Alcohol

Parents: Does your teen drink? Do you let your teen drink? Do you think your teen has a serious drinking problem? Do you have a drinking problem?

Teens: Do your parents have a drinking problem? Do your parents let you drink? Do you have a drinking problem?

Parents and teens, use this post to discuss alcohol abuse and underage drinking.

I drank alot when I was in highschool and underage. I hated school because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I had a bit of social anxiety and nervousness around big groups although I enjoyed some popularity. I excelled at art and music, I didn't have problems with girls or sports. I just felt that I wasn't heading in any sort of direction. Not to brag, but sometimes I felt, and still do, that I was a jack of all trades and master of none. When you have no direction or goals that can be a very confusing and somewhat depressing place to be.
The one thing that I found I was really good at and made me feel good doing it, was drinking. I was small. Around 100 lbs, but could drink bottles of liquer without flinching. I was the life of the parties. I had girls hanging on my every word, I had guys cheering me on. I was a master of my realm.

I got caught when I came home one morning from an "inocent sleep over" hung over. Like many parents, mine thought it was a one time thing and that this hangover would teach me a lesson. Yeah right! Because the trusted me and I wasn't a trouble maker by any means, they didn't quite let the hammer fall. After a couple of years of partying a couple of times a week and not getting caught it had turned into a big problem.

After I came home one night drunk as a skunk and soaking wet from a midnight swim with my clothes still on, the hammer did fall. I was severely punished and lectured and convinced to spill the beans on all the details of my drinking. After the shock wore off and speaking with my pediatrician PEDIATRICIAN!, I was enrolled in out patient drug and alcohol counceling. It was here that I learned what a true "burn out" was like. These people were complete idiots. They couldn't keep from lighting a joint in the freezer while working at the Captain D's. I finally saw that drugs and alcohol could be a problem. For me, the doctor said I was probably a few parties away from developing alcoholism. Looking back at it, I probably was. But at the time I didn't think of it as a problem. I knew that I could stop at any time and that it wasn't a crutch. If I had kept going perhaps I would have felt differently. Luckily it didn't get that far.
I decided that it was time for me to quit. I became more aware of my life and how I affected the people around me. Imediatly my family life changed. I talked to my parents. And the shocking thing was, I kept most of the same friends. We all decided to do different things on weekends.

You can try to figure out what was the driving force behind me quiting, I still do. Was it my parents who forced me into the counseling? Was it the Counseling itself? Was it the burn outs at the hostpital? Was it a personal decision? I think it was a combination of all of them. I opened my eyes to how it much it hurt my mother, how much it effected my attitude and outlook on life. I realized that I couldn't live like that forever. I'm glad I did.
Now parents, don't think that I got away with evrything or that my parents were push overs. When I look back at this as a parent myself now, it scares me to know that if I could sneak this by MY parents, how will I notice a problem with my son when he's a teenager?! My parents were very involved disciplinarians. If there is a manual on parenting written by God somewhere out there, my parents must have followed it.

I hope that the posts here will help both teens and parents talk about alcohol abuse and under age drinking. For example, I still enjoy drinking beer. Sometimes before football games I enjoy it a little too much. I'm not against drinking but I want teenagers to understand what it can do to their lives. It was hard for me to talk to my parents and I'm sure it was hard for thenm to talk to me. Hopefully because these aren't your teens and these aren't your parents, you can learn something from each other.