Recent alcohol abuse statistics reveal that alcohol abuse among teenagers is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Many chemical dependency experts assert that beer, liquor, and wine ads generated by the media are a primary reason for the rise in teen alcohol abuse.

Other alcoholism specialists declare that the increase in teen alcohol abuse is due to the toleration and convenience of wine, beer, and liquor in our society.

Still other alcohol addiction experts affirm that numerous adolescents involve themselves in alcohol abuse because of the increased apprehension that they experience.

From a somewhat different standpoint, due to the fact that both parents in a number of families work full or part-time, the lack of parental supervision positively has to play a fundamental part in the expansion of youth alcohol abuse. And finally, different alcoholism authorities emphasize the point that the expansion of teen alcohol abuse is due, in part, to our lenient society.

Coping Skills and Hazardous Drinking

One feature of adolescent alcohol abuse that looks as if it deficient in the alcoholism research findings, to the contrary, is the lack of educational programs that teach teens how to enhance their coping skills so that their destructive drinking behavior is notably diminished or eliminated.

Stated more precisely, scientific research has uncovered the fact that there is an indirect correlation between poor coping skills and abusive drinking. Essentially, this means that the more mediocre the coping skills, the higher the prevalence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is a truthful line of reasoning, why isn’t coping skills instruction a primary part of the academic prospectus in all of our high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools?

A Society That Emphasizes Teenage Coping Skills

Let us manufacture a scenario for the purpose of clarification. Let us imagine a society in which students are trained how to achieve first rate coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their senior year in high school.

In such a society, when life gets challenging, individuals who are ”coping skills experts” will be able to respond in a healthier and more successful manner, contrary to others who are unsuccessful in their attempts to implement their coping skills.

More explicitly, students who exhibit superior coping skills will be more able to think logically and engage in first-class decision making as opposed to students who, because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to develop outstanding coping skills, resort to the “quick fix” of hazardous drinking.

What would happen in the above “ideal” society, in addition, if teenagers not only received outstanding coping skills training but also got an extraordinary education that focused on the short term and long term harmful consequences associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these types of drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more highly developed coping skills training, it is emphasized, would help teens keep away from the apparent allure of adolescent drinking and, consequently, would substantially diminish the excessive drinking behavior demonstrated by teenagers in our country.

Teen Excessive Drinking: Conclusion

There are indubitably many valid reasons why so many of our teenagers drink in a dangerous manner. Such a thorny predicament demands a far-reaching and relevant educational and preventative response by our educators, students, parents, and politicians so that our teenagers can learn how to cope with life’s predicaments in a more fruitful and responsible manner instead of resorting to destructive drinking behavior to solve their problems.