October 18, 2009
Adolescent Alcohol Abuse: A Profound Problem
Recent alcohol abuse statistics reveal that alcohol abuse among teenagers is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Quite a few alcohol abuse specialists affirm that liquor, wine, and beer ads constructed by the media are a major reason for the expansion of teen alcohol abuse.
Other alcohol abuse experts claim that the increase in youth alcohol abuse is due to the toleration and ease of access of wine,liquor, and beer in our society.
Still other alcoholism experts claim that numerous teenagers engage in injurious drinking due to the increased tension that they live through.
From a somewhat different point of view, because both parents in more than a few families are employed, the lack of parental guidance clearly has to play a fundamental part in the escalation of teenage alcohol abuse. And lastly, diverse alcohol addiction authorities argue that the spread of adolescent alcohol abuse is due, in some measure, to our laissez-faire society.
Coping Skills Education and Hazardous Drinking
One element of teen alcohol abuse that seems to be poorly reported in the alcohol dependency research literature, on the other hand, is the insufficiency of educational programs that teach teens how to further develop their coping skills so that their excessive drinking behavior is notably reduced or eliminated.
Stated more precisely, science has made obvious the fact that there is an indirect link between poor coping skills and hazardous drinking. Fundamentally, this means that the worse the coping skills, the greater the incidence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is an accurate proclamation, why isn’t coping skills training a primary part of the academic core curriculum in all of our elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools?
A Society That Emphasizes Teenage Coping Skills
Let us create a scenario for explanatory purposes. Let us imagine a society in which all individuals are trained how to achieve superior coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their final 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 healthier and more creative manner, as opposed to others who are unsuccessful in their attempts to put their coping skills into operation.
Stated more explicitly, students who demonstrate high-quality coping skills will be more able to think clearly and demonstrate first-class decision making as opposed to students who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to learn outstanding coping skills, are drawn to the “quick fix” of hazardous drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, additionally, if teenagers not only received exclusive coping skills instruction but also obtained a top quality education that focused on the short term and long term harmful outcomes 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 declared, would help students keep away from the apparent allure of teen drinking and, for that reason, would notably reduce the risky drinking behavior undertaken by teens in our country.
Teen Risky Drinking: Conclusion
There are indubitably numerous well thought-out reasons why so many of our teenagers abuse alcohol. Such a thorny subject matter demands an all-inclusive and more pertinent preventative and educational response by our parents, students, politicians, and educators so that our teenagers can learn how to cope with life’s predicaments in a more rewarding and responsible manner instead of resorting to abusive drinking behavior to solve their difficulties.
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