Parents, do you really want to know about your teens college atmosphere?

Want to know the top school for a "No Last Call" or "Walk of Shame?" Unigo.com has a list that they claim represents actual students opinions on what is happening on their campuses. No doubt, a lot of underage, illegal drinking happens on many college campuses. This list shows you the worst of the worst for partying.

This is just another reminder that we (yes, me included) need to continue to talk to our college students about the dangers of underage drinking. It's fall...well not here in sweltering Texas...and it's time to have those talks again. You can do it!

Why giving alcohol to kids is such a bad idea

Just found this series of articles from Minnesota that clearly lay out why providing alcohol to minors is such a bad idea. Check it out at:
http://www.udetc.org/documents/judicial/0710eNews/BadIdea.pdf

Parents are Important: Check out new study

Another study confirming the importance of parents in teens making decisions about drinking alcohol. MADD's resources support parents in their roles to keep teens alcohol free.

Taking Time For Dad

Father's Day is this weekend and we can think of so many things dads are great at including: playing, teaching perseverence, helping with sports, and leading families. They protect us, we should help protect them too. Reminding them to designate a sober driver before celebrating, or offering to drive them home. Also, there are many dads who have lost loved ones or even children, due to drunk driving. We encourage them to call MADD's trained victim advocates at 1-877-MADD-HELP. We are here every day, all day and all night. Remember to let your dad know how much you care about him.

The Univited Guest that Still Shows Up

They did what they were suppose to do. They uninvited alcohol and drugs to their daughter's graduation party but alcohol still showed up. Now, the parents are charged with hosting an underage drinking party versus a really, cool graduation party full of happy memories. Parents can start early and often talking to teens about alcohol but as the saying goes, "I'm not so worried about you, but I am worried about others," still holds true here. They thought they covered all bases and communicated no alcohol but it still showed up at their home. Do bouncers with breath test devices have to be hired to monitor and control graduation parties and other underage gatherings celebrating the end of a school year? I'm not sure where you find that in the yellow pages...maybe where you found clowns, makeup artists and bounce houses when they were little.

I'm Bored

When teens are bored what do they do? Some may drink and others may play video games, chat, Internet, Facebook, ipod, and iphone. Some say being bored is ok. It actually teaches someone how to think without being told what to think about and what to do. Being bored might be a sign that the teen is working to find their way through a problem or a solution or be creative. Society may not nurture these instincts too much these days because there there are too many shiny, new gadgets to sell. We applaud parents working to parent and teach their teens how to embrace being bored without being distracted or diverted from their mission: to be successful at being them and no one else.

Last week there was an article on a kansascity.com blog: http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2010/05/should-parents-let-teens-drink-alcohol-at-home.html

It talks about this being the time of year when graduation and prom parties are in full swing...and sometimes they are "hosted" by parents who full-well know the kids in attendance will be drinking alcohol.

Our Powerofparents.org Web site is a great tool for knowing what the laws are, knowing what to use to start (or continue) the conversation about underage drinking and knowing what the experts say.

We have a job as parents and that is to...PARENT. Teaching our kids about "how" to drink is not the best way to do it. It is illegal for them to drink underage. Are we going to tell them it is OK to break this law, but they better not break other laws? Talk about a mixed message.