As much as your teen can sometimes think they’re in charge, they’re not. You get to make the rules.

Make sure your child knows your family rules and give your teens a consistent no-use message regarding alcohol. Keep family rules up to date according to their development. You can refresh them when necessary.

Check in with your teens after they’ve been hanging out with friends or a different crowd than their usual one. Use your parental instinct to quickly and quietly check for anything unusual.

Knowing that you, their parent, disapprove of underage drinking is a key deterrent for teens and pre-teens, even if they won’t admit it!

Parental values and beliefs are part of their decision-making; use them to your advantage.

Keep Showing Up, They’re Still Growing Up.

Source: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/make-a difference-child-alcohol

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.