Youth Alcohol Abuse: A Profound Issue
Friday, August 7th, 2009Alcohol abuse statistics reveal that alcohol abuse among adolescents is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? More than a few alcohol abuse specialists state that wine, liquor, and beer advertisements generated by the media are a major reason for the escalation of teenage alcohol abuse.
Other alcoholism professionals affirm that the increase in teen alcohol abuse is due to the toleration and ease of access of beer, liquor, and wine in our society.
Still other alcoholism professionals state that quite a few of our young people get involved in dangerous drinking due to the increased disquiet that they are subjected to.
From a somewhat different outlook, because both parents in quite a few families are employed, the lack of parental guidance certainly has to play a primary part in the rise in teen alcohol abuse. And as a final point, various alcoholism specialists affirm that the expansion of adolescent alcohol abuse is due, at least partially, to our “anything goes” society.
Coping Skills Education and Excessive Drinking
One component of adolescent alcohol abuse that looks like it is somewhat missing in the alcohol abuse research findings, conversely, is the absence of educational programs that teach teens how to further develop their coping skills so that their destructive drinking behavior is extensively lessened or eliminated.
More explicitly, science has illustrated the fact that there is an indirect connection between poor coping skills and hazardous drinking. For all intents and purposes, this means that the more mediocre the coping skills, the higher the rate of alcohol abuse. To the extent that this is a valid allegation , why isn’t coping skills training a significant part of the academic prospectus in all of our junior high schools, elementary schools, and high schools?
A Society That Accentuates Youth Coping Skills
Let us create a scenario for descriptive purposes. Let us imagine a society in which all individuals are taught how to develop sound coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their final year in high school.
In such a society, when life gets complicated, students who are ”coping skills experts” will be able to respond in a healthier and more successful manner, contrary to others who fail to put their coping skills into practice.
More to the point, students who show evidence of solid coping skills will be more able to think logically and show signs of superior decision making as opposed to adolescents who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to develop outstanding coping skills, resort to the “quick fix” of excessive drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, in addition, if students not only obtained extraordinary coping skills training but also received an extraordinary education that focused on the long term and short term harmful outcomes associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Such an emphasis on drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more advanced coping skills education, it is asserted, would help teenagers keep away from the apparent appeal related to teenage drinking and, as a result, would significantly diminish the dangerous drinking behavior shown by the youth in our country.
Adolescent Abusive Drinking: Conclusion
There are positively several convincing reasons why so many of our teenagers drink in a destructive manner. Such a thorny problem demands a far-reaching and more pertinent preventative and educational response by our educators, parents, politicians, and students so that our adolescents can learn how to cope with life’s difficulties in a more productive and accountable manner rather than resorting to risky drinking behavior to solve their problems.


