{"id":19726,"date":"2025-07-26T17:31:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T16:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=19726"},"modified":"2025-10-21T20:51:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:51:55","slug":"underage-drinking-prevention-5-essential-strategies-every-parent-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/07\/underage-drinking-prevention-5-essential-strategies-every-parent-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Underage drinking prevention: 5 essential strategies every parent needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo: Jimmy Dean \/\/ Unsplash<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Parents are the No. 1 influence in their child’s life and in their decisions regarding alcohol, making early conversations and clear expectations essential for keeping kids safe<\/span><\/h4>\n

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah \u2014 Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in helping kids stay safe from alcohol and other drug use. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends talking to kids about\u00a0underage drinking as early as age 9<\/a>. Kids are making up their minds about alcohol between the ages of 9 and 13. If your child is older, it\u2019s never too late to start the discussion. Often, though, we don\u2019t know where to begin. Here are some ideas and resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

Know the harms<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Research from the National Library of Medicine indicates that alcohol can harm the developing brain, impairing memory, learning, and judgment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have fun together<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When you spend quality time with your child, you build strong bonds \u2013 this creates trust between you and your child so that they come to you and\u00a0you can talk with them<\/a>\u00a0about the difficult things in life, like underage drinking and drug use.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set clear expectations<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Parents Empowered reports<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cMost children naturally become more independent as they mature. Yet parental involvement drops by half between the 6th and 12th grades when kids need their parents\u2019 help most to stay alcohol-free. Parents are the No. 1 influence in their child\u2019s life and in their decisions regarding alcohol, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge parents to be clear with their children that underage drinking and drug use are never acceptable, especially not in their own home,\u201d says Betty Morin, Substance Abuse Prevention Program Specialist at Summit County Health Department. \u201cChildren should also know what to do if they find themselves in a risky situation.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Keeping your kids in a safe, alcohol-free environment is essential because we know that the folks we hang out with influence our choices. Brainstorm ways for your child to have fun with their friends without using substances, encourage them to avoid situations where there might be drugs or alcohol, and never allow underage use in your own home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Teach refusal skills<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You can practice \u201crefusal skills\u201d with your child by role-playing different situations and helping them say \u201cno\u201d in various ways. They can change the subject, suggest an alternative activity, create an excuse, or even walk away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Be a safe place for your child. Let them know that they could text or call you if they\u2019re in a situation where drugs or alcohol are present and that you will pick them up. It\u2019s even a great idea to have a safe word with your child that they can call, say the word, and they know you\u2019re on your way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Be involved in your child\u2019s life<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to setting expectations, parents can foster safety by getting to know their child\u2019s friends and their families, attending school events, staying engaged with their child\u2019s online activities, and consistently enforcing agreed-upon rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/townlift.com\/2025\/07\/underage-drinking-prevention-5-essential-strategies-every-parent-needs\/<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Jimmy Dean \/\/ Unsplash Parents are the No. 1 influence in their child’s life and in their decisions regarding alcohol, making early conversations and clear expectations essential for keeping kids safe SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah \u2014 Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in helping kids stay safe from alcohol and other drug use. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,62,64,19,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alcohol","category-education","category-health","category-usa","category-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20097,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19726\/revisions\/20097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}