They say that teenage period is the most complicated, and well, it is. There are so many thoughts and emotions all mixed in one teenage head that no surprise it starts to spin round at times. It is a trying time when a young parson learns to form own opinions and guide with own principles (or better to choose whether to follow others or to go own way). But this period is one of a hardship for parents as well. Rare parents have lived through it without troubles and strain. And in the list of teenage problems the one of drinking is not the last (together with smoking, drugs and drunken driving).
What makes teenagers choose this path? Why do they choose alcohol? This is not something one can consciously desire and long for, something that one would willingly plan. But nevertheless there are reasons for early teenage alcoholism and not even one; sometimes they may seem trifling to adults but it is definitely not so for teenagers.
Among the most common reasons is the parents’ example. If in a family a mother and a father have a habit to rely on a bottle there is no guarantee that a child will not follow their path. Parents are examples for imitation and a child learns from them what is good and what is bad; they set patterns of behaviour and frequently children stick to them. So, if a father or a mother finds solace from the troubles in alcohol, then, perhaps, there is something in it, a teenager thinks, and seeks it there too.
Another reason for teenage drinking is imitation. Or better to say the desire not to be rejected and accepted into this or that group or some subculture. For a teenager his or her peers’ opinion and judgment is extremely important; a class or a band what a teenager mingles with represents a referential group which opinion and rules have influence. Therefore if drinking and partying is intrinsic and welcome there and a teenager wants to be accepted he or she will probably follow the general pattern and start drinking. It is considered cool and a teenager who is doing like the rest will not feel rejected. This fact is essential as well as the other that teenagers often underestimate the force of the habit they form.
A very essential reason of drinking (and not just teenage) is a desire to escape the rough and tough reality. When it concerns teenagers the latter may feel tired of all the varied experience they get from life, often cruel and unjust, that they seek escape and find it – temporary but nevertheless effective. That is also why many teenagers turn to drugs as well.
Some parents just underestimate the force of effect that relationship problems can produce on a teenager. Some of these parents were happy enough not to know and the rest seem to forget how unreturned love feels. And they are mistaken here because such strong feelings and disappointments can lead far and cause such a pain that alcohol seems be quite to the point turning everything into a blur and saving from the cruel reality.
The worst thing about it all is that a teenager does not really realize that he or she becomes addicted. The habit forms quite soon; it can start from weekends with beer and then grow into every evening with beer and eventually lead to a condition when a person starts to feel addiction, when he or she actually needs alcohol regularly. Alcoholism is dangerous in any age but for a teenager it is twice as dangerous – this is the very age when the future is forming.
That is why it is important for the parents to check unobtrusively on their kids and be abreast of all the youngsters’ activities. The best way to do it is to be friends with own children otherwise you will never know your child’s real thoughts and opinions. Remember that teenagers need guidance but not in the way you, perhaps, understand it. Be careful about the way you speak and the things you ask and the things you require; do not humiliate; remember yourself in this age and do not repeat the mistakes of your parents.