Tools for parents who are looking for ways to help their children make healthy choices in their life.

Information for Parents

The Prevention Unit of Alcohol and Drug Services has a wide selection of pamphlets and resources to assist parents. Our services are confidential. We can talk with you on the phone, meet with you in our offices, or send you out an information package gathered to meet your specific needs. To find answers to your questions about alcohol, other drugs, and addictions please call us at 667-5777 or 1-800-661-0408 ext. 5777 from the communities. We would be pleased to help you find the information that you need.

Tips for Parents

Our children are important to us. And the positive efforts we put in now will pay off benefits in the future. Recognizing this, Prevention Services at Alcohol and Drug Services developed a series of ‘fast facts and helpful hints’ designed to support parents and caregivers in helping young people to grow up healthy. These tips were developed for schools to include in their newsletters that are sent home with students. Look for the tips in your child’s school letter, or take a look at them here.

These tips have been adapted from the Search Institute and the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Addiction Commission’s Parent Information Series.

A Quick Overview of the Publication

Reasons why youth use alcohol and/or drugs:

1. To Feel Grown Up
   Action Steps
   1. Don’t let our child become involved in your drinking by helping you mix a drink or getting you a beer.
   2. Try to be a good role model by drinking responsibly and in moderation and not engaging in any illegal, unhealthy, or dangerous drug use practices. Children, even at very early ages, imitate and are influenced by adult actions and behaviours.
   3. When possible, point out examples of irresponsible drinking or drug use and the consequences.
   4. Talk with your kids about media images and messages involving alcohol and drug use and what they mean.
2. To Fit in and Belong
   Action Steps
   
   1. Help your child deal with peer pressure.
   2. Help your child feel comfortable in social situations.
   3. Help your child build solid interpersonal relationships.
3. To Relax and Feel Good
   Action Steps
   1. You can teach children how to express their thoughts and feelings by using characters on TV.
   2. Many families use the dinner or supper hour as a time to share stories about events or to discuss current affairs.
4. To Take Risks and Rebel
   Action Steps
   1. Talk about risk taking and what it means.
   2. Determine your child’s needs.
   3. Make clear rules and enforce them with consistency and mild consequences.
5. To Satisfy Curiosity
   Action Steps
   1. Get the facts.
   2. Help your children get the facts.

Helpful Links for Parents

• BC's Here to Help
• NIDA Information for Parents & Teachers
• AARC - Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre
• Parents. The Anti-Drug
• Search Institute
• Parents Empowered

Delaying Age of First Alcohol Use

Adolescence – that’s what your kids are going through if they are between 10 and 20 years old. During this time many new things are happening to their bodies and brains – changes to help prepare them for life away from your family. Risk taking is adaptive to a certain extent and it helps adolescents to learn – to be curious, to feel grown up, to relax, to fit in. Unfortunately, alcohol sometimes plays a role in this risk taking.¹

Early Alcohol Use as a Predictor for Later Use

Although most young people that use drugs don’t get into problem use or dependency,² there is research indicating that drinking at an early age increases the risk of later alcohol abuse. Studies indicate that 40% of youth that drank before the age of 15 were likely to abuse or become dependent on alcohol later in life; this is four times the rate of those who started drinking at age 20 or later. Delaying the age of the first use of alcohol is an important goal in prevention of substance abuse.³

Alcohol’s Effect on the Brain

More than just as a predictor of substance abuse problems in later life, adolescent alcohol use has significant immediate consequences for youth. An adolescent’s brain is still being shaped and developed. Therefore, adolescents are more vulnerable than adults to many of the effects of alcohol, such as memory loss, brain damage, and altered brain development.⁴ The brain goes through a spurt of development in the teen years including a remodelling of the frontal lobes – where planning, decision-making, impulse control, memory, language, and attention occur. Binge drinking (excessive amounts of alcohol each time) negatively affects the central nervous system (CNS). Studies indicate that this repeated withdrawal (the hangover after each binge) can lead to long-lasting deficits, such as learning, memory and attention problems.⁵ This remodelling ability or brain “plasticity” decreases as we enter our adult years, making it difficult to undo any changes that developed in adolescence.⁶

What’s Happening with Yukon Youth?

In a 2004 Yukon Addiction Survey of the general population, of the 135 respondents between the ages of 15 and 24 who consumed alcohol in the past 12 months, 51% were involved in heavy drinking. This was broken down as follows:

• 21% were ‘heavy infrequent’ drinkers (binge of 5 or more drinks less than once a week)
• 30% were ‘heavy frequent’ drinkers (binge of 5 or more drinks once a week or more often)
• 35% were ‘light infrequent’ drinkers (less than 5 drinks once a week)
• 14% were ‘light frequent’ drinkers (less than 5 drinks once a week or more often).

What’s the Big Deal about Drinking?

In addition to the concerns related to increased potential to develop a substance abuse problem later in life and the effects on the developing adolescent brain, alcohol use is more likely to kill teens than all other illicit drugs combined. Traffic accidents are the number 1 killer of teens.⁷

Because your child is normally going through changes as they mature, it may be difficult to recognize some of the indicators that they may be using alcohol and/or drugs. The following are a list of some of the possible changes to watch for:

• Changes in school performance.
• Changes in attitudes toward sports and other activities.
• Changes in weight or physical appearance.
• Changes in eating or sleeping habits.
• Changes in friends.
• Changes in behaviour.⁸
• Wearing clothing with drug emblems.
• Collecting drug paraphernalia.
• Unusual chemical smells (solvent use).

For more information on signs and symptoms of adolescent alcohol or drug use, check out some of the ‘helpful links for parents’ listed below.

If you are concerned that your child may be experimenting with alcohol or drugs and would like more information, you can contact the Prevention Unit at Suite 101 – 204 Black Street, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A2M9. Telephone 667-5890 or toll free 1-800-661-0408 extension 5890.

References

1. White, A. M. (2004). Substance use and the adolescent brain: An overview with a focus on alcohol, 2004., Duke University Medical Center
2. Youth & Drugs and Mental Health – a resource for professionals. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health 2004. Accessed 09/05/2008
3. Grant, B. F., & Dawson, D. A. (1997). Age At Onset Of Alcohol Use And Its Association With DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: Results From the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey, Journal of Substance Abuse, 9, 103-110. Accessed 09/05/2008.
   Cited from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9494942
4. De Billis MD, Clark DB, Beers SR, et al. (2000). Hippocampal Volume in Adolescent–Onset Alcohol Use Disorders, American Journal of Psychiatry, May 2000; 157: 737-744. Accessed 09/05/2008
5. White, A. M. (2004) See reference 2
6. Vaccarino, F. (2007). Substance Abuse in Canada: Youth in Focus. Drug abuse, addiction and youth: a neuroscience perspective, Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. Accessed 08/05/2008
   http://www.ccsa.ca/Eng/KnowledgeCentre/OurPublications/Pages/default.aspx
7. Risks: The sobering truth about underage drinking. Accessed 20/03/2008
   parentsempowered.org/harms
8. Information for Parents, Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. Accessed 09/05/2008
   www.aadac.com/565_522.asp