Overly Tipsy Teens

In our adulthood, we are expected to maintain a certain level of decorum and willpower when it comes to alcohol consumption, but the glaring facts show that we don't always do. What's more is that we often let our drunkenness spill over in the home in front of our children, who are yearning for adult examples of how to behave and react. This isn't a good precedent to set in the least and the fact remains that we are seeing the evidence of this poor influence in our pre-adolescents and teens today. Our kids have been looking on and absorbing the messages we send to them personally as well as the messages that are being transmitted to them through pop culture media. It would seem that drinking and getting drunk are glorified as rites of passage and as coping mechanisms and our children have been lapping up these messages for some time.

Parents are also in staunch denial about what age their children start experimenting with alcohol. While some feel it happens in their mid or late teens that truth is kids are now experimenting in their early teens, by the age of twelve. There have been reports of children reaching full blown alcoholism by the age of thirteen. These facts are both startling and upsetting and they are the reason that so many rehabilitation programs are now catered too or developed around the special needs of young alcoholics. One of the most beneficial developments in treating alcoholism in children and young adults is the establishment of residential treatment centers.
Teenagers cannot be treated the same way in which adult alcoholics are treated - that type of treatment doesn't translate very well. It has been proven however that children and teenagers benefit from, the structure and stability of a live in environment when it comes to treatment. It is a great way to implement the changes that need to occur in a young alcoholic's lifestyle pattern with positive reinforcement. Residential treatment is more than just inpatient treatment as the young adult will be living full time at the facility. They will learn certain life lessons and responsibilities that tie through the treatment of their addiction into their everyday lives. Some parents are averse to fulltime living treatment and they consider it to be too harsh an option for younger teens and this may be true. Some alcoholic teens do benefit from strictly outpatient or in patient treatment. It must be reiterated whoever that not all levels of addiction are the same and even with alcoholism, the circumstances surrounding it are individual to the individual.

The process of living in and receiving treatment comprises several different things that all strive to help the young adult overcome their addiction and be able to reclaim their life and youth, moving on to adult hood successfully. They will learn living skills, how to do their own laundry, cook their own food and cook for others as well as how to maintain themselves and their surroundings to a livable standard. They will also learn the benefits of communication when they are having problems so that they don't feel the need to turn to alcohol as a buttress.

 Image: OVERLY TIPSY TEENS PHOTO

 Source: thescottishsun.com