I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Anheuser-Busch’s Family Talk About Drinking program. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation
It’s no secret, I officially have 2 teens now, and my oldest is driving! That also means my blog has been slowly changing its focus over the last few months. I feel that as my kids go through these teenage years I also need to start blogging about important teen issues. Trust me being a parent of a teen is a learning curve. I knew it was going to be a change but WOAH I didn’t know how big of a change I was in for.
As many of you know I was also picked to be apart of the Anheuser-Busch’s Family Talk About Drinking Ambassador Program. I shared with you great information on how to talk to your teens about underage drinking during prom season and all the end of the year parties. I was impressed with the emails I received thanking me for my posts. I also enjoyed hearing stories on how you all approached this important topic with your own teens.
Now that back to school season is upon us, and which means a lot of teens are going off to college without parent supervision, I wanted to take this time to remind parents to have that talk again! Let’s face it that means that they’re more open to doing things they know they shouldn’t do. They are now going to have newfound freedom and of course more peer pressure. We have all been there and done that when we were younger. We made our mistakes and hopefully we learned from them. As parents, we need to remember back to our college days! Yea, I bet your thinking about those late night parties and all the crazy mistakes you made.
So, this means this is the perfect time to talk to your teen about the under age drinking again before they start heading off to college. Underage drinking is one of the most important talks that you have with your teen no matter how many times you have had the talk before. You want them to know your expectations as their parents, and know the dangers and risk involved. Moving out does not free them from responsibilities, family values, expectations, and of course the law.
As parents, I feel we should take time to acknowledge positive choices and encourage our children, as he or she is moving in the right direction. This also means that as parents we need to make sure that even though we don’t see our teens daily that the lines of communication is open and that you are regularly checking in on your teen but also allowing them freedom as they are starting a new chapter in their lives.
So whether your teen is attending college, enlisting in the military or just moving out of the house please make sure to have this important talk again before they walk out that door. To learn more about how to speak to your teen about underage drinking go to “Family Talk About Drinking” Facebook page to download the Parent Guide today.
