RISKY TEEN BEHAVIORS: What Parents Can Do To Reduce the Risk Factors With Teens
Posted: October 12th, 2007 by Michele Borba
REALITY CHECK: This week I’ve been writing about risky teen behaviors: Steroid use in tweens. Binge drinking in younger kids (7% of fourth graders are drinking!). Online gambling addiction. The Choking Game. Cough and cold medication. Have you talked to your kids about any of these risky behaviors? Please take these seriously.
Yesterday a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel called me for an interview. A twelve year old boy had died that week in Florida. He was found by his father with a karate belt around his neck. The child had been playing the choking game. The reporter said he had read my blog and every warning sign fit this case. Another tragedy! The father was only 10 yards from the boy in another room and didn’t realize what was happening. He was a paramedic who could not save his child. Unfortunately that is generally the case.
70 percent of the time kids die from these activities they do so in their own bedrooms. Sixty percent of the time a parent is in the home.
Can parents make a difference? You bet they can.
One of the most promising studies I’ve read as I was researching this for NBC was a CASA study. It found that those teens with “HANDS-OFF” parents were at four times greater risk of drinking, smoking, and using illegal drugs as teens with “Hands-On” parents. And what’s a hands-on parent? One who establishes a household culture of rules and expectations for their teen’s behavior and monitors what their teen does (such as the TV shows they watch, the CDs they buy, what they access on the Internet and where they are evenings and weekends.
In fact, if a parent was more of a PAL to their kid than a PARENT, the teen’s risk taking increased.
Read the study please, http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/01/02/CASA_survey.html
Here are a few more things parents can do to reduce the risk factors with their teens.
* Get educated. Learn as much as you can about the signs of abuse. Awareness is power!
* Start early. Studies show that kids are starting these risky behaviors as young as nine years old. Talk about these risky issues using age-appropriate information and teachable-type moments.
* Create an open atmosphere. Your kids need to feel safe to ask you questions on any subject. Even if you haven’t heard of these activities, chances are your kids have.
* Spread your values. Let your kids know where you stand on these risky behaviors and why.
* Talk with other parents. Start a coalition to stop the potential for abuse.
* Be a hands on parent. Know what your kids are doing, who they are hanging around with and which Internet sites and TV shows they watch. Monitor their comings and goings.
* Teach real ways to say no. Kids say they want to know how to avoid peer pressure, but also say that “Just Say No” doesn’t work. Arm your child with an arsenal of peer pressure strategies.
* Monitor those bedrooms. Know where your kids are!
Remember, 70% of the time kids engage in these risky behaviors they are doing so in your homes. Get to know your kid’s friends and their parents as well.
All the best!
Michele Borba
www.micheleborba.com
