9 Tips Talking to Your Teens about Drinking + Giveaway

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“I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Influence Central for Anheuser-Busch’s Family Talk About Drinking Program. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.”

As a parent there are few topics that are hard to talk to our kids about, one of those topics is drinking. Talking to your teens about drinking can be a hard topic , but it doesn’t’ have to be difficult. Our jobs as parents is to make sure to keep our teens safe, and it’s our duty to have these hard talks with the kids to make sure that they aren’t only learning things from their peers.

Even though our kids homeschool, we still have the fear of peer pressure. That’s why we made sure to talk to all of our kids way before we ever thought things like sex, drinking, and drugs would be on the table for them. It’s really important to have these talks and to make sure at the same time the kids are mature enough to understand the talks. In one ear and out the other doesn’t do anyone any good!

There are great programs like the Anheuser-Busch Family Talking about Drinking program that helps parents with tips about talking to your kids about drinking. There was even a study from GfK Roper Youth Report that shows that parents still have the most amount of influence on teen’s decisions about alcohol. With a 24 percent increase in parents’ influence since 1991 that makes this mama feel so much better.

We’ve now had all the talks with our three teens/tweens and thank goodness they seem to have a good grip on drinking and how it can really affect their life.  That’s why we wanted to share with you guys what worked for our family. It doesn’t matter if you homeschool like we do, or if you have kids in public school, these are great tips to start talking to your kids about drinking, especially before they get to driving age.

9  Tips to Talking to Your Teens about Drinking

1. Have the talk early and often: Kids nowadays are starting to drink younger and younger. It’s important to talk to your kids about drinking early and often. You don’t want to sound like a broken record, but have age appropriate conversations even before they are teens. That way when they get older, they already know it’s really important to be responsible.

2. Practice What Your Preach: If you talk to your kids about designated drivers, make sure you practice what you preach. Show your kids that you are responsible and when you go out for a date night or with friends that you have a designated driver.

3. Don’t Make Alcohol Taboo: This is one of the biggest mistakes I think some people make. I am not saying let your kids have alcohol before 21, but showing them that it’s not this mysterious forbidden thing will help them wait until they are of age. Hubby and I drink in our home with meals, at times, and when the kids have questions we answer them.

4. Give Your Kids a Free Pass: Chances are kids are going to make mistakes. From a very early age, we’ve always told our kids that no matter where they are and whether they have been drinking or not if they call us to tell us they aren’t safe and need a ride home they have a free pass. This is NOT a free pass to drink, but to let them know their safety is more important than scolding them for making mistakes.

5. Talk When Your Kids are Focused and Calm: Trying to talk to your kids about the hard topics when everyone is upset is not the way to go. They will learn to resent you and not want to hear anymore about what you have to say. Do it when you have penciled in some alone time with the kids and allow them to ask questions too.

6. Coach, don’t preach with open ended questions:    The fastest way to get your teen to shut down is to start preaching at them. Asking open ended questions, makes the biggest difference. When they are tweens and teens, they are now at the age to make their own decisions. You are there to coach them how to make good decisions not to preach at them. Give them good information, answer their questions, and be there for them when they make their decisions; good or bad.

7. Don’t be afraid to not know the answers: Make sure you have places to look when you don’t know the answers to your child’s questions. Great websites like the >Family Talk about Drinking website are great resources to look at together.

8. Share Your Past Mistakes:   So many parents are afraid to tell their kids their  past mistakes. All of my kids know I started drinking at age 16. They also know all of the low self esteem, sickness, and sexual pressure that happened because of that. It helped my kids see that I did understand the pressures of being a teen, and that I am not perfect either.

9. Find Windows of Opportunity to Talk: When big events like prom or graduation come up, use these times to talk to your kids about being responsible. Hold them accountable for their actions, but let them know you stand by them and their safety is your most important priority.