Parents Clueless About Teen Party Scene
by AFA Journal
October 3, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Parents today are out of touch with the reality of their teens' party lives, according to the 11th annual survey of teenagers and parents recently released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA). The findings revealed that 50 percent of teens admit alcohol, drugs or both are available at the parties they attend, while 80 percent of parents believe such substances are not present at the parties.
"They smell no pot, they see no drinking and they hear nothing of the drugs that their kids are using," said Joseph Califano, CASA chairman. "I think they really have no sense of how awash their teens' world is in alcohol and drugs. There is a terrible disconnect."
The disconnect is evident in the 99 percent of parents who claim they would not serve alcohol at their teens' parties, and the 28 percent of teens who claim they have attended adult-supervised parties where alcohol was available.
Although parents may be home while their children are having a party, Califano said they rarely walk through or into the party area.
"We live in a world where 8 out of 10 kids are going to drink alcohol before they get out of high school, and 50 percent will have tried marijuana," said Carol Falkowski, director of research communications at the Hazelden Foundation, a drug treatment facility in Minnesota.
Falkowski believes parents need to catch up with the teenage world and not allow their own adolescent party experiences to color the reality of their children's party scene. She suggests that parents should talk regularly to children. In other words, "Be nosy and stay engaged."
This article, printed with permission, appears in the October 2006 issue of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.
