Talking with your child about how to avoid drinking underage puts LOVE INTO ACTION
Talking with your child about how to avoid drinking underage puts LOVE INTO ACTION.

Show your child there’s no wrong time to talk. Checking in and communicating is a way to show you care about their health and love them.
- Build your child’s skills for refusing a drink if offered. It takes time. Take time to talk often instead of saving it all up.
- Having a plan and knowing what to say in any situation can ease anxiety. Spend time going over a plan before it even has a chance to happen.
- Not drinking alcohol underage is part of a bigger picture of healthy child development.
Parents show love to children in many ways. Building up their confidence and skills to say no to underage drinking is important in teaching them to advocate for themselves.
Funded in whole or in part by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration.
Talking to Your Kids
Starting the Discussion About Drug and Alcohol Use with Your Kids
Parents face a tough dilemma about substance use: we may want our children to abstain from alcohol and drug use but what do we do if they are not? Besides the effects of substance use on the developing brain, teens using substances may face very serious consequences.