On any given Friday during the school year, social media lights up about the upcoming weekend events and parties. Word spreads quickly and plans are excitedly made.
On Monday, stories are told of where students went over the weekend and what they did. Often the stories that are perpetuated are the ones where there were drinking and wild, dangerous or, at best, sketchy things that happened. Because these are the stories that tend to be repeated over and over, it often is perceived that “everyone” was there and “everyone” was drinking.
Misperceptions are created through these types of stories. Teens actually think that most of their peers party and drink. Teens who do not drink alcohol often start drinking because they feel pressured to fit in with what they think is the norm. This is why it is so important that everyone knows that MOST teens in Gwinnett County do NOT drink alcohol. In the latest youth survey conducted in Gwinnett, only 19% of 9-12th grade students reported that they drank alcohol in the last 30 days.
These misperceptions are not just among students. In a recent survey conducted among parents and other adults in Gwinnett, 75% of the respondents believed that a majority of teens in the county had a drink of alcohol in the last 30 days. This means that parents and other adults believe that a LOT more teens are drinking than really are. They also believe that most parents of teens let them drink at home and allow them to go to parties where alcohol will be served. The fact is that among the teens in Gwinnett who drank in the past month, only about half of them said their parents allowed them to drink at home. That means that about 90% of the teens in Gwinnett have parents who do NOT let them drink at home. Parents and other adults should know that the norm in Gwinnett is NOT allowing underage drinking.
While this is good news, it’s important to note that youth who drink usually do so at their homes or at the homes of friends. These parents may believe that allowing their teens to drink at home will result in more responsible, lower risk drinking behaviors. The opposite is true. It actually encourages alcohol use. Research shows that allowing adolescents to drink alcohol under adult supervision leads to more drinking and more alcohol-related consequences.
We all need to share the truth about youth and alcohol use. The majority of our youth choose NOT to drink alcohol, and MOST parents do not allow their teens to drink at home and/or go to parties where alcohol is served. To those parents, we say a big THANK YOU… for being parents and NOT bartenders!
By getting the word out, we can correct the misperceptions that lead some teens to feel that they have to drink to fit in and make some parents think they have to allow it.
Interested in prevention and want to get involved? Check out what GUIDE is doing for Red Ribbon Week 2014 and join the action: http://bit.ly/31daysofred.
Keeping Connected 