Teenage Alcohol Abuse: A Major Problem

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? More than a few alcoholism professionals state that wine, beer, and liquor advertisements generated by the media are a fundamental reason for the expansion of teenage alcohol abuse.

Other alcohol abuse professionals state that the increase in teenage alcohol abuse is due to the toleration and accessibility of beer, wine, and liquor in our society.

Still other alcohol abuse authorities articulate that more than a few of our adolescents engage in abusive drinking because of the increased apprehension that they feel.

From a slightly different point of view, due to the fact that both parents in more than a few families are employed, the lack of parental supervision indubitably has to play a key part in the expansion of youth alcohol abuse. And finally, diverse alcohol addiction consultants claim that the expansion of teen alcohol abuse is due, in some degree, to our lenient society.

Coping Skills Training and Abusive Drinking

One aspect of adolescent alcohol abuse that seems to be somewhat missing in the substance abuse research literature, to the contrary, is the nonexistence of educational programs that teach teenagers how to enhance their coping skills so that their harmful drinking behavior is radically diminished or exterminated.

Stated another way, scientific research has disclosed the fact that there is an indirect association between poor coping skills and hazardous drinking. In point of fact, this means that the worse the coping skills, the higher the prevalence of alcohol abuse. To the extent that this is a valid argument, why isn’t coping skills education a major part of the academic curriculum in all of our elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools?

A Society That Highlights Youth Coping Skills

Let us construct a scenario for descriptive purposes. Let us imagine a society in which students are taught how to develop solid coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their final year in high school.

In such a society, when life gets demanding, individuals who are ”coping skills experts” will be able to respond in a healthier and more productive manner, contrary to others who are unsuccessful in their attempts to execute their coping skills.

Stated more explicitly, students who demonstrate excellent coping skills will be more able to think logically and engage in first-class decision making as opposed to students who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to develop quality coping skills, resort to the “quick fix” of abusive drinking.

What would happen in the above “ideal” society, moreover, if teens not only got first-rate coping skills training but also got an extraordinary education that emphasized the long term and short term negative costs associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these types of drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more advanced coping skills education, it is affirmed, would help adolescents stay away from the clear appeal related to teenage drinking and, as a result, would significantly reduce the alcohol abuse displayed by teens in our country.

Youth Hazardous Drinking: Conclusion

There are obviously quite a few well thought-out reasons why so many of our teenagers drink in a dangerous manner. Such a thorny problem demands a thorough and more pertinent preventative and educational response by our politicians, students, educators, and parents so that our adolescents can learn how to cope with life’s difficulties in a more fruitful and accountable manner rather than gravitating to excessive drinking behavior to solve their difficulties.