Teen Alcohol Abuse: A Severe Problem
Recent alcohol abuse statistics reveal that alcohol abuse among adolescents is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Many alcoholism specialists claim that liquor, wine, and beer advertisements generated by the media are an essential reason for the expansion of teen alcohol abuse.
Other alcohol abuse specialists claim that the increase in youth alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and convenience of wine, beer, and liquor in our society.
Still other alcoholism professionals stress the point that quite a few of our adolescents get involved in excessive drinking because of the increased anxiety that they experience.
From a slightly different point of view, since both parents in many families work, the lack of parental supervision unquestionably has to play a key role in the increase in teen alcohol abuse. And lastly, various substance abuse authorities declare that the expansion of adolescent alcohol abuse is due, at least partially, to our permissive society.
Coping Skills and Abusive Drinking
One aspect of teen alcohol abuse that looks as if it somewhat incomplete in the alcoholism research results, in spite of this, is the shortage of educational programs that teach teenagers how to augment their coping skills so that their abusive drinking behavior is significantly decreased or eliminated.
More to the point, scientific research has displayed the fact that there is an indirect relationship between poor coping skills and excessive drinking. Fundamentally, this means that the worse the coping skills, the greater the frequency of alcohol abuse. To the extent that this is a valid allegation , why isn’t coping skills training a primary part of the educational curriculum in all of our high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools?
A Society That Highlights Youth Coping Skills
Let us manufacture a scenario for for the purpose of illumination. Let us imagine a society in which students are taught how to develop superior coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their final year in high school.
In such a society, when life gets challenging, students who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a healthier and more productive manner, as opposed to others who fail to put their coping skills into practice.
Stated another way, students who reveal good coping skills will be more able to think proactively and display excellent decision making as opposed to teens who, because they are deficient in outstanding coping skills, resort to the “quick fix” of hazardous drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, in addition, if teens not only received exclusive coping skills instruction but also received an exceptional education that outlined the short term and long term devastating results associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these kinds of drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more highly developed coping skills instruction, it is pronounced, would help adolescents keep away from the apparent charm related to adolescent drinking and, as a consequence, would notably lessen the harmful drinking behavior demonstrated by teenagers in our country.
Teen Abusive Drinking: Conclusion
There are clearly several legitimate reasons why so many of our adolescents drink in a risky manner. Such a knotty issue demands a broad based and more meaningful preventative and educational response by our educators, parents, politicians, and students so that our teenagers can learn how to cope with life’s difficulties in a more productive and responsible manner instead of resorting to harmful drinking behavior to solve their problems.
