Teen Reader: You Don't Have A Clue When It Comes To Teen Drinking

September 17, 2001

Dear Mr. Farmer,

I am 17 years old and I recently read your article on teen drinking, "Peer pressure contributes to rural teen-age drinking," and I was very disappointed in how you completely stereotyped the average rural teen.

¼You said, "Despite solid parenting, church participation, family love and traditional values, parents are amazed and aghast by the powerful influence of peer pressure." ¼My family is [important], but the parenting, the church and the traditional values really don't affect people as much as their friends do. Friends help make a person who they are, no matter how much any of you older people don't want to believe it, that is just the way it is.

Parents have absolutely NO right at all to say who their child can and cannot be around. Too bad, all you parents can try but it won't work; you just can't pick our friends. You were once a teenager too, and back then it was not as big of a deal to drink. Now if someone gets caught drinking, they are considered to be a bad kid that must not go to church, and must not have "good" parents, and must not do that well in school. Well I'm here to tell you that, those factors have nothing to do with it. Teens drink because they want to drink.

¼I am from a small town and now I live in a much bigger one, and I know that the peer pressure is much stronger in the larger school than in the small rural school. No one cares if you don't drink. I have a bunch of friends, including my sister, that go to parties and don't drink a drop, and that is completely fine with everyone else. Nobody says, "Either you are like us or you are out of it."

I also have a problem how you bash those parents that decide to let their teens have a party at their house with their supervision. Those parents are enlightened. ...Would you rather have a party at your house, and you can pull everyone's keys and you can make them sleep over, or would you rather have a bunch of drunk drivers all over the roads trying to get home by curfew? Do you still think those "enlightened" parents are the bad guys??? I would hope not.

¼You can sit and preach that the smart, "brainy" kinds, that have loving parents and go to church, are the teens that will make it in life and won’t let drinking get in the way. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!! That is stupid. Teens are teens. They are smart, dumb, pretty, ugly, church-going, or not¼ it doesn’t matter. If they want to drink they will, no matter what their grades are, who their parents are, and whether or not they sit in a certain building on Sunday morning. If teens drink, it is because they want to, not because they forgot to say their prayers.

Dear teen,

You’re a gutsy and articulate young woman to write and express yourself the way you did. Let me share with you some research on teen drinking conducted by psychologists J. Greg Getz and James H. Bray at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Heavy users. They found that the main factors in the heavy use of alcohol by the teens in their study were perceived peer alcohol use, prior marijuana use, and age. Other predictors of heavy use included deviant behavior, lack of mother’s monitoring, mother’s alcohol use, and family conflict.

Prior marijuana use. They explain that prior marijuana use also indicates a history of poly-drug use, early age of initiation of alcohol or other drug use, and anti-social behavior.

Family conflict. Stress caused by family conflict has serious negative consequences on adolescent development. Exposure to family conflict and strained relationships with parents create negative emotions that motivate teens to seek out alcohol using friends and to use alcohol as an avoidance coping technique.

Also, lack of confidence in parental support and acceptance encourages emotional detachment from parents. This makes teens more receptive to seek out or be influenced by deviant peers. Ineffective parenting encourages initiation of alcohol use as well as the progression to heavy use through involvement with alcohol using friends.

Age. Older teenagers have greater availability of disposable income because of jobs. They also have more contact with non-family member adults who drink. Older teens also are trying to assume adult roles and believe alcohol use is a right of passage.

Perceived use by peers. The transition from non-use of alcohol to experimental/moderate use or from experimental/moderate use to heavy use is influenced by the drinking behaviors of friends. The research supported the notion that heavy, moderate and initiation of alcohol use is primarily a social activity by teens looking for social support and acceptance.

Dear teen, you are right in one respect. Teens are dynamic, problem-solving actors making choices instead of passive receptacles of peer influence. However, "solid parenting, church participation, family love and traditional values," are important factors in helping young people choose quality friends whose attitudes and behaviors reinforce one’s constructive intentions and behaviors. Continued positive attachment and responsiveness to parents is more likely when there is constructive communication patterns and monitoring of teen activities.

One of the myths of society is that parents lose their ability to influence teens. They don’t. And they shouldn’t be afraid to try even though teens like yourself would like parents to believe differently.

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	Val Farmer 35 Years of Counseling Rural Topics IV. Rural Life 6. Rural Education, Teen Drinking, Peer Pressure, and Sports Teen Reader: You Don't Have A Clue When It Comes To Teen Drinking September 17, 2001 Dear Mr. Farmer, I am 17 years old and I recently read your article on teen drinking, "Peer pressure contributes to rural teen-age drinking," and I was very disappointed in how you completely stereotyped the average rural teen. ¼You said, "Despite solid parenting, church participation, family love and traditional values, parents are amazed and aghast by the powerful influence of peer pressure." ¼My family is [important], but the parenting, the church and the traditional values really don't affect people as much as their friends do. Friends help make a person who they are, no matter how much any of you older people don't want to believe it, that is just the way it is. Parents have absolutely NO right at all to say who their child can and cannot be around. Too bad, all you parents can try but it won't work; you just can't pick our friends. You were once a teenager too, and back then it was not as big of a deal to drink. Now if someone gets caught drinking, they are considered to be a bad kid that must not go to church, and must not have "good" parents, and must not do that well in school. Well I'm here to tell you that, those factors have nothing to do with it. Teens drink because they want to drink. ¼I am from a small town and now I live in a much bigger one, and I know that the peer pressure is much stronger in the larger school than in the small rural school. No one cares if you don't drink. I have a bunch of friends, including my sister, that go to parties and don't drink a drop, and that is completely fine with everyone else. Nobody says, "Either you are like us or you are out of it." I also have a problem how you bash those parents that decide to let their teens have a party at their house with their supervision. Those parents are enlightened. ...Would you rather have a party at your house, and you can pull everyone's keys and you can make them sleep over, or would you rather have a bunch of drunk drivers all over the roads trying to get home by curfew? Do you still think those "enlightened" parents are the bad guys??? I would hope not. ¼You can sit and preach that the smart, "brainy" kinds, that have loving parents and go to church, are the teens that will make it in life and won’t let drinking get in the way. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!! That is stupid. Teens are teens. They are smart, dumb, pretty, ugly, church-going, or not¼ it doesn’t matter. If they want to drink they will, no matter what their grades are, who their parents are, and whether or not they sit in a certain building on Sunday morning. If teens drink, it is because they want to, not because they forgot to say their prayers. Dear teen, You’re a gutsy and articulate young woman to write and express yourself the way you did. Let me share with you some research on teen drinking conducted by psychologists J. Greg Getz and James H. Bray at the Baylor College of Medicine. Heavy users. They found that the main factors in the heavy use of alcohol by the teens in their study were perceived peer alcohol use, prior marijuana use, and age. Other predictors of heavy use included deviant behavior, lack of mother’s monitoring, mother’s alcohol use, and family conflict. Prior marijuana use. They explain that prior marijuana use also indicates a history of poly-drug use, early age of initiation of alcohol or other drug use, and anti-social behavior. Family conflict. Stress caused by family conflict has serious negative consequences on adolescent development. Exposure to family conflict and strained relationships with parents create negative emotions that motivate teens to seek out alcohol using friends and to use alcohol as an avoidance coping technique. Also, lack of confidence in parental support and acceptance encourages emotional detachment from parents. This makes teens more receptive to seek out or be influenced by deviant peers. Ineffective parenting encourages initiation of alcohol use as well as the progression to heavy use through involvement with alcohol using friends. Age. Older teenagers have greater availability of disposable income because of jobs. They also have more contact with non-family member adults who drink. Older teens also are trying to assume adult roles and believe alcohol use is a right of passage. Perceived use by peers. The transition from non-use of alcohol to experimental/moderate use or from experimental/moderate use to heavy use is influenced by the drinking behaviors of friends. The research supported the notion that heavy, moderate and initiation of alcohol use is primarily a social activity by teens looking for social support and acceptance. Dear teen, you are right in one respect. Teens are dynamic, problem-solving actors making choices instead of passive receptacles of peer influence. However, "solid parenting, church participation, family love and traditional values," are important factors in helping young people choose quality friends whose attitudes and behaviors reinforce one’s constructive intentions and behaviors. Continued positive attachment and responsiveness to parents is more likely when there is constructive communication patterns and monitoring of teen activities. One of the myths of society is that parents lose their ability to influence teens. They don’t. And they shouldn’t be afraid to try even though teens like yourself would like parents to believe differently.