Recent alcohol abuse statistics reveal that alcohol abuse among teens is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? More than a few alcohol dependency experts affirm that liquor, beer, and wine advertisements brought into being by the media are a fundamental reason for the rise in teen alcohol abuse.
Other alcohol addiction professionals state that the increase in adolescent alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and ease of access of liquor, beer, and wine in our society.
Still other alcohol dependency authorities articulate that quite a few of our teens engage in alcohol abuse due to the increased stress that they undergo.
From a slightly different standpoint, since both parents in more than a few families work, the lack of parental guidance certainly has to play a key part in the spread of youth alcohol abuse. And last of all, a variety of substance abuse experts affirm that the proliferation of teenage alcohol abuse is due, at least partially, to our “anything goes” society.
Coping Skills and Abusive Drinking
One aspect of teenage alcohol abuse that looks as if it deficient in the chemical dependency research literature, however, is the lack of educational courses that teach teenagers how to enhance their coping skills so that their harmful drinking behavior is fundamentally decreased or gotten rid of.
More explicitly, scientific research has shown that there is an indirect relationship between poor coping skills and excessive drinking. In actual fact, this means that the worse the coping skills, the higher the incidence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is an accurate affirmation, why isn’t coping skills instruction a major part of the educational prospectus in all of our junior high schools, elementary schools, and high schools?
A Society That Highlights Adolescent Coping Skills
Let us create a scenario for the purpose of explanation. Let us imagine a society in which all people are taught how to achieve solid coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their senior year in high school.
In such a society, when life gets demanding, students who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a healthier and more rewarding manner, as opposed to others who fail to put their coping skills into practice.
More precisely, students who show evidence of good coping skills will be more able to think logically and show signs of excellent decision making as opposed to teens who, because they lack quality coping skills, are attracted to the “quick fix” of excessive drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, moreover, if students not only got top quality coping skills instruction but also received a top shelf education that underscored the long term and short term devastating consequences associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more advanced coping skills training, it is pronounced, would help adolescents steer clear of the noticeable appeal associated with underage drinking and, as a result, would notably reduce the excessive drinking behavior displayed by adolescents in our country.
Teenage Hazardous Drinking: Conclusion
There are clearly more than a few compelling reasons why so many of our teenagers drink in a hazardous manner. Such a thorny predicament demands a thorough and more applicable educational and preventative response by our politicians, parents, educators, and students so that our youth can learn how to cope with life’s problems in a more fruitful and accountable way rather than gravitating to dangerous drinking behavior to solve their difficulties.
Tags: adolescent alcohol abuse, alcohol abuse facts, alcohol abuse statistics, teen alcohol abuse, teenage alcohol abuse, youth alcohol abuse
