by Joan Inong

Created on: August 19, 2009

Parents have a responsibility towards their children to talk about alcohol and its negative effects and consequences. If you have a teen, it is important that you take the time to speak with him or her about alcohol use and abuse. To make it easier for you and your teen, the following tips may help:

1. Comfortability

Make the situation as comfortable as possible. Talk to your teen when he or she has the time, and always ask in a nice, even or neutral tone. For instance, do not say, "I want to talk to you about why alcohol is bad." Instead, make it an open discussion in which your child can also voice his or her opinions about the topic. Treat it as if you were talking about sex. Say: "I would like us to have a discussion about alcohol. What is your take on this important subject?"

2. Seriousness

Make the conversation as serious as possible, since alcohol is a serious subject. If your teen begins to make jokes, immediately stop him or her, but do not berate him or her. The point of this conversation is to make your teenager as comfortable as possible with talking to you. This can open your relationship further, strengthen your bonds, and allow you to talk about alcohol much more in the future. This way, if your teenager does make the decision to use alcohol, he or she might be open about it.

3. Research

Do not do your research beforehand. If you do all the work yourself, your teen probably won't benefit much from the information that you do glean. So, after you have sufficiently talked about alcohol, you can then begin to sit at the computer together and look for information about alcohol. Look for statistics and real-life experiences. What does your teen say about these facts? What do you think about these facts? Can you reconcile your differing (if not similar) opinions?

4. Talk about it often

Don't have a long-winded talk about alcohol the first time you bring the subject up. Instead, make sure that you talk about it on at least a monthly basis. Remind your teen about the talk that you have had, and ask him or her about any changes that he or she would like to talk about. This keeps you informed about your teen's decisions.

The more comfortable your teenager is talking to you, the better your relationship will be. And, a strong relationship is often needed when parents and their children talk about a subject like alcohol.

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