7 Tips for Keeping Your Child Safe This Holiday Season

This is the season for coming together with family and friends to celebrate the holidays at parties and gatherings. It is also an excellent opportunity to remind your high school and college-aged students who are home for winter break about the risks and potential devastating consequences of underage and excessive drinking.

To help ensure that celebrations and your child’s time off from school are safe and enjoyable, Novato Blue Ribbon Coalition for Youth and Healthy Novato are offering parents 7 tips for keeping young people safe this holiday season.

Statistics

Nationwide, about 5,000 youth under 21 die each year as a result of underage drinking, including from motor vehicle crashes, alcohol poisoning, and unintentional injuries. Novato has unfortunately lost a number of young lives during recent years to alcohol-involved car crashes. Violence and victimization, damage to the developing brain, academic failure, and risky behaviors are among the numerous consequences of underage and excessive young adult (21 & over) alcohol use.

“As a parent, I know the risks are real.” said Jeannette Longtin, Senior Director of the Healthy Novato Project. “We encourage parents to serve as the first line of defense by taking steps that can have a real impact on preventing their child from using alcohol. Some parents think that allowing underage youth to drink at home in a supervised setting is safe but it in fact places their health and safety at risk. It also sends the message to youth that it is okay to drink alcohol before 21 and increases the likelihood that they will do so in unsupervised settings in the future."

When parents set clear rules about “no drinking before 21” and talk to their children about the risks of underage drinking, it significantly reduces the chance that youth will consume alcohol as a minor.

7 Tips

1) Make time for conversations:  Open a conversation with your teen about the risks of underage drinking or your young adult child (21&over) about the importance of responsible drinking.  Be willing to listen, state your views, and set limits. It is your right and responsibility as a parent to have these important conversations with your child.

2) Set clear “no alcohol use before 21” rules and don’t relax your rules just because it’s the holiday season:  Teens need limits and close monitoring. You may need to re-emphasize expectations about alcohol use with college students returning home. If your child is over 21, it is okay to remind them about responsible drinking behavior and NOT supplying any alcohol to minors.

3) Ensure alcohol won’t be served at teen parties your child attends:  Check in with the parents of your teen’s friends, even though this may be unpopular with your son or daughter. When your child goes out, remember… you are still on-call. Be available to provide a ride home or attend to an urgent situation if something unexpected happens.

4) Make sure you or another adult actively and visibly supervises gatherings of youth in your home: Unsupervised teens are at risk for alcohol use. Teens report that they most often get alcohol from home. Be aware and present during gatherings at your house. If you leave home for a night of celebration, lock-up alcohol and clearly state what behaviors are expected of your teen. If possible, have another adult stop by to check in with your child and check in by phone.

5) Recognize that you are your child’s most important role model: If you drink, model responsible drinking behavior and always designate a driver when you go out. Never let someone drive away from your home intoxicated. “Parents should be aware of their own alcohol consumption and ability to drive. If parents aren’t able to get behind the wheel, call someone who can,” states Lieutenant Jennifer Welch, Novato Police Department.

6) Supervise your own parties:  If you host parties for adults in your home and plan to serve alcohol:

• Be clear with guests that youth under 21 are NOT allowed to drink.
• Keep alcohol in a designated area and make sure an adult monitors and serves the alcohol.
• Keep a clear head so you can monitor youth and make sure they do not access alcohol.
• Dispose of unfinished drinks down the sink drain.
• Take steps to prevent alcohol from being the main attraction. Offer plenty of food, non-alcoholic drinks, and activities or games.