The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) reports that although the percent of fulltime college students drinking has changed little since 1993, there is a marked increase in those who binge drink. Students are drinking more and more frequently—ten or more times per month, getting drunk two or three times a month CASA finds:
*HALF [49%] OF COLLEGE STUDENTS BINGE DRINK, and/or ABUSE PRESCRIPTION, ILLEGAL DRUGS
*NEARLY ONE IN FOUR MEET MEDICALCRITERIA FOR ALCOHOL, DRUG ABUSE AND
DEPENDENCE
In real numbers 3.8 million students are abusers. Most startling in those numbers: The percent of students, some 240,000, using prescription painkillers rose more than 300 percent. To read the full report: http://www.casacolumbia.org
There has been a lot of pressure on colleges to find ways to “fix” this growing problem, to curtail binge drinking which is defined as having five or more drinks at a time. While colleges hold a certain amount of responsibility, parents play a key role in stemming the alarming increase in binge drinking, the use of tranquilizers and other prescription drugs, and marijuana and cocaine. The younger you start educating and influencing your children, the better.
10 Preventive Steps Parents Can Take
The prevention of these college age abuses and of raising a child who becomes alcoholic or drug dependent or worse is an ongoing process in which parents should—and can--play an active role.
From my research in this area, I put together 10 significant points and actions parents can take, some beginning at the elementary school level and before:
- Monitor and moderate your own drinking and prescription drug use. You are your child’s—young, preteens, and teenagers alike—role model. In short, practice what you preach.
- Talk about the dangers of binge drinking and explain what it is.
- Emphasize the importance of slow, intelligent alcohol consumption and provide examples of addiction. Use current superstars who are in the news as examples of the disasters of addiction be they from alcohol or prescription or illegal drugs.
- Give your child choices in as many areas as possible having nothing to do with drug and alcohol use so he gets used to making his own decisions.
- Encourage and praise your child’s independent thinking and actions, i.e., not going along with the group.
- Talk about the dangers when you agree to do what others suggest or when friends pressure. Again, use examples from the news to make your point and do so frequently.
- As your children get older, make hard and fast rules about drinking—ones you insist they abide by. Hand out strong punishment when your rules are broken.
- Watch for behavioral changes in your child—difficulty sleeping, change in eating habits, less care in personal hygiene or grooming, or a change in friends.
- Know your child’s friends and friends’ parents. If you don’t feel good about some of his friend choices, take the time to find out why he likes or dislikes someone new.
- Be vigilant about where your child spends his time and with whom and about how much money she’s spending and from where she’s getting it. Don’t ever look the other way and make excuses because you can’t bear to think your child might be drinking or “borrowing” your pills.
Showing a keen interest may annoy an older child, but will go a long way in encouraging smart decisions about substance use when your child is away from home. As a parent, you can work to keep your son or daughter from being part of these frightening statistics. I hope you will.
Social psychologist and parenting expert, Susan Newman, specializes in issues impacting family life. She is the author of 13 books in the parenting and family fields including The Book of NO: 250 Ways to Say It—and Mean It and Stop People-Pleasing Forever (McGraw-Hill), Nobody’s Baby Now: Reinventing Your Adult Relationship with Your Mother and Father (Walker), the now classic, Little Things Long Remembered: Making Your Children Feel Special Every Day and Little Things Mean a Lot: Creating Happy Memories with Your Grandchildren (Random House/Crown); Parenting an Only Child: The Joys and Challenges of Raising Your One and Only (Doubleday/Broadway) and three books of preventing alcohol and drug abuse among children and young adults. For more details, go to www.thebookofno.com or www.susannewmanphd.com