate superior coping skills will be more able to think clearly and show signs of first-class decision making as opposed to students who, because they lack outstanding coping skills, gravitate to the “quick fix” of excessive drinking.

What would happen in the above “ideal” society, additionally, if adolescents not only got excellent coping skills education but also received an outstanding education that focused on the long term and short term devastating consequences associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these types of drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more advanced coping skills training, it is proclaimed, would help adolescents stay away from the apparent appeal associated with underage drinking and, for that reason, would notably reduce the harmful drinking behavior displayed by teenagers in our country.

Youth Risky Drinking: Conclusion

There are obviously a number of well thought-out reasons why so many of our adolescents drink in an excessive manner. Such a knotty predicament demands an all-inclusive and more applicable preventative and educational response by our educators, students, parents, and politicians so that our teens can learn how to cope with life’s problems in a more productive and accountable manner rather than gravitating to dangerous drinking behavior to solve their difficulties.

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