Recent 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? Numerous chemical dependency specialists articulate that liquor, beer, and wine advertisements generated by the media are an essential reason for the spread of teen alcohol abuse.
Other alcohol dependency experts affirm that the increase in youth alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and ease of access of alcohol in our society.
Still other alcohol dependency specialists think that numerous teens engage in hazardous drinking because of the increased apprehension that they go through.
From a slightly different vantage point, because both parents in many families are employed, the lack of parental supervision indubitably has to play a key role in the spread of adolescent alcohol abuse. And last but not least, various alcoholism professionals think that the proliferation of teen alcohol abuse is due, in some way, to our lax society.
Alcohol Abuse and Coping Skills
One element of adolescent alcohol abuse that looks like it is poorly reported in the chemical dependency research findings, to the contrary, is the lack of educational programs that teach adolescents how to further develop their coping skills so that their dangerous drinking behavior is substantially lessened or exterminated.
Stated more precisely, science has revealed that there is an indirect correlation between poor coping skills and abusive drinking. In actual fact, this means that the poorer the coping skills, the higher the rate of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is a correct line of reasoning, why isn’t coping skills instruction a significant part of the educational core curriculum in all of our high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools?
A Society That Accentuates Teenage Coping Skills
Let us construct a scenario for the purpose of explanation. Let us imagine a society in which all individuals are taught how to achieve outstanding 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, people who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a more healthy and more rewarding way, contrary to others who are unsuccessful in their attempts to put their coping skills into action.
More precisely, students who display superior coping skills will be more able to think clearly and engage in superior decision making as opposed to teenagers who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to develop top quality coping skills, are drawn to the “quick fix” of abusive drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, moreover, if students not only got exclusive coping skills education but also got an outstanding education that focused on the short term and long term destructive costs associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more highly developed coping skills training, it is pronounced, would help teenagers stay away from the obvious attraction with underage drinking and, for that reason, would notably lessen the alcohol abuse shown by adolescents in our country.
Adolescent Hazardous Drinking: Conclusion
There are evidently many well thought-out reasons why so many of our adolescents drink in a risky manner. Such a tricky subject matter demands a thorough and relevant educational and preventative response by our politicians, parents, educators, and students so that our teenagers can learn how to cope with life’s difficulties in a more rewarding and accountable way rather than gravitating to harmful drinking behavior to solve their problems.
Tags: adolescent alcohol abuse, alcohol abuse facts, alcohol abuse statistics, teen alcohol abuse, teenage alcohol abuse, youth alcohol abuse
