Recent alcohol abuse statistics demonstrate the fact that alcohol abuse among teens is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Quite a few chemical dependency consultants believe that wine, beer, and liquor ads created by the media are a primary reason for the escalation of teen alcohol abuse.

Other substance abuse specialists stress the point that the increase in youth alcohol abuse is due to the toleration and ease of access of beer, wine, and liquor in our society.

Still other alcohol dependency consultants affirm that quite a few of our teenagers involve themselves in harmful drinking because of the increased fretfulness that they undergo.

From a somewhat different vantage point, due to the fact that both parents in a number of families work full or part-time, the lack of parental guidance unquestionably has to play an essential role in the spread of youth alcohol abuse. And last but not least, diverse alcohol abuse specialists emphasize the point that the spread of teen alcohol abuse is due, at least partially, to our “anything goes” society.

Coping Skills Education and Alcohol Abuse

One component of teenage alcohol abuse that looks like it is somewhat missing in the chemical dependency research findings, nonetheless, is the nonexistence of educational courses that teach adolescents how to augment their coping skills so that their destructive drinking behavior is drastically diminished or eradicated.

Stated another way, science has displayed the fact that there is an indirect association between poor coping skills and alcohol abuse. Fundamentally, this means that the more mediocre the coping skills, the higher the occurrence of alcohol abuse. To the degree that this is an accurate statement, why isn’t coping skills training a primary part of the educational core curriculum in all of our junior high schools, elementary schools, and high schools?

A Society That Emphasizes Adolescent Coping Skills

Let us manufacture a scenario for for the purpose of elucidation. Let us imagine a society in which all people are taught how to achieve good coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including the twelfth grade.

In such a society, when life gets difficult, people who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a more healthy and more productive way, as opposed to others who are unsuccessful in their attempts to execute their coping skills.

Stated more precisely, students who exhibit first rate coping skills will be more able to think logically and show signs of quality decision making as opposed to teenagers who, because they do not possess good coping skills, are drawn to the “quick fix” of abusive drinking.

What would happen in the above “ideal” society, furthermore, if teens not only received exceptional coping skills training but also obtained an exclusive education that focused on the short term and long term devastating outcomes associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Emphasizing these drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more highly developed coping skills instruction, it is declared, would help teens avoid the clear allure of teen drinking and, for that reason, would substantially reduce the harmful drinking behavior displayed by adolescents in our country.

Adolescent Abusive Drinking: Conclusion

There are clearly more than a few defensible reasons why so many of our teenagers drink in an injurious manner. Such a tricky problem demands a thorough and more meaningful educational and preventative response by our students, parents, politicians, and educators so that our youth can learn how to cope with life’s difficulties in a more fruitful and accountable manner rather than gravitating to hazardous drinking behavior to solve their problems.