Recent alcohol abuse statistics demonstrate the fact that alcohol abuse among teens is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Quite a few alcohol addiction professionals assert that wine, beer, and liquor ads created by the media are a fundamental reason for the escalation of teen alcohol abuse.
Other alcohol abuse specialists claim that the increase in adolescent alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and accessibility of beer, wine, and liquor in our society.
Still other alcoholism experts declare that many of our teens involve themselves in destructive drinking because of the increased fretfulness that they go through.
From a somewhat different standpoint, due to the fact that both parents in more than a few families work, the lack of parental supervision certainly has to play a fundamental part in the increase in teenage alcohol abuse. And as a final point, different chemical dependency specialists claim that the rise in teenage alcohol abuse is due, at least partially, to our lenient society.
Coping Skills Education and Alcohol Abuse
One aspect of teenage alcohol abuse that looks as if it poorly reported in the alcohol addiction research results, however, is the dearth of educational courses that teach students how to enhance their coping skills so that their abusive drinking behavior is drastically lessened or exterminated.
Stated more explicitly, science has displayed the fact that there is an indirect correlation between poor coping skills and hazardous drinking. For all intents and purposes, this means that the more mediocre the coping skills, the higher the occurrence of alcohol abuse. To the extent that this is an accurate affirmation, why isn’t coping skills instruction a key part of the educational curriculum in all of our high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools?
A Society That Emphasizes Youth Coping Skills
Let us manufacture a scenario for explanatory purposes. Let us imagine a society in which all people are trained how to develop sound coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their senior year in high school.
In such a society, when life gets difficult, people who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a more healthy and more rewarding manner, as opposed to others who fail to put their coping skills into action.
More to the point, students who display high-quality coping skills will be more able to think clearly and engage in top-shelf decision making as opposed to teens who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to develop top-of-the-line coping skills, resort to the “quick fix” of hazardous drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, furthermore, if teenagers not only obtained top shelf coping skills training but also obtained an extraordinary education that focused on the long term and short term injurious outcomes associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these types of drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more highly developed coping skills training, it is emphasized, would help students keep away from the noticeable appeal correlated with youth drinking and, accordingly, would radically reduce the abusive drinking behavior shown by the youth in our country.
Teenage Excessive Drinking: Conclusion
There are positively many legitimate reasons why so many of our teenagers drink in an abusive manner. Such a complex problem demands a wide-ranging and more pertinent preventative and educational response by our educators, politicians, parents, and students so that our teens can learn how to cope with life’s predicaments in a more productive and responsible way instead of resorting to alcohol abuse to solve their problems.
Filed under Health by on Oct 30th, 2009. 
Recent alcohol abuse statistics demonstrate the fact that alcohol abuse among adolescents is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Quite a few substance abuse consultants affirm that beer, liquor, and wine ads produced by the media are a primary reason for the expansion of teen alcohol abuse.
Other alcohol abuse experts articulate that the increase in teenage alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and accessibility of alcohol in our society.
Still other alcoholism experts think that numerous young people get involved in injurious drinking because of the increased tension that they face.
From a somewhat different vantage point, since both parents in more than a few families work full or part-time, the lack of parental guidance evidently has to play a major part in the increase in youth alcohol abuse. And finally, a variety of alcoholism professionals stress the point that the expansion of youth alcohol abuse is due, in some way, to our lenient society.
Coping Skills and Hazardous Drinking
One facet of adolescent alcohol abuse that looks as if it under reported in the alcoholism research results, to the contrary, is the absence of educational courses that teach adolescents how to enhance their coping skills so that their risky drinking behavior is drastically diminished or exterminated.
More specifically, scientific research has illustrated the fact that there is an indirect link between poor coping skills and alcohol abuse. In point of fact, this means that the more mediocre the coping skills, the higher the occurrence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is an accurate declaration, why isn’t coping skills instruction a primary part of the educational prospectus in all of our high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools?
A Society That Stresses Teenage Coping Skills
Let us manufacture a scenario for for the purpose of elucidation. Let us imagine a society in which all individuals are taught how to achieve sound coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their final year in high school.
In such a society, when life gets stressful, people who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a more healthy and more successful manner, contrary to others who fail to execute their coping skills.
More to the point, students who show evidence of excellent coping skills will be more able to think proactively and demonstrate excellent decision making as opposed to students who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to implement outstanding coping skills, gravitate to the “quick fix” of hazardous drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, in addition, if students not only received top shelf coping skills education but also got an excellent education that focused on the short term and long term damaging outcomes associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Such an emphasis on drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more advanced coping skills education, it is proclaimed, would help students keep away from the noticeable attraction with youth drinking and, for that reason, would fundamentally reduce the abusive drinking behavior demonstrated by teenagers in our country.
Youth Alcohol Abuse: Conclusion
There are obviously scores of sound reasons why so many of our teens drink in a dangerous manner. Such a tricky predicament demands a far-reaching and more pertinent educational and preventative response by our educators, parents, politicians, and students so that our teenagers can learn how to cope with life’s problems in a more fruitful and responsible manner instead of gravitating to harmful drinking behavior to solve their problems.
Filed under Health by on Oct 25th, 2009.
Dante was a sixteen year old high school junior who was displaying quite a few alcohol-related difficulties at school. For that reason, the principal informed him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school counselor, before he would be permitted to come back to class.
Later that day when Dante went home after school, he had to explain his school suspension to his parents. His Mother and Father were “relatively conservative” and explained to Dante that getting removed from school was not a feasible educational option. They told Dante that failing to graduate from high school would more likely than not be like a lead weight around his legs that could conceivably impair his educational achievement for the rest of his adult life. What is more, Dante’s Mom and Dad were extremely discontented that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his friends in the second.
They told Dante that although he may be a teenager, he has to comprehend fairly swiftly that drinking is the route to ill health, pain, failure, and financial problems.
It was apparent that his Mom and Dad were completely in accord with Dante’s principal and informed Dante that he had better come to the realization that he needs to see Miss Johnson, the school counselor. After his talk with his Mom and Dad, Dante in the end agreed to see Miss Johnson the next school day. So Dante phoned the school and scheduled an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next day during his fifth period class.
The Psychologist Asks Dante if He Understands Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Activities Caused Quite a Bit of Anxiety By the School Administrators
When Dante went to see Miss Johnson, she promptly went over all of the alcohol-related issues Dante had gotten into and asked him if he knew why his recent alcohol-related behavior made the school administrators uneasy.
Quite candidly, Dante was unsure why the principal informed him that he had to see a school psychologist. As he stated to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional therapist about his drinking behavior? Because almost all of his classmates drink as much if not more than he does, drinking really shouldn’t be such a big thing. Stated more directly, if just about everyone is drinking, why is this such a big deal?
Miss Johnson asked Dante when he started to drink alcoholic beverages. He said that some of his older buddies introduced him to drinking hard liquor when he was twelve or thirteen years old and getting ready to enter the seventh grade.
Miss Johnson informed Dante that while his classmates may in fact drink as much as he does and that they may be an unhealthy influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting expelled from school due to alcohol-related fighting, delinquency, and absenteeism, not his pals. Not only this but Miss Johnson also emphasized the fact that Dante, and not his pals, is the one who is failing and who is missing almost two days of school per week because of his alcohol related difficulties. Finally, Miss Johnson highlighted the fact that because of his drinking circumstances, Dante is getting into a negative cycle of hazardous drinking that can finally wreck his dreams, hopes, and aspirations.
In a word, Dante’s involvement with teenage alcohol abuse was beginning to foil his ability to function as an accountable young man. As pronounced by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your classmates drink hard liquor, wine coolers, beer, or wine does not mean that it is the healthiest thing in the world for you.”
Dante Learns That Ultimately He Must Claim Responsibility For Himself In Order to Avoid Destructive, Unhealthy, Dangerous, and Damaging Circumstances Down the Road
Miss Johnson told Dante that one’s classmates can unquestionably influence an individual in an unhealthy manner, but that the person himself or herself has to in the long run be responsible for herself or himself in order to keep away from unhealthy, destructive, dangerous, and damaging situations in the future.
Luckily, Miss Johnson was extremely well equipped for her conference with Dante. She showed him reports and research studies she had highlighted that outlined diverse drinking facts and statistics that applied to most people in general. Then she showed Dante quite a lot of figures and reports that applied particularly to teenagers.
As an illustration, Miss Johnson underscored the difference between alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse and informed Dante that drinkers who continue to drink excessively regularly become alcohol dependent.
Miss Johnson also explained the concept of binge drinking which she defined as follows: ingesting five or more drinks in one sitting for males and consuming four or more drinks in one sitting for females.
The Counselor States Numerous Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Statistics and Facts
Then Miss Johnson articulated various alcohol facts and the following eight alcohol abuse statistics:
1. The 25.9% of teen drinkers in the U.S. who are alcohol dependent and alcohol abusers drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all adolescent drinkers.
2. Fifty percent of United States murders are related to alcohol.
3. In 2002, U.S. alcohol dependency facts and statistics demonstrated that 2.6 million binge drinkers were between the ages of 12 and 17.
4. It is estimated that more than 3 million teens in the United States between the ages of 14 to 17 are alcohol abusers or alcohol dependent.
5. In the U.S., more than 40 percent of those who start drinking at the age 14 or younger become alcoholic.
6. Very few of the more than 18 million U.S. alcohol abusers receive the alcohol rehabilitation they require.
7. Underage drinking costs Americans nearly billion annually. If each congressional district shared this cost equally, the amount would total more than 0 million per district.
8. Alcohol-related problems are unevenly found among both adult and juvenile criminal offenders.
Dante Gets A Relevant Jolt of Reality Concerning the Long Term and the Short Term Consequences of Teen Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse
After Miss Johnson presented the aforementioned alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse facts and statistics, it was apparent that what Miss Johnson taught Dante was a real surprise to him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only took the time to give an explanation of the short term and the long term outcomes of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, but she also took the time to authenticate what she was saying with alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse facts and statistics that related to everyone, and particularly to teenagers.
As a matter of fact, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante promptly understood why he should not be engaging in abusive and excessive drinking with or without his friends any longer. Dante thanked Miss Johnson for her concern and for the information she discussed.
Miss Johnson then asked Dante how he felt about getting a physical examination and an alcohol evaluation for the alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction rehabilitation he would probably need.
Dante thought about this for a minute and then agreed to get a complete physical examination and to go through a comprehensive assessment of his drinking condition so that he could start an alcohol abuse or alcoholism rehab program without pause.
Filed under Health by on Oct 20th, 2009.
Dante was a fifteen year old high school sophomore who was manifesting a number of alcohol-related problems at school. For that reason, the principal told him that he had to see Miss Johnson, the school therapist, before he would be allowed to come back to school.
Later that day when Dante went home after school, he had to explain his school expulsion to his parents. His parents were “relatively conservative” and informed Dante that getting expelled from school was not a tolerable educational plan of action. They informed Dante that failing to graduate from high school would probably be like a lead weight around his feet that could conceivably inhibit his educational aspirations for the remainder of his adult life. Furthermore, Dante’s parents were very discontented that he was drinking in the first place and drinking with his peers in the second.
His Mother and Father explained to Dante that even though he may be a teen, he needs to realize rather quickly that drinking is the route to pain, failure, financial problems, and ill health.
It was evident that his Mother and Father were absolutely in concurrence with Dante’s principal and told Dante that he had better come to the realization that he needs to see Miss Johnson, the school counselor. After his discussion with his parents, Dante in due course agreed to see Miss Johnson the next day. So Dante phoned the school and made an appointment to see Miss Johnson the next afternoon.
The Counselor Asks Dante if He Knows Why His Recent Alcohol-Related Behavior Caused Quite a Bit of Apprehension By the School Administrators
When Dante got to his scheduled appointment with Miss Johnson, she at once looked at all of the alcohol-related problems Dante had experienced and asked him if he understood why his recent alcohol-related behavior signaled such alarm.
Quite truthfully, Dante questioned why the principal suggested that he see a school counselor. As he expressed to Miss Johnson, why should he see a professional psychologist about his drinking activities? Due to the fact that nearly all of his peers drink about as much as he does, basically, drinking shouldn’t be such a big thing. Stated more precisely, if just about everyone is drinking, why is this such a major issue?
Miss Johnson asked Dante when he started to drink alcoholic beverages. He said that some of his older friends introduced him to drinking wine coolers when he was twelve or thirteen years old and in the seventh grade.
Miss Johnson explained to Dante that while his friends may indeed drink as much as he does and that they may be an unhealthy influence on him, the facts are that he is the one who is getting discharged from school due to alcohol-related absenteeism, fighting, and delinquency, not his friends. Not only this but Miss Johnson also stressed the fact that Dante, and not his peers, is the one who is failing and who is missing at least one day of school every week because of his alcohol related issues. Lastly, Miss Johnson emphasized the fact that because of his drinking situation, Dante is getting into a negative cycle of excessive drinking that can at the end of the day ruin his life.
In short, Dante’s involvement with teenage alcohol abuse was beginning to thwart his ability to act like a responsible young man. As conveyed by Miss Johnson, “Just because most of your friends drink wine, wine coolers, beer, or hard liquor does not mean that it is the best thing to do for you.”
Dante Learns That In the Long Run He Must Be Accountable For Himself In Order to Keep Away From Damaging, Dangerous, Destructive, and Unhealthy Outcomes In the Foreseeable Future
Miss Johnson informed Dante that other individuals can certainly influence a person in an unhealthy manner, but that the individual himself or herself has to in due course be responsible for himself or herself in order to keep away from dangerous, unhealthy, damaging, and destructive consequences in the future.
Fortunately, Miss Johnson was extremely well prepared for her scheduled time with Dante. She showed him research studies and reports she had highlighted that summarized different drinking statistics and facts that targeted most people in general. Then she showed Dante quite a lot of data that applied mainly to adolescents.
As an illustration, Miss Johnson highlighted the difference between alcoholism and alcohol abuse and informed Dante that people who continue to drink excessively often become addicted to alcohol.
Miss Johnson also explained the concept of binge drinking which she defined as follows: ingesting five or more drinks in one sitting for males and consuming four or more drinks in one sitting for females.
The Therapist Lists A Number Alcohol Dependency and Alcohol Abuse Statistics and Facts
Then Miss Johnson listed various alcohol facts and the following eight alcohol abuse statistics:
1. As shown in one study, nearly 11% of 8th-graders, 22% of 10th-graders, and 27% of 12th-graders stated that they engaged in abusive drinking.
2. Between 48% and 64% of the individuals who expire in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating inebriation.
3. Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to display delinquent behavior, substance abuse, and academic problems in both high school and middle school.
4. In the United States, more than 50% of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol-related.
5. In the U.S. among drivers between the ages of 15 and 20, fatal crashes involving a single vehicle at night are three times more likely to be related to alcohol than to other deadly crashes.
6. In the United States, more than 40 percent of the people who start drinking before the age of 13 will develop alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.
7. In the United States, by the time they are high school seniors, 80% of high school students have tried alcohol and 62% have been intoxicated.
8. Treatment for alcoholism has been demonstrated to decrease criminal activity up to 80% among chronic offenders, has decreased their homelessness, increased their rate of employment, and reduced their health care costs.
Dante Receives An Important Primer on the Facts Regarding the Long Term and the Short Term Outcomes of Youth Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse
After Miss Johnson conveyed the aforementioned alcohol abuse and alcoholism facts and statistics, it was obvious that what Miss Johnson disclosed to Dante was a wake up call for him. Why? Because for the first time in his young life, someone not only made the effort to go over the short term and the long term effects of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, but she also took the time to substantiate what she was saying with alcohol dependency and alcohol abuse statistics and facts that related to people in general, and especially to underage drinkers.
In actual fact, it was almost as if a light went on and Dante instantly understood why he should not be engaging in hazardous and abusive drinking with or without his friends any longer. Dante thanked Miss Johnson for her concern and for the information she presented.
Miss Johnson then asked Dante how he felt about getting a physical examination and an alcohol evaluation for the alcohol abuse or alcohol dependency rehabilitation he would probably need.
Dante thought about this for few minutes and then agreed to get a comprehensive physical exam and to go through a thorough assessment of his drinking behavior so that he could start an alcohol rehabilitation program in a reasonable time frame.
Filed under Health by on Sep 21st, 2009.