Parenting Daily

I’ve previously talked about the “monkey see, monkey do” principal in parenting, as well as the importance of being a good role model. In a study released by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration today, it is revealed that in youth ages 12-20 that had drank alcohol in the previous 30 days, 40% obtained it for free, from adults over the age of 21.

6.4% of those got it, for free, from their parents.

30% drank in their own homes.

The rate of drinking was highest at the extremes of the wealth spectrum (i.e., the poorest and the richest).

11% of 12 year olds in the survey had had alcohol. 85.5% of 20 year olds had.

Frankly, I feel like putting exclamation points after every finding that I’m typing. These numbers are blowing even me away and I’m pretty darn cynical at this point.

Being a parent, I hate to harp on “it’s the parents’ fault.” But there’s just simply too little accountability in many cases of parenting. Certainly not all.

Just, please, if you see your teen is developing a problem behavior or issue, look at yourself, too. I’m not saying BLAME yourself. But if you can identify where, perhaps, the problem is stemming from, you then have a clue as to how to help your teen heal the problem.

The full SAMHSA press release can be found here. A CNN summary can be found here.

And, for the punishment-hungry, the entire SAMHSA study can be dissected here.

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