Alcohol abuse statistics show that alcohol abuse among teens is increasing in the United States. What are some of the reasons for this? Many alcohol addiction authorities argue that beer, wine, and liquor ads created by the media are a fundamental reason for the proliferation of teen alcohol abuse.
Other alcohol dependency experts claim that the increase in adolescent alcohol abuse is due to the acceptability and convenience of liquor, beer, and wine in our society.
Still other chemical dependency consultants affirm that quite a few of our teenagers engage in destructive drinking because of the increased disquiet that they face.
From a somewhat different vantage point, since both parents in more than a few families work full or part-time, the lack of parental guidance indubitably has to play a key role in the expansion of teen alcohol abuse. And finally, diverse alcohol addiction authorities articulate that the expansion of adolescent alcohol abuse is due, to some extent, to our “anything goes” society.
Hazardous Drinking and Coping Skills Training
One facet of youth alcohol abuse that seems to be poorly reported in the alcoholism research results, to the contrary, is the scarcity of educational courses that teach teens how to further develop their coping skills so that their injurious drinking behavior is fundamentally reduced or done away with.
Stated differently, scientific research has revealed that there is an indirect connection between poor coping skills and alcohol abuse. Essentially, this means that the poorer the coping skills, the greater the rate of alcohol abuse. To the extent that this is an accurate allegation , why isn’t coping skills education a major part of the academic curriculum in all of our elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools?
A Society That Stresses Adolescent Coping Skills
Let us create a scenario for for the purpose of illumination. Let us imagine a society in which all people are taught how to develop superior coping skills all the way from kindergarten up to and including their senior year in high school.
In such a society, when life gets difficult, students who are “coping skills masters” will be able to respond in a healthier and more successful way, contrary to others who are unsuccessful in their attempts to apply their coping skills.
More specifically, students who show evidence of superior coping skills will be more able to think clearly and show signs of top-shelf decision making as opposed to teens who, because they failed to obtain top-of-the-line coping skills, gravitate to the “quick fix” of excessive drinking.
What would happen in the above “ideal” society, additionally, if teens not only obtained outstanding coping skills instruction but also obtained a first class education that underscored the short term and long term destructive costs associated with drug abuse and alcohol abuse? Such an emphasis on drug and alcohol abuse facts, along with more highly developed coping skills education, it is asserted, would help teenagers keep away from the noticeable appeal associated with youth drinking and, accordingly, would substantially lessen the abusive drinking behavior undertaken by teens in our country.
Youth Abusive Drinking: Conclusion
There are clearly more than a few well thought-out reasons why so many of our teenagers drink in a dangerous manner. Such a complex problem demands a far-reaching and more pertinent preventative and educational response by our educators, parents, politicians, and students so that our teenagers can learn how to cope with life’s problems in a more fruitful and responsible way rather than resorting to hazardous drinking behavior to solve their difficulties.

