It is quite normal to expect your children, especially older teens, to go out at a party with their friends to celebrate the New Year’s Eve. And guess what? There is a good chance there may be alcohol at the same party.

According to reports, more than 50 percent of 15-year-old teens and 70 percent of 17-year-old teens have had at least one drink. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a matter of surprise for you if your child has already tried alcohol.

It is easier to keep your adolescent child or younger teen away from the alcohol. However, when it comes to older teens, it may be a different game for you altogether. Older teens like to believe they are independent and can manage their lives on their own. They like to make their own decisions.

Instead of forcing your opinions on them or trying to stop them from attending parties where alcohol is present, you can try a different approach. You can talk to them about how they can be around alcohol responsibly.

Here are some of the ways in which you can talk to your older teens and inform them about alcohol safety.

Avoiding Drink at All Costs

The first message you can put across in your discussion with your older teens about alcohol safety is that underage drinking is not only illegal but unhealthy for their brain’s development and extremely dangerous especially when it is done in excess or while driving.

It is possible for your older teen to attend a party and not get drunk but let’s be honest – it can be tough. They are surrounded by people who are drinking at the party. Since teens are most likely to get influenced by their peers, it is only realistic to expect them to get drunk as well.

To prevent your older teen from not getting drunk is to ask them to accompany a like-minded friend to the party, the one who does not want to drink. On the other hand, you can also help your teen come up with ways to refuse a drink from an influential peer. It is always a good idea to have a discussion about the use of drugs, alcohol and other potential dangers with your teens.

Do not Binge Drink

No matter how much you do not want your teens not to indulge in drinking, you know they’re going to go for it anyway. It is completely fine to accept that they may go to the party and take a drink with their friends. Remember that the bottom line is we want them to be safe even if they drink. You can inform your teens about the several dangers that are linked with binge drinking including alcohol poisoning.

You can go ahead and tell them what could be the consequences if they binge drink. There are too many risks involved when it comes to binge drinking. One such is driving while you’re drunk. Teens become prone to road accidents when they are driving in an inebriated state. On the other hand, binge drinking may also lead them to make poor decisions and get into other risky activities such as sex.

These are some of the things that you need to tell your teen about the use of alcohol and how its extreme usage can affect their lives. Once your teen familiarizes themselves with the risks linked with alcohol, chances are they would want to keep a distance from it.