The first drunkenness of the teenagers and the day after
The first time our son gets drunk, it's normal for us to get upset. But a drunken stupor does not mean he's going to be an alcoholic all his life. Normally, it will not leave a mark on him. On the contrary, if we know how to take advantage of this opportunity, we can turn the matter around much more effectively.
What to do? Since he is already drunk, we will not solve anything by screaming or making us nervous. On the contrary, it is better to waste love and understanding, we will help you to lie down with good words, we will undress you and we will cleanse you. All this, in addition, will serve as an example to his brothers, both to the smallest, as to the elderly, who will see how their parents love them even in these situations.
There are degrees of drunkenness, but if he is more or less conscious we can try to understand and understand what we are doing with him. The next day he will remember him and be filled with shame and affection towards his parents.
The day after
The day after a drunken stupor is the most important: he will be totally dejected, both physically and morally. We can go ahead and prepare a good breakfast, even taking it to bed, after letting him sleep everything he needs.
The moment of quiet conversation must arrive without shyness anywhere: it is necessary to speak, more than ever. Our son is not a criminal, although maybe he feels that way. We will not find another better opportunity to lose, once and for all, the idea of getting drunk. To drink more has had a bad experience, saddens his parents, his whole body suffers ... We will try to make the purpose of not doing it again.
We, to support these good intentions, can tell him that drinking is bad for him, that he has given his parents an upset, that we are not going to punish him because we trust him and his good will, that he commits not to do it again. In addition, we will let him speak to him to know the causes: if it has been a conscious fact or has fallen without realizing it, or if it is due to his friends, or to a special party, etc. Knowing it, we will act accordingly.
Alcohol problems
At these ages, drinking alcohol can cause a series of complications for our adolescent children, following Dr. Arana:
· Decreased cell growth and, therefore, the entire body.
· Balance disorders. It is the dizziness and blurred vision that occur when drinking and that can leave permanent alterations.
· Damage to other internal organs such as the liver and stomach.
· Sexual disorders, because the cells of these organs are extremely sensitive and if they are injured they can lead to serious defects, from impotence to sterility.
· Descent of mental activity, of the faculty of criticism or judgment and reaction. According to recent statistics, a good number of "school failures" occur among boys and girls who drink alcohol frequently.
· Changes in mood: from optimism to pessimism, from joy or serenity to sadness or aggressive attitude.
· The adolescent becomes easily influenced by the diminution of his capacity for reasoning.
Role of advertising
Alcohol advertising moves in Spain billions of pesetas per year, and also moves many marketing specialists, psychologists, etc. Obviously, such amounts of money and effort are not invested if you do not expect to obtain a considerable benefit and you have a certain guarantee of success.
Advertising to encourage teens to drink alcohol is very easy, since their characteristic egocentricity leads them to believe that advertising can not influence them, "it will influence others". Once they have studied the motivations of adolescents, advertisers decide to present alcohol in three different ways.
a.- As a product that aims to help the adolescent to seek his identity by favoring him to break with childhood, relate, achieve success, etc.
b.- As a product that facilitates evasion in the face of problems.
c.- As a product that helps to have fun.
It is better prevent
To have too much leisure time and abundant money makes it easy to fall into the vice of drinking and smoking. That is why many families tie their children short. As it happens very often, prevention is better than cure. To do this, we must talk with children, from small, of the consequences of alcohol. Both physical and the damage done to the person himself: someone drunk has no self-control.
So, if one day we are walking with our son (the little one or the adolescent, it is the same) we see a drunkard or people drinking excessively, we must take advantage of the occasion and make him see how poor this fun is. If it is a daughter, she can be made to hear from her brothers what the boys think of a drunk girl or drink: she will be horrified.
Tips for parents of teenagers
· Sometimes, we must look for the lesser evil and if we know that our children will drink "something" when they go out there, we must explain to them that you should not mix beverages of different types, because the effects are added.
· With a little bit of pranks we can tell our children that they eat well before leaving, explaining why: on an empty stomach, alcohol takes much less time to take effect and goes up to the head right away, with the lack of self-control that generates .
· There is no better preacher than Fray Example, so we can think how is our performance: how much we drink, why, on what occasions. Probably, we will find ways to improve ourselves too.
· When in a house there is a bar furniture full of flashy bottles, we are exposing our children to a temptation inside the house. It is not about putting padlocks, but about being prudent.
· The best way to prevent them from falling under the clutches of drinking is to help them not to be idle, to play sports, so they do not need that "avoidance".
If we know the environments in which our children move, we will understand their attitudes much better. If you do nothing but go out to the bar area, where the floor is carpeted with plastic beer glasses ... it would be strange if you did not drink.
Ricardo Regidor
Adviser: Guillermo Cánovas. Director of EducaLIKE
