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Strollerderby
Will banning Mike's Hard Lemonade help curb teen drinking? I doubt it.
Remember the days when you would walk down the street, grab a cool summery drink and have a nice smoke? Well, smoking is banned in parks and on beaches as of this past Monday. And if NYC lawmakers have their way, you won’t be able to get an alcoholic drink at your local deli either.
Technically, the drinks they want banned are called “alcopop” and they are premixed, carbonated, flavored malt drinks with alcohol content as high as 12 percent. You might recognize them more as Mike’s Hard Lemonade, or simply wine coolers.
In a world where there’s a drug available to treat everything from thinning eyelashes to erectile dysfunction, it’s no surprise to learn that some kids are growing up believing that the answer to all their problems can be found in a bottle. And according to a report released by the Partnership for a Drug Free America, girls are particularly vulnerable to the “drugs make everything better” mentality. Continue reading »
Researchers have some good news and some bad news for parents who are concerned about underage drinking. The bad news is that despite your warnings, your kids are probably going to try alcohol at some point. The good news is that depending upon your parenting style, you may have some sway when it comes to how much they drink. Continue reading »
When my daughter was in the middle of her rebellious teen years and worrying me to distraction, I sought out the advice of a professional. A therapist who specialized in family matters told me to just get used to it. Adolescents, he explained, had brains that were not fully developed in the areas which control impulsivity. In particular, the all-important working memory function that should kick in and prevent reckless behavior wouldn’t fully mature until sometime in her twenties.
In this case, he was right. She survived all manner of bad decisions and settled down sometime around age 23. But a recent study out of Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia suggests that the immature brain development theory doesn’t always hold true when it comes to explaining adolescent risk-taking. Continue reading »
There is no shortage of good reasons to discourage underage kids from drinking alcohol. Besides being illegal, teen drinking is dangerous and often leads to risky behavior. Research has indicated that early exposure to alcohol can impact brain development and increase the risk of addiction. Underage drinking is responsible for thousands of deaths each year and increases the risk of suicide in teens. The list goes on and on.
But if all that doesn’t convince your young daughter to abstain, perhaps this will: Underage drinking can mess up her breasts. Continue reading »
A big picture of a baby drinking a beer might turn heads, but is it really going to make teenagers stop drinking?
Connecticut State Police officers think a billboard with a boozing baby and the words “You wouldn’t do this then . . . why now” is going to turn teens into teetotalers. Continue reading »
I confess ignorance on this vital piece of info for boozing parents: Wisconsin is one of the few states left where little kids can drink in bars as long as their parents are present.
But that may be about to end. Continue reading »
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