Facts About Teen Drinking

By Jill Gonzalez

Even though drinking alcohol is illegal for people who are under the age of 21, alcohol plays a major role in the lives of many teenagers. Consider the following facts:

• The average age when most young people first try alcohol is 11.
• By the age of 14, about 41 percent of teens have had at least one alcoholic drink.
• The average age that most teens start drinking on a regular basis is 15.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, teenagers who start drinking before the age of 15 are approximately five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence at some point during their lives than people who start drinking at the age of 21.

How Bad Is the Problem?

Researchers believe that there are currently more than 3 million teenagers in the United States who are alcoholics. For the most part, these teenagers do not receive any type of help for their alcohol addiction, partly because their parents or other caregivers do not realize the extent of the problem. Parents may be aware that their teenagers are drinking alcohol, but they may choose to ignore the severity of the problem because of a reluctance to face the truth about their kids.

For the most part, typical teenage turmoil and drama are the primary factors that lead teens to start drinking, but there may be other problems that lead teens to participate in thrill-seeking and impulsive activities such as drinking alcohol.

Parents Play an Important Role

Despite the fact that most parents are reluctant to talk to teenagers about the dangers of drinking alcohol, these adults can have a tremendous impact on teens and their decisions. Research has indicated that when parents talk openly with their kids about the real dangers involved in drinking alcohol, teens are much less likely to start drinking.

Sharing the facts about drinking with teenagers is an excellent way to impress upon them just how dangerous it is for them to drink. The consumption of alcohol has detrimental effects on a developing teen's brain and body. If parents want teens to be aware of the risks, they have to be willing to open the lines of communication and talk to their kids about the topic in an honest manner.

Factors that Lead to Teen Drinking

When teenagers are feeling overly stressed, have too much free time on their hands or have too much money to spend, they are far more likely to resort to drinking alcohol.

Stress affects people in different ways, but teenagers tend to have a difficult time handling feelings that are overwhelming to them. If teens become stressed because of a family situation, school or peer relationships, they may turn to alcohol or other drugs in an effort to cope with their feelings.

Too much free time can be dangerous because it leads to boredom. Teenagers are full of energy and a budding sense of independence that they cannot fully exert until they are adults. With too much time on their hands and nothing to occupy their minds, alcohol or drugs can become recreational activities that fill the time when they have nothing better to do.

Having too much money to spend also plays an important role in determining whether teens will start to use or abuse alcohol. For many parents, this is a challenge because many teenagers work part-time jobs to help pay for cars or insurance, or to have their own spending money.

If you have a teenager who works and has their own spending money, you might want to insist that a savings account be set up so that automatic deposits can go into the bank each payday. You can make it clear that the money is only for the teen who is earning it, and that it is not going to be used to pay for family activities, but you also need to be firm about keeping the money in the bank. 

You might want to incorporate different strategies for convincing your teenager that depositing a sizeable chunk of money into the bank is a great idea each payday. Depending on your child's interests and goals, you could suggest that the savings account be used to save for college, a new car or a trip after high school graduation. Just keep in mind that the less spending money your teenager has, the less likely they may be to start using alcohol or drugs.