Parent Talk / May 2007
Death by Drinking
Two days before the Virginia Tech deaths, another college student, a sophomore, died alone when she was struck by a train Saturday night. Her blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
Beth Speidel, a speech pathology major at Miami University in Ohio, was twenty years old. She will never reach the legal drinking age.
There’s no evidence of foul play, no indication the crossing barrier, flashing lights or alarm bells weren’t working. She was drunk, and after an evening drinking with friends, a little after 1 am, she walked away from campus and into the path of fifty-three car freight train traveling 35 miles an hour. She is survived by her parents and two brothers.
There is little parents can do to protect their children from crazy strangers armed with automatic weapons. And, once a child enters college and starts building an independent life, parents can’t physically oversee their offspring’s activities.
They can, however, reduce the odds of losing their child in a senseless alcohol related death.
It isn’t easy.
The average age for first trying alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls. The average age that Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9 years old. More than ten million current US drinkers are between 12-20. More than 80 per cent of high school seniors have used alcohol and over 62 per cent have been drunk.
Young people have easy access to alcohol. Posing as underage buyers, researchers were able to purchase alcohol all across the US, no questions asked, at least 50 per cent of the time.
Girls are beginning to drink at younger ages. In the 1960s, just seven percent of 10- to 14-year-old girls used alcohol. By the early 1990’s, that figure had risen to 31 per cent. Nearly one of every five teenagers has experienced black outs from heavy or binge drinking, and been unable to remember w hat happened the previous evening.
Even though drinking under age 21 is illegal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 45 percent of teenagers drink alcohol. Of those who drink, 64 percent admit to binge drinking.
It isn’t the morality or legality of underage drinking parents must worry about. It’s the mortality. Alcohol is a factor in the four leading causes of death for ages 10 to 24: motor-vehicle crashes, unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. Alcohol is the leading factor in the three leading causes of death for 15 to 24-year-olds: automobile crashes, homicides and suicides.
For young women, alcohol adds another dimension to the danger. Estimates range from 30 per cent to over 60 per cent of sexual assault, acquaintance rape or “date” rape cases of teens and college students involve alcohol.
They may doubt it, but parents remain the greatest influence over their children’s behavior. Media and peers play a role, but parental influence is critical and parents can maximize that influence.
Talk is cheap-and effective. Parents must clearly state what actions they expect their teen to take when confronted with alcohol. Teens who know what parents expect from them are much less likely to use alcohol.
Parents should talk to their children about the drinking they see in everyday life, by adults, friends, other kids, or in the media. Parents need to make it clear how they want their children to handle alcohol. Children with controlled exposure are able to learn the rules of acceptable use.
Parents can help teens find leisure activities and places for leisure activities that are alcohol-free. For teenagers at home, parents need to be parents, keeping track of where, with whom, and what their teen is doing after school and during free time. College students have access to pubs or bars on and near campus, but students have other options and parents should encourage them.
Parents should talk frankly about the dangers associated with alcohol use. Discussion of the negative possibilities - rape, death, unintended pregnancy, permanent injury, a lifetime of grief for parents - does have on decisions kids make. It’s important to emphasize that alcohol clouds judgment and makes someone more likely to be harmed in other ways.
With easy access to alcohol, the friendly camaraderie of drinking, homesickness, pressure to succeed and the stress of a new environment, college students can quickly make alcohol consumption a daily or weekend habit.
Kids know an occasional beer won’t kill them. But parents must make certain their student understands that consuming five or more drinks in a row is incredibly dangerous. Beth Speidel is just one of too many lovely young woman who have found the consequences devastating. PL
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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