What Parents Don’t Know
Separating myth from fact when it comes to your teen and alcohol
The fresh corsage. The perfect dress. The keepsake photos. Nothing could possibly ruin your daughter’s first prom, right?
Wrong. “Alcohol and proms make a deadly mix,” says Diana Heckman of the ALERT Partnership, which tackles alcohol and drug-abuse issues head-on. Recent studies show that up to 60 percent of car crash fatalities each spring involving people age 21 or younger are alcohol-related.
How can you be sure your child won’t become a statistic? Separate the myths from the facts.
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Myth: |
I drank on my prom night and I was fine. My son or daughter will be fine, too. |
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Fact: |
Despite the presence of friends, parents remain a teen’s major influence. If you don’t make a big deal about the dangers of alcohol (or worse, if you condone drinking as something you did at her age), you’re sending the wrong message. |
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Myth: |
If the party’s at my house and we don’t supply alcohol, everything will be fine. |
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Fact: |
Not if you allow others to bring alcohol. Then you’re subject to criminal prosecution. In one highly publicized case, an area woman served a prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter after a party at her house led to the drunk-driving deaths of three minors. |
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Myth: |
We’ll take away all the car keys so nobody drives drunk. |
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Fact: |
Alcohol-related problems (like falls or burns) can still happen inside your house. Alcohol can kill, too, if too much is consumed in a short time. And those convicted of providing alcohol to minors face jail time and sizeable fines. |
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Myth: |
It’s only a problem if they drink too much. |
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Fact: |
Impairment starts with the first drink. Pennsylvania’s zero-tolerance law recognizes this. Minors with a blood-alcohol level of .02 percent are considered legally drunk. Teens face up to 90 days in jail, a $300 fine and a 90-day license suspension if caught drinking, and higher penalties if drinking and driving. |
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Myth: |
My son is going to a friend’s house after the prom. He’ll be safe. |
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Fact: |
How well do you know the friend? Will he have alcohol at his house? Will any parents be there? If you don’t know these answers, you don’t know your son will be safe. |
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Myth: |
My daughter isn’t in high school yet. I don’t have to worry about this. |
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Fact: |
Community prevention programs like ALERT’s Operation Safe Spring begin in the fourth grade. A recent study shows that 56 percent of children in grades 5-12 say alcohol ads encourage them to drink. |
‘Complete and Utter Devastation’
That’s how Lisa Simon’s mother felt when Lisa, then 16, was riding in a car struck by a drunk driver. “Mom was told not to hope for recovery,” says Simon, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for eight days. “I couldn’t walk, speak or hold utensils.”
Miraculously, Simon did recover; now age 39 and a resident of Nazareth, she’s become an advocate for alcohol awareness. She tells her story nationwide and works as a prevention consultant with the ALERT Partnership.
She also educates her three children. “Once you get through the toddler years, you think parenting will get easier, but it doesn’t,” she says. “There are constant dangers you need to talk to them about.”
This page last updated 12/17/08 09:37 PM
